That is currently one of the topics for discussion between our consultation and cooperation committee and the government of the Northwest Territories. The government has to develop an Official Languages Act implementation plan. It does so with the expert assistance of Mr. Bastarache and Ms. Dyane Adam.
Discussions are underway to implement a plan, for health care among other things, because it is one of the most important items on the agenda. Obviously, I don’t want to get into too much detail right now about discussions that are taking place with the NWT government, however I can tell you that this is certainly a key issue that we’re fighting tooth and nail over. The status quo is unacceptable to us.
It is really important to have a tailored approach to ensure that bilingual services are available both in clinics and elsewhere. We want to be able to get services in French without relying on chance. We want to know that at a particular time on a particular day, will be able to get a particular type of service. For example, on a specific day a specialist would be available, with the nurse on hand at all times, or perhaps specialist services on a monthly basis, when the specialists come to Yellowknife. There are actually a lot of medical specialists here in the Northwest Territories. They come from Alberta and other provinces on rotation. The NWT government representatives might be able to say more about this.