Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, parents are happy, students are learning, kids are graduating with excellent marks. There is excellence flowing into these programs and it's certainly proving well. Mr. Speaker, the Minister says he basically doesn't have authority. Then what does he really have authority for at the end of the day? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, for once the Member and I agree on something. We have two excellent boards operating in Yellowknife. We actually have three excellent boards operating in Yellowknife.

---Applause

We are doing well in terms of graduation rates. So that's something we should celebrate. But you know what? What we are proposing won't change that. What it will do is allow some money to improve even further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Floyd Roland, regarding the Aboriginal Wellness Program at Stanton Hospital. Would he update us on the role of the Aboriginal Wellness Program? Is it on target? Is it on time? Do we have sufficient resources to make it go regarding the clientele it's serving in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The program that's been discussed is working with the Department of Health and Social Services and the Stanton authority. I understand the rollout had a couple of minor hiccups along the way, but things are proceeding as planned, from my understanding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am certainly glad these are only hiccoughs, nothing more than that. In terms of the rollout we planned, are the programs we want to implement on target, the number of staff that we have to serve the clients we have? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated, from the information I have, I don't have a lot of detail right now and I will have to get that detail and get back to the Member on some of the specifics he's raised here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the Minister's detailed response. I asked the Minister if he looked at an issue at Stanton Hospital. When you come into the hospital in the front foyer, we have a lot of our aboriginal clients coming into the hospital. Can the Minister look at placing an aboriginal person at the front foyer that speaks one of the dialects for people who come in for visits or emergencies, so they feel more comfortable speaking in their own language? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have tried to manage the system of official languages and having the appropriate level of services and translator services at our territorial facility, as well as our facilities throughout the North. It would be very difficult to try to have someone in person who was able to speak an aboriginal language of the majority of people in the Territories. That would take quite a number of people to try to greet people at the front. So we have tried to manage within our available resources and the system that we have in place. Hopefully, we can continue to try to work with what we have and try to improve it somewhat, but I say it would be difficult to have a person there to greet someone at the front door in all of our official languages, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I apologize to the Minister. My intention was to have some aboriginal person, a summer student, a student, that could come and greet the people and direct them to the appropriate services that they need. It could be an aboriginal person who is studying nursing or an aboriginal person working in translation services; someone who

could be in the front foyer who could help. I know they have other people and they are fairly busy, but just one station, one cubicle dedicated to visitors and some patients who would come and shake the hand of an elder and see what kind of help they need. I know that's a request that our people are asking. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess I would have to have a discussion with the deputy, but again that would be difficult if we had to make a decision as to one majority aboriginal language in the Northwest Territories. It is a territorial facility and we do have a lot of different dialects, even within one language group. So that could be fairly difficult to try to have. We will continue to try to enhance the level of service we do have today and use that to try to make sure we can get the right services at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know this was a big issue that was discussed at the meeting that the Housing Corporation attended in February. The Housing Corporation is following up. Many of these need one-to-one counselling relationships. That's the approach the corporation is taking in response to the Minister's letter as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.