Oral questions. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. A controversial issue that has arisen lately has been the requirement that counsellors in the drug and alcohol program abstain from alcohol. I would like to ask the Minister whether this should also be extended to include gambling and smoking, because they are both forms of addiction which everybody in the NWT is familiar with, and it would be a bad role model if people engaged in that activity also smoke and gamble.

Mr. Whitford.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Since this whole business of requiring people in this social field to be good role models for people that have problems, I would like to ask the Minister how we will police this so that we will know there are no secret drinkers or no people who engage in secret activity. What kind of policing takes place so we are sure the people who are required to obey the sobriety clause in fact remain sober?

Mr. Whitford.

Second supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Whitford.

Oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regard to that topic, I have comments on that. My question is to the Minister of Social Services. I wonder if the alcohol counsellors in the communities were consulted before this was put into place. Were there information sessions? This has caused a lot of problems in the communities. I do not think the communities were informed enough before this was put into place. I am not saying that these people should stop drinking. I am just wondering if this can be policed. Will this be a good policy for the future?

Some communities have signed and some have not. This agreement came by fax and there seems to be some difficulty in where it came from. Do you feel they were informed enough before this was put in place?

Minister of Social Services, Mr. Whitford.

Oral questions. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Renewable Resources, regarding watersheds. Mr. Speaker, I do have a concern in the Western Arctic that eventually we might be faced with a situation in which the Mackenzie River could be polluted to a point where it would not be suitable for human consumption. Are there any studies at this point in time being done to identify where there is fresh water and whether or not those watersheds could be protected for future use? I am referring to lakes where there is fresh water, like Willow Lake, Drum Lake, Tathlina Lake. Those are all freshwater lakes. I would like to know if those areas could be protected in the event that the Mackenzie River does get polluted.

Minister of Renewable Resources, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my department's mandate to make sure that the quality of water throughout the Territories is protected. My department is continuing to monitor the rivers and waters within the system of the NWT. We are also continuing negotiations with the Alberta government. We are trying to get the concern of the NWT residents across to the Government of Alberta. However, the negotiations broke down some time ago. We are still endeavouring to make sure that the honourable Member's concern and the NWT residents' concerns are adhered to by the other jurisdictions. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Gargan.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister's response regarding the monitoring. Naturally, if there is monitoring going on, this monitoring would indicate whether or not we are getting more pollution in the water than would be acceptable for human consumption. My problem, Mr. Speaker, is that they can do the monitoring on the Mackenzie River but in the event that it does get polluted, what are the options? We should protect watersheds in all the regions so that we do have a second option; lakes like Drum Lake, Willow Lake, Kakisa Lake and Tathlina Lake are protected in the event that the Mackenzie does get polluted. Are there any initiatives right now to identify where we do have fresh water which has not been polluted or touched on at this point in time?

Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is very hard to try and control the pollution coming from the air, from the pesticides, and forest fires. However, we are trying to do whatever we can to make sure those lakes that have not been polluted yet remain the way they are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.