Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yesterday I questioned the Minister on another matter regarding the Inuvik Health and Social Services Board and it turns out that we were both under the wrong assumption. Would it be possible for the funding to flow directly from his department to the Transition House in Inuvik and not through the health board? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In my Member's statement I spoke of the transition home in Inuvik having to constantly fight for funding. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if he could inform me as to why the Transition House does not receive the full funding allocated by his department to the Inuvik Health and Social Services Board. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Recently I met with workers at the Inuvik Transition House, which is a women's shelter in Inuvik. I have to tell you, Madam Speaker, I was very disappointed at how this government and its agencies treat an organization like the Inuvik Transition House which provides a valuable service to the community. Every year the Transition House must fight with the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Authority to negotiate a contract and secure funding for the next year. Every year the delays and frustrations surrounding the renewal of the contract cause stress and anxiety for the staff of the Inuvik Transition House.

In fact, Madam Speaker, just to keep the centre up and running, the Inuvik Transition House Society has to hold bingos on a regular basis to secure the necessary funding. The issue of finding adequate funding has become such a burden to the staff of the Inuvik Transition House that a staff member recently resigned because she could no longer handle the stress. The Inuvik Transition House unfortunately handles referrals from the outlying communities of the Beaufort-Delta. It has not received an increase in its contract or base funding for the last five years. Yet I know, Madam Speaker, that the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board has gotten an increase of approximately $40,000 from the Department of Health and Social Services for delivery of the program during the same time frame. This does not seem fair to me.

During our AOC retreat in Tuktoyaktuk, we toured the transition house there also. They face the same problems as Inuvik, with inadequate and unsure funding sources. I am sure that the other women's shelters throughout the NWT would tell me the same thing.

In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to say that I believe that women's shelters and transition houses are an essential public service and deserve to be funded as such. The people who work in these facilities are exposed to situations on a daily basis, dealing with the fallout from family violence that causes enough stress in their lives. As a government we should not be contributing to these stress levels. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister comes across this information, he said he would share it with me, so I am looking forward to seeing that because that is news to me. I was of the understanding that it had not gone out yet. There is no question there.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that it hasn't even gone out to tender yet or for an RFP, because I have had some concerns from some constituents living up there that they haven't seen it yet. They are waiting for it. My understanding is that it is being awarded or given to the same company that is doing it now. This looks like backdoor sole sourcing. Would the Minister provide me a reason for this?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Could you inform this House as to the status of the RFP contract that provides security for the Inuvik Regional Hospital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago, Thomas Berger put a 10-year moratorium on the pipeline in order to allow land claims to be settled and to allow northern communities to prepare for the construction. Twenty years have passed since that moratorium ended and most of us, like northern businesses, have been busy preparing and trying to build capacity in order to capitalize on the pipeline.

Unfortunately, some of us, even 20 years later, are still not ready, Mr. Speaker. For instance, one group is holding the future of the pipeline hostage while they try to negotiate their land claim settlement. This group already has two pipelines from their settlement areas going south. We didn't try and hold them up in their development because it would not have been fair. Now I think we deserve the same respect. We need a champion, Mr. Speaker, to get this pipeline going. Mr. Handley, Nellie Cournoyea, and Fred Carmichael are all trying to champion the cause in order to get the benefits of the pipeline to the people of the NWT, but they can only do so much.

Mr. Speaker, I am not here to criticize or point fingers, but we have too many people with their own agendas who are going to jeopardize the project. Mr. Speaker, we have a representative in Ottawa elected by the people of the NWT. Why aren't they fighting for the settlement of the claim so this project can move forward? We need the federal government to do what is best for the residents of the NWT. I want to see this project go ahead. I want to see the youth benefiting from all of the opportunities that will be there. I want to see the NWT get their fair share of the revenues.

Mr. Speaker, for the sake of all the young people across the North, let us not waste any more valuable time. We can't afford to wait another 20 years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize my new constituency assistant, Meeka Kisoun. Welcome to the gallery.

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Mr. Speaker, most of you here have known me for only six months, so you can appreciate the fact that someone can put up with me for 26 years. With that I'd like to introduce my wife, Judy.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, Mr. Speaker, Inuvik lost one of our young people when Marshall Sayers perished while skipping on the ice with a snowmobile. I can't help but think that without alcohol, this would not have happened. Too many people in the NWT die because of alcohol. If we took out all the alcohol-related deaths, many more of our family members would still be with us today.

As young people, many of us have gone through this, and now, as adults, and hopefully grown up, we speak from experience when we ask that you not follow the same lifestyle. It's just not worth it. So many opportunities are out there for you to succeed and make a positive contribution to your community and the NWT.

With graduation festivities coming up in the next few weeks, we ask that everyone be careful and stay sober; enjoy your special day. I ask this as someone who has gone through it and found out that it's just not what it's cut out to be. I knew Marshall and I'm saddened by the fact that he was taken from his family before he should have been. I'm sure that the family will agree with me when I ask all the young people to learn from this and not have his death be in vain. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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