Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There must be a good reason, but I am not aware of the issue right now. I will take the question as notice and get back to the Member. Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Item 5, Oral Questions. Mr. Dent.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a set of guidelines, for this committee of senior deputy ministers to follow. It gives direction for applying the spirit and intent. There is nothing stopping this department from waiving the five per cent local preference in future, if it is in the interest of the spirit and intent of the Business Incentive Policy. I would like to make it clear to all Members of this Assembly that there was only one responsive bidder to part "a" of this tender package. The rest were not responsive because they did not meet the quality of the package, so their bids were not acceptable. Consequently, only one person qualified for the tender. Thank you.

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

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With pleasure I will do that. Thank you.

Item 5, Oral Questions. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Government Leader in her current capacity as Health Minister. She commented earlier that December 1 is designated as World A.I.D.S. day. In the Minister's statement that day, she provided a list of some of the basic information about A.I.D.S. and it has been included in previous years' public education programs. Where is this government going with future educational efforts with respect to A.I.D.S.? There seems to be a disconcerting lack of direction within the Department of Health with regard to the planning and coordinating of A.I.D.S. awareness. The Standing Committee on Finance noted that there were not even any objectives in the 1992-93 Main Estimates which dealt specifically with A.I.D.S. prevention. Can the acting Minister indicate to the House where this government is actively pursuing specific programs aimed at A.I.D.S. awareness, education and prevention?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, with regard to health issues; education and knowledge being delivered to communities and regions -- whether it is an issue of the program on A.I.D.S. or many of the other issues surrounding S.T.D.s and new issues that people are dealing with -- the Department of Health and the government in the very first years embarked on a door to door survey for retrieving and giving information. We combatted the lack of will for receiving the information, but the big problem is that as the educational process goes on, there is still the lack of awareness that "it

could not happen to me. This is something that happens to someone else."

We still have the problem of trying to create an audience receptive to whatever we do. As a result, after that program and after numerous meetings with the health boards, it was proposed that many people in the regions felt that they had a different clientele and wanted to deliver an effective program in their area. For example, there was the language issue and the issue of what was acceptable to people and the best way for them to receive information. As a result, many of the resources that were available in the Department of Health were earmarked to go to the different regional boards and into the different regional programs so that the community of interest could develop a program that would be appropriate to that community, whether it was with language, radio programming or a newspaper or information booklet.

Each nursing station has a high degree of pro-active programs to bring into the community clinics. When I had that responsibility, we did travel to the communities and we were getting more of a response from men to come into the health centres. We felt there could not be an overall program for everybody in the Northwest Territories.

So, how is it best handled? One suggestion was to find something appropriate at the regional levels where people could identify what level of knowledge people were at and what the specific problems in the communities were. A conscious effort was taken to try to provide the resources at the regional health board level so that the exercise could take place. If a community or region came forth with an extra program, then we would entertain it as the Department of Health, in terms of giving the financial resources or going to someone else to try to help. The whole idea was to try to get the regional bodies to deal with that because what is appropriate for Deh Cho, in delivering an awareness program, is entirely different from the Sahtu or Baffin for example.

The whole new idea of people coming forward when they become H.I.V. positive, and going to the communities themselves to talk to the people was more important than the A.I.D.S. spots we have for general promotion. These people could provide more to the communities and regions when they make that presentation themselves. We have been funding and giving support to these types of initiatives because we are told that they are more effective than the total global program. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While I can appreciate the need for some flexibility and the need to approach this in terms of regional initiatives, somebody has to have the overall responsibility of determining the amount of money that is required, and the overall coordination, etc. The fact of the matter is, A.I.D.S. kills. Somebody has to take the responsibility for putting adequate resources into educational programs. My question is, does the department have, given the flexibility of regional initiatives, an overall strategy with respect to A.I.D.S. awareness?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I know that strategy was begun about four years ago. I will endeavour to see whether that has been consolidated with the input from the boards. There is an overall strategy for the Northwest Territorial global scene, but incorporated in that is a respect to regions. I will get the detailed information for the Member. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to pose my question to the Minister of Renewable Resources. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Renewable Resources with regard to the aircraft maintenance facility, what was the basis for the Minister's comments indicating that the community was not united on this issue for building such a facility?

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the community of Fort Smith was working with the Minister of Economic Development in pursuing a possible joint venture that would allow the community to have a facility. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that the band, the Metis local and the Chamber of Commerce were working together to put together a plan. I was told some time ago that all three groups were not able to put forth a joint venture that was agreed to by all three organizations. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

I would like to ask the Minister, was this the basis of his department's request for a comprehensive review of the Fire Management Program to delay the building of an aircraft maintenance facility project? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.