Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to bring to the attention of honourable Members that the Ministers who have accepted the portfolios were not advised of which portfolios they were going to get until 12:30 today, and it is my understanding that the Commissioner has not signed off the written correspondence to officially make them Cabinet Ministers. Due to the fact that I had several questions to answer and I was late in doing that, I hope that the honourable Members would give the new sitting Members a little bit of leeway. Thank you.

Oral Questions. Mr. Koe.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On November 30, 1992, I raised questions in this Assembly to the then Minister of Education about the status of the transfer of the old adult education building located in Inuvik, to the Native Women's Association to use as a training centre. At that time, the Minister said he would get back to me. Mr. Speaker, I am still waiting. My question to the acting Minister of Education is, when will this government be transferring this building to the Native Women's Association?

Mr. Kakfwi, the temporary acting Minister.

Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

The need is not for new office space, the need is for classroom space, and the old adult education building apparently suits the needs of the Native Women's Association. They are currently leasing space and the lease price they pay, I was told, would cover the cost of moving into this new building. the Departments of Education and Public Works had investigated this at the time, I think it has been three or four months now. My concern is, why is it taking so long? My question again is, why can the departments not get together, assess the situation and come up with an answer quickly?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has taken up some time to get to the Ministers' Statement 1-12(3) "Getting Down to Business", a statement delivered by the Premier on November 17. In this statement, the Minister indicated that she will be departing from tradition. It is very unclear to us, Mr. Speaker, why the Commissioner's address has been referred to as a throne speech. This was, in fact, delivered by the Premier, rather than by the Commissioner. Could the Premier give us some rationale as to why the Commissioner did not give us a Commissioner's address, but a statement delivered by the Premier?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I probably am not as well versed to the protocol that the honourable Member is quoting from. I do not know what protocol he is talking about or, what general standard of address that he is talking about. I generally ask the department to present what we are doing and how we are doing it. I request that it be written up in that manner. If it should have been done by the Commissioner, I was not aware of that. However, if the honourable Member feels that some things are best said by the Commissioner, I am certainly willing to have that input. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Will the Premier give us some explanation as to why, on this particular occasion, the decision was made to have the throne speech given by the Premier, who obviously is not the Commissioner, and whether she intends to outline Cabinet priorities and accomplishments in this manner in the future?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I really do not know what he is talking about. I am not sure that there was a design, in my mind, for what a Commissioner would say and what a Premier would say. If he thinks that a statement should be made by the Commissioner, I would be pleased to learn some protocol from him, if he feels that some things are inappropriate for the Premier to say and best rests with the Commissioner. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question will be for the Government Leader. I am following up on the question my colleague from Yellowknife Centre had asked

regarding your statement of November 17, which she titled "Getting Down to Business". Mr. Speaker, in her statement, the Government Leader remarked that, over the first 12 months of her term she has, "developed and begun implementation of a comprehensive plan that is making fundamental changes to the structure of government and the way it does business in the territories." Mr. Speaker, we have seen a number of documents, Minister's statements and discussion papers in this House and even promises which have come forward from the government. I do not believe that we have seen a single plan that shows us how they are supposed to be integrated with time lines for the implementation of this plan and a basic evaluation. Is the Government Leader working with a single, integrated plan or merely looking at different initiatives for this government? Thank you.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, for many years, the people whom we represent have complained about the way the government operates. What we have tried to do is develop a more streamlined approach to the operation of the government, which would make it easier for us to respond to initiatives that are developed through this Legislative Assembly. A year ago, we had a planning session at a strategic meeting which we all attended. So far, we have been working on that plan. We have tried to implement some of the stages on reshaping northern government. At the same time, we are trying to respond to initiatives and requests that have been put forth from the regions and this Legislative Assembly.

However, the problem we have faced in the past is how to streamline the government so that people feel that they could access programs and responsibilities from this government. We are still working out that initial plan. I do not want to say where we had the meeting, because other initiatives that have happened since then give a location. We did have a strategic planning session on what we wanted to do with consolidation and streamlining the government. We are still working out that plan. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, about a year ago we were still in session. The Members took the time to go page by page through the Beatty Report. Everyone felt that the Beatty Report would be the blueprint for the government. As time went on, the credibility of the Beatty Report eroded on some of its basic recommendations. I do not know if it was because it had some factual errors. Is the strategic plan from the "Getting Down to Business" statement developed from the Beatty Report? Was the Beatty Report the basis of this particular plan? Thank you.