Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Communication is an integral part of our society today. New technologies are developed every day, therefore the ability to communicate is critical in our world. Most of us communicate through the use of speech; however, many members of an important segment of society -- school-age children -- have difficulty with speech and language. Fortunately, there are trained specialists who can work with those children. Currently, the Stanton Regional Hospital has two speech pathologists on staff. These pathologists have to service the entire Western Arctic. The two pathologists cannot keep up with the workload. The previous government promised an additional three pathologists to assist with that workload. Sadly, the additional pathologists to date have not been hired.
Mr. Speaker, in these times of fiscal restraint I recognize it is difficult to expand services such as this. However, the problem remains. Our school-age children who are experiencing speech difficulties are not receiving the care they require and continue to be a large financial drain on the territorial budgets through incarceration of those particular individuals.
A group of concerned parents are interested in starting a speech pathology clinic -- I may have to go there myself.
---Laughter
To do so they would require government funding. Ideally, this funding could come in the form of coverage by the NWT health care for services rendered.
We often say our children are our future. By ensuring they are given the tools with which they may be successful, we will be making an investment in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.