Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will pass that on to the group. Also, Mr. Speaker, it has not been unprecedented in the past for infrastructure, such as houses and lands, to be provided by other government departments in the address of social issues. I think of such things as the contribution for the land for the playschool in Hay River, the contribution of a home for second stage housing for the women's shelter in Hay River, which the home I believe belonged to the NWT Housing Corporation. So in the interest of advancing the program of the folks in Hay River, I was wondering if the Minister could agree to work with me to lobby the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation for some real property in Hay River to accommodate an office and some program area. Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would, as Minister, of course be looking for the first step which should be the submission of a proposal that would articulate what the intention of the group was and what some of the plans are. Subsequent to that, if there is a need to work collaboratively with the Member and other departments to try to move things ahead then, yes, I would be prepared to do that.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a system for Health and Social Services, we are having our budget reviewed before this House, but we have been spending well over $200 million a year for the last number of years trying to improve the life of northerners. With regard to this particular framework, I hope to be able to move this into Cabinet and into committee in the next couple of weeks, keeping in mind, of course, that we are operating in a very tight fiscal climate, so we are trying to be as responsible as possible within that context. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. I was hoping I would get some of the answers in terms of the type of support systems that the people in our communities in the Sahtu region could expect in terms of the action plan with regard to the disability issue. When can they expect to see some real tangible improvements or some changes to their lives in terms of the issues they are dealing with today?

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the honourable Member mentioned about his grandfather, many people have a lot of initiative, a lot of heart and are very self-reliant. Our hope is to try to foster those attitudes and those ethics in people. We currently spend a considerable amount of money. Also, as I indicated in some of my earlier answers to the Member for Hay River South, we have engaged with community governments to look at tangible practical things that can be done in terms of barrier-free access in terms of our work in here in Yellowknife and in other communities with placards for the disabled. If the community identifies and the people in the communities identify areas, there are tangible things that can be done today. What this framework and action plan will do is supplement a lot of that work, and hopefully provide a better focus once it has been through the proper steps. But in the meantime, there are things we can do today. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister. I wasn't going to bring this issue up, however, a constituent from my riding asked if I could raise this issue and support this initiative. I want to thank that person for helping me look at some of the issues that sometimes I forget. Would the Minister commit to work with the people in our regions in terms of implementing some of the tangible improvements for people who are deemed disabled?

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I will make the commitment to all my colleagues and, in this case, the Member for Sahtu, that I, as the Minister, will seriously look at any proposals that are put on my desk. As well, I have made and will honour the commitment to work with MLAs and regions to look at how we do business. If there are ways we can do things better, then we're prepared to do that. If there's a way we can work more collaboratively in the region or as a government here in Yellowknife, then we will do that. So, yes, I will be happy to do that.

Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister. It reminds me also that when I was in Holman a gentleman who was disabled made his way to the community hall for one of the workshops that I attended. That brings me to this question: Would the Minister commit to work with other departments in terms of buildings having accessibility for people who have hard times with mobility, with moving around in a wheelchair, and that the Minister would keep monitoring those buildings that people need to have access to?

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, access to GNWT buildings for people with disabilities is an important issue, and it's one that as a government we are committed to making sure that access is there. So, yes, once again I will commit to work with the Member, community governments, MACA and whoever else we have to to ensure that for new buildings, of course, that kind of access is built in. As for those current buildings that don't have that access, then it should be allocated for as they look at community kinds of maintenance. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to first start off by saying oral questions wouldn't be oral questions unless we engaged our favourite Minister responsible for the FMBS, the Honourable Mr. Roland. Mr. Speaker, I want to hold up in front of everyone a piece of history. I put a little sticky over "annual report," and I wrote "report," because this is the last report filed in 1995-96...

Just to remind the Members, you're not allowed to hold up pamphlets or names or tags or whatever in the House. So I just want to warn the Member that you are not allowed to do that. So you are warned.

Thank you for pointing that out, Mr. Speaker. If I could, I would hold up a piece of history that would point out "annual report," although I would demonstrate I had put a sticky on it that says "report," because that piece of history hasn't been followed up on, the annual part, for many years, as I pointed out earlier. My question would be to the honourable Member, the Minister responsible for the FMBS. I do have a concern with the fact that we have not been following through with these reports being tabled in the Assembly, and there's no way I can believe that my enquiry with regard to where did these things go can be simply followed up with oh, they were sitting on my desk, I just forgot to hand them in.

Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is how does the Minister's department monitor the reporting requirements of public boards and agencies under the Financial Administration Act? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.