Thank you, Madam Chair. I wasn't particularly going to make any comments, although I think
I'm compelled to now in a similar context as Ms. Lee. Certainly it's specific to the issue of the federal government's failure to meet its responsibility, as the Minister has stated. I just want to cross-reference a number of articles and correspondence I've had with the Finance Minister, as well, trying to interlay it with your replies on March 18th, pages 137 through to 143 inclusive. I was beginning, Madam Chair, through just reading an area that I expressed concern on behalf of my constituents and that was to look at capping or suggest to cap the Department of Health and Social Services as a way to mitigate the increased costs in respect of the vastly growing costs. Again, to me it is important that when we have accruals, the non-insured health benefits and the other component you expressed here, I still think if the federal government is capping the department, then obviously they should really consider capping as well an index to that cap to those annual increases. Thus, I think you would prevent yourself from going into some insolvency on a number of the program components. Certainly, the area that intrigued me was the fact that the Member for Range Lake asked you a question in regard to launching some legal action, and although you inferred, Mr. Minister, that there was a court case initiated in the past, the federal government went back to its old ways of just dealing with you on a number of legal fronts. Again, I think this goes back to the very essence of my initial questions about the constitutionality of our North and how we deal with various federal departments, and being somewhat at their beck and call when it comes to delivering the expensive part of our programs, and obviously health is one of them.
Madam Chair, I think it is important, as well, in the overall context that we must look at further articles that the Minister says, and I am going to quote from March 22nd, he states, "Delivering a program on their behalf is putting us in the poorhouse, it is not a good deal for anybody to be carrying the fiscal can for the federal government." We certainly want to support the Minister in trying to convey that very important message to our federal colleagues, because we are at a point in our fiscal situation that requires us to take a more stringent approach to see if we can somehow alleviate some of those increased medical costs. Again, I want to look at whether the northern leaders meeting will resolve this issue. We don't believe so. My constituents believe that the experience we had with the social committee gathering in Hay River is that we are probably going to end up with the same net result, whereas we have no political strategy to approach the federal government in trying to resolve that critical issue of health care costs. Certainly, I don't know if it is in their vested interest to pursue that, other than saying that we need to work with Ottawa in the dispute over what is owed to the Government of the Northwest Territories. I want to assure the Minister that I want him to look at methodologies, so we can support your objective in trying to resolve this. Certainly we feel that the ultimate resolution to this is to return it back to the federal government under either the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs or else Health Canada. I think that is the only way to resolve this issue and show that we do need to protect our sovereignty and that we would have the capability of working with the federal/territorial relations on the matter before us, and the various other matters before us.
I want to perhaps pay a bit of attention to what we suggested to the Finance Minister and the fact that I think we need to really work towards finding a result to not only this situation, but to all the situations that are confronted to the Assembly, especially the 15th Assembly, and deal with it in the context of our fiscal outlook. It is regrettable that health is always being tackled on a number of frontal issues, but again I think the indicator is the fact that we have to ensure that the federal government acknowledges that we have to work in the context of viability and sustainability.
So with that, Madam Chair, I just wanted to convey to the Minister that there is a vast knowledge out in the public that we need to deal with the major concerns that you have expressed in this House, and some of the responses you have made to the ongoing questions. We certainly look forward to working with you in terms of trying to see if we can resolve some of these outstanding issues with the federal government, in particular with how we deal with trying to develop some legal instruments in doing that. Madam Chair, that concludes my remarks to the department. Thank you.