Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would ask the Minister then; when would this department or when would this government roll out its plans so that Granny from Nahanni or Uncle Orville from Colville Lake...

---Laughter

...could see that they can only go to one place in the communities to have all these programs under one roof? Today we don't see it; so when can we see it? Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are resources on the ground in every community that have, as one of the job responsibilities, to assist all the people, including seniors. We have members from across the Northwest Territories on the NWT Seniors' Association that I meet regularly with, as well with the boards. Also, I have very close feedback from many MLAs on issues in their jurisdictions. I believe that we have resources there. If they are not given enough profile on the ground to the services that are available to seniors, then I am definitely prepared to look at that and work with the authorities and the boards to try to remedy that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister consider having the seniors under one ministry? Of all the programs, I know that you are working with the different departments, would the Minister consider taking that to the Premier or Cabinet to consider having one Ministry just for seniors, that cover all the programs so there is effective, efficient coordination there for our elderly people in the communities? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the last Assembly that was an issue that was raised as well, and there was work done to look at whether that would be practical. Given the fact that there are a significant number of health programs, for example, that pertain specifically to seniors, and at the same time there are another number of related issues that are often covered off through MACA or Education, what is being done, Mr. Speaker, is that when we look at consolidating the income support and subsidy programs, which includes all the programs outside of health that benefit seniors with fuel subsidies and such, we are looking at consolidating those, as the Member knows, under one roof. As well, the health programs will continue to be administered through Health and Social Services. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is International Women's Day, but this week is Social Workers' Week. Earlier this week the Minister of Health and Social Services made a statement in praise of the work that social workers do. This is also the first academic year where there were not enough students enrolling in the Social Workers' Program at Aurora College. I have asked questions in this House about what the government is doing to see that that does not happen again. Surely, I think that we do need to produce our own social workers and if there are not enough people going in, then the government has an onus to look into that. I wanted to know if the Minister and the Minister of Education, and the government as a whole, have done any kind of review to get some real answers to what happened. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the Member raised the issue during the review of the budget of Health and Social Services, I indicated that I would be talking later that night with the president of the Social Workers' Association, which I did do. We had a fairly lengthy discussion. One of the topics of concern was what is happening in the college; the need to do a better job in marketing the college program and what other things should we be doing as a department to better support the social work profession.

I have since had meetings with the deputy to pass on some of the concerns, and the fact that there is a willingness and interest for us work collaboratively with the Social Workers' Association. I have also had discussions with the president of the college to talk about -- and he raised the issue as well -- we have to put our heads together to come to grips with how we better market this issue.

I also just met yesterday with the social work managers/child protection managers that were in town from across the Northwest Territories. One of the issues that I put on the table to them was I asked for their advise and feedback on what they thought we could do to better support the profession of social work so that in fact we could encourage people to join this very honourable profession and have more students signing up at the college. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am still not getting the answer as to, Mr. Speaker, whether the Minister and government are interested in doing a review of the program at Aurora College. I can see that he is talking to various players, but I am not hearing that there will be any kind of formal process to really get to the bottom of what is going on. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that you can't solve the problem unless you know what the problem is. I am not getting the indication that the government has a clear idea of what has happened. Can I get more solid information from him as to exactly how he envisions that he is going to improve this situation by fall? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was following up on this issue because it is an important issue and not just for the sake of a conversation with a bunch of people that I know are good conversationalists. This is a serious issue. I have laid out a fairly extensive list of contacts. The president of the Social Workers' Association is also the chairman of the department for the social services program has already had meetings with the college administration to try to look at what issues are there that may be prohibiting or impeding the success of this program at the college level.

I have talked to the president of the Social Workers' Society, plus I have talked to the president of the college. I have had discussions with the deputy minister about our need to pay attention to this; to look at it with the same kind of attention that we paid to nurses and doctors and allied health professionals, when recruitment and retention was an issue.

We are going to bring the lessons we learned there and the planning we learned there to bear on this particular issue as well. So there is a lot of work underway. Whether that is formal or enough or not for the Member, I am not sure, but it constitutes a lot of action and activity already underway by many people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I still think, far be it from me to call for a study, but this is a real problem. I would like to see the government do something solid and concrete by this fall; way before that so that the college and we are ready to get more students in. I would like to see the Minister do more than just having meetings with the stakeholders; not that there is anything wrong with that. Could I get the Minister to commit to reporting the results of all of his conversations and consultations to us by the June session, so that we can take part in it as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since the Member was encouraging or saying that I have to be Minister to conclude all the studies I already have underway, I could probably squeeze in one more.

---Laughter

But the reality is, Mr. Speaker, this doesn't require a study. This requires a plan of action and, yes, I would be happy to report back in June. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the things that the people in this profession are saying is safer working conditions and probably a better compensation package. It doesn't help that the government writes job descriptions in a way that seems to attract southern educated social workers, eliminating the chance for people up here to get a job. Will the Minister look into that as well, while he is studying -- yes, another study -- with a deadline, though, for June? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is currently a collective bargaining process underway that includes the social workers, and the issue of compensation will be dealt with directly through that process. If there are classification issues, then there are processes to look at that as well. Very clearly, we are interested in having a profession that is attractive, that has a good package of compensation and enumeration and we are going to look at all aspects, the same as we did for the allied health professionals, to make sure that we are competitive and that we have our classes filled with northern students that are going to become social workers tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.