Mr. Speaker, I have reviewed the procedures relating to termination proceedings against the assistant manager of air operations and an air attack officer stationed in Fort Smith. I am satisfied the government has handled this matter properly and that there has been no political interference.

I understand the secretariat has now sent letters to both employees that officially advise them of the recommendation and allow them five days to respond. In addition, an investigation is being carried out by labour relations. Following a review of the employees' submissions and the completion of the investigation, this matter will be determined and the employees will be notified. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, later today I will be tabling two proposed acts: the Child and Family Services Act and the Adoption Act. The draft legislation is based on recommendations made by Members of the family law review committee. This group recommended substantial changes to the Child Welfare Act, many of which are incorporated into the proposed acts.

Our current Child Welfare Act was drafted in the 1960s. It is outdated and no longer meets our needs. It is time to bring forward legislation that supports and strengthens family ties and enables communities to become more involved in child and family service matters. Tabling these documents now will enable further dialogue about family law and child welfare issues that are of major concern to all residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, it is anticipated that this next phase of the consultation process will involve seeking ideas from young people, parents, helping agencies, aboriginal groups, women's groups and other interested persons. Finding a balance between the roles and responsibilities of government and of parents in raising and protecting children, especially children at risk, is a difficult task. There are bound to be some parts of these proposed acts that are controversial and it will not be possible for everybody to agree. The important thing, however, is to start exploring these issues and to involve the public in the discussion.

These legislative initiatives will be dealt with by the Members of the next Legislative Assembly. Meanwhile, public consultation that is needed to move towards a family-based, service-oriented child welfare system will continue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Mr. Speaker, I will look to determine that. I have full confidence in the Minister, in the carrying out of his duties in these very difficult times...

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And I have full confidence that he has followed the proper procedures, but I will check again to ensure that those procedures were followed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when this issue HON. arose, the Minister responsible knew very well that R was a controversial issue and made the proper steps to institute these changes. I believe the Minister responsible answered the question, that these steps were just recently taken within the last couple of hours and, surely, the paperwork will follow as soon as possible. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it's my understanding that the department has full responsibility to take such action. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is quite right. There is a process that is followed with the Minister handling the responsibility. I believe that all the processes were followed. The steps that had to be taken to do the termination have involved all the departmental responsibilities that had to be involved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated to the Member, I have received information from the Keewatin Regional Health Board that has apprised me of the measures they've taken. They also indicated the concern they have is although there are vehicles available that they can contract out, it may work for awhile, but then the businesses are no longer there. Certainly, Mr. Speaker, I believe as circumstances change, we have to address the issue. Yes, I will continue to work with the Keewatin health board to see that patients, particularly if they are seriously ill, are comfortable in their transportation from the health centre and in their transportation out of the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the matter of the community health centre vehicles in Repulse Bay, the health centre has two skidoos and one all-terrain vehicle and the health centre has two community health nurses. The health board indicates that the number of vehicles is sufficient. The other back-up that the health centre has is that the nurse on call is allowed to take the vehicle home for government business and return to the health centre to see a patient.

Mr. Speaker, the position of the Keewatin Regional Health Board is that it supports local enterprises, such as taxi services. Under the medical travel policy and the non-injured health benefits agreement, ground transport does not pay for travel within the community to go to the airport. The board has indicated to me that it has made its policy positively clear and they are abiding by their general policy where, when a closed in vehicle is required, they support the use of local taxi services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that no matter if an individual had this portfolio all by its lonesome self, we would be faced with the same difficulties or challenges to implement such a significant program with so many different languages that are to be accommodated.

As the Member knows, quite a significant part of the language program has already been transferred to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. This role takes on the very significant area, the encouragement of maintenance and enhancement of languages where the fundamental role is to try to move to the community-based support. In fact, this responsibility is shared; however, I know that the honourable Member realizes that it's very difficult to please everyone given that the languages are at various stages and have various needs; whereby some languages are very developed and used on a day-to-day basis, other language groups are looking for other areas of support to make sure that even just the development of the language or the writing of the language is put in place. So, for anyone, it's not an easy task if you want to do it right. I believe that it will continue to be a difficult decision to see who gets the support, because there are limits to the amount of money that this program has in its budget.

Mr. Speaker, other than the sharing of this responsibility with Education, Culture and Employment and the other parts of the program, there was no intention at this time or in the remaining time of this government to make further changes. Thank you.