Thank you, Mr.
Chair. My
understanding is that the Government of Canada has a fiduciary and legal role to provide health care services for aboriginal people in Canada, including the Northwest Territories, but that there is an agreement for this department to cover those services in the Northwest Territories.
I understand that the federal government compensates the department with about a 3 per cent annual growth for increasing costs, but we’ve been experiencing something like a 7.8 per cent, or thereabouts, average increase in annual costs. I’m wondering, if I’ve got that right: what is our current estimate of the accumulated debt that the department views is owed by the federal government and over what period of time does that apply to?