Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, one other area of hope in terms of our relationship with NGOs is a process that this Minister is also in charge of, and that is following up on the commitment of this Assembly. We all agreed in the beginning of the 15th Assembly that we wanted to review our relationships and especially our governance relationships with boards and agencies. There are dozens of them that are mandated and that we do business with. Can we expect, Mr. Speaker, that this process may help to address some of the disparities that we now experience between what we expect of our NGOs and what we reward them for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The work done on boards and agencies was a collaborative effort between Cabinet and AOC and we had the chair of Social Programs and the chair of GED working with myself to provide oversight to the staff. There was a significant amount of good work done; there was some recommendations made that work is there. That work of our joint committee has been concluded. It's now part of the government agenda and is going to be looked at and will be dependent mainly on the availability of resources at this point, but there is good work there and I agree with the Member, it will help inform this discussion on how we move forward in the funding to NGOs and other groups that work for us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of who decides whether a medical escort is needed and when, is decided by the medical practitioners involved in handling of the individual cases and they make the call and based on that call, it's decided whether an escort is needed or not. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this Assembly what the policy is on allowing medical escorts to return home prior to the patient being returned home? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, once again, that would depend on the type of the escort and the reason why the patient was going down. If it was for an extended period of time, there would be arrangements made where the role of the escort was no longer required. If it was an emergency, intense kind of situation where there was going to be a short turnaround time, then it would once again be looked at differently. So once again, it would depend. It's not a blanket, black and white circumstance, as far as I am aware. Thank you

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As I highlighted in my Member's statement about the parent that had to leave their 10 kids behind to travel with a nephew to get

surgery, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to find out if the department is willing, on a case-by-case basis, where if it's a critical situation, it's fully understood that the interpreter services should be with the patient, but at the same time where it's not a critical situation, where this individual needed to return home but she wasn't allowed. So I'm just wondering if the department is willing to allow a case-by-case basis on those circumstances. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we are and we do it on a regular ongoing basis. There are always concerns brought forward to us or that we're made aware of that may not fit within the strict interpretation of a particular policy and we are a small jurisdiction. We are responsive, we do have a heart and we make every effort to be as accommodating as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad the Minister has a heart in this area...

---Applause

...because it's a real need in the small communities especially where we require health services, even enhanced health services, compared to the bigger centres. Mr. Speaker, my final question is, can the Minister tell us whether the department is considering looking at the medical travel and escort policy to make sure it addresses the needs of those who do not speak English and require extra assistance? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're always looking at ways to improve our service. We work with the authorities. Through this House we get feedback and we get concerns raised and suggestions given to us, recommendations provided. We look at that very seriously and we're looking at this one, as well. Medical travel is a very sensitive issue; it's a very big one in terms of our budget. So, yes, and I look forward to working with the chair of the Tlicho Community Services Board as he sits at the table with the rest of us through the Joint Leadership Council to look at issues such as these as we plan for the good service for all northerners. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today get back to my Member's statement in regard to the utilization of facilities and how the government is going about the addiction treatment for our residents given our current state of affairs. I'd like to start off my questions, first of all, with a question about the Sombe Ke Healing Centre located here in Yellowknife. I'd like to ask the Minister what is the current disposition of that facility and what has happened to the facility in the last 16 months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regards to the Sombe Ke facility, we have put departments on notice that the facility is out there and if anyone is interested in acquiring it, again, Mr. Speaker, we are carrying a mortgage on that facility and there is an O and M cost associated with it. We have been doing some work with the YK Dene First Nation in regards to the people in Detah, the Detah language group who has been using a couple of the facilities for their language program. We have been in discussions with them, but again, Mr. Speaker, we also have been in discussion with Bosco Homes out of Edmonton in regards to their child delivery programs. Again, those discussions are still ongoing. We haven't had a final decision on that, and again, we have been talking to the YK Dene First Nation about their interest. Again, they are looking at some proposals. We still haven't heard back in regards to proposals they're putting forward to the federal government. So we have been having discussions with different groups, but right now the only group that has been using those facilities is the language group out of Detah.