Good morning. Orders of the day for Friday, February 14, 1992. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to announce that prices for all hunting licences and tags will increase in July 1993. This price increase will be the first overall adjustment since 1978. During the past two years department officials have conducted an extensive review and compared our prices with other jurisdictions. The findings indicate that in general our fees are lower and certainly do not reflect the uniqueness of some of the species of big game that are hunted in the Northwest Territories.

The new prices will bring our fee schedule in line with other jurisdictions. Furthermore, the new fees will better reflect the value we place on our wildlife resource. By announcing our intention now, the outfitting industry will have 18 months to review their operations plans and modify their marketing brochures. Mr. Speaker, I will be tabling a list of the increases today. Thank you.

Ministers' statements. Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a student's success in school depends on many factors. One of the most important of these factors is good health. Young people cannot concentrate on their studies if their basic health needs are not being met; for instance, if they are not eating nutritious food, or if they have not had enough sleep. There are also more serious threats to the health of our young people, including high-risk behaviours such as substance abuse.

In order to teach children good health practices, the Departments of Education, Health and Social Services jointly developed the NWT school health program, which became mandatory in all schools in 1987.

It is now important to find out what young people in the NWT have learned about health since the program was introduced. I am pleased to announce that Health and Welfare Canada has given the Department of Education a grant of $125,000 to conduct the first phase of such a study. The Department of Health and a group from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario will assist with the study.

Students will be surveyed about their attitudes toward health, their knowledge about health, and their actual behaviour. It will also assess the effect the school health program has had on the students, as well as the impact of various community factors.

The survey will ask people in the communities, as well as school staff, about the implementation of the health program in their school. This information will help determine how effective the program has been and will help staff from both the Department of Education and the Department of Health in planning for revised and new programs.

Mr. Speaker, if we are going to develop strategies that will help students improve their health, we must first assess what they have learned from the school health program and how other factors affect choices regarding their health. This project will be the first step toward gaining this information. Qujannamiik.

Ministers' statements. Ministers' statements. Before I go on to Members,' statements I would like to inform the House that later on this morning I will be giving a brief seminar to the teachers' conference. The teachers from across the Territories are here in Yellowknife, and Mr. Pudluk will assume the chair.

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is Valentine's Day, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to assert today, my love for my fellow man, Members on this side, and even Members whom we have chosen to be our Executive Council. However, I have learned, Mr. Speaker, over the last several months, having gone through an election like everyone else, that the major criticism that was made of me is that my natural good nature has come to the fullest far too much over the last year or two. I have not been as tough as I should be; I have not been as demanding; I have not been as vocal; I have not been as critical, and I have not tried to make this government as accountable as it should be.

Therefore, although I will continue to love my fellow man as I was taught as a young boy in Sunday school and other places, Mr. Speaker, I will continue, to the very best of my ability, to represent the people of Yellowknife Centre so that they feel they have somebody in this House who represents their interests, and I will fight to the very, very last drop of my blood on their behalf. Thank you very much.

That is very nice Valentine's gift, Mr. Lewis. Members' statements. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a speeding ticket worth $58 which I received on February 1st while I was going to Hay River to attend a bingo with my family.

---Laughter Mr. Speaker, I was stopped by the motor vehicles officer of highway patrol on the south side of the Mackenzie River ice crossing. He issued a ticket to me for going 45 miles per hour in a 40 mile an hour speed zone. Mr. Speaker, I had exceeded the speed limit, but I was driving with due care and caution. I did not pass any vehicle on the ice crossing, and I made sure that there was adequate room between my truck and the vehicle in front of me, as well as the vehicle behind me. Mr. Speaker, I was wearing my seat belt.

---Applause

I made sure my passengers were wearing their seat belts as well. But I am upset about the fact that we can have as many as five highway-patrol vehicles stationed at Enterprise. While I have never encountered a patrol vehicle during my frequent travels to Fort Providence, Fort Simpson and Yellowknife, the day I was ticketed I noticed highway patrols on the north and south sides of the Mackenzie River ice crossing.

Mr. Speaker, I have a concern regarding certain communities being ticketed more than others. I have looked into the matter and have discovered that since July of 1991, 26 tickets have been issued in Hay River area, 14 have been issued in the Enterprise area, 11 tickets were issued in the Fort Providence area and one was issued in the Fort Rae/Yellowknife area. There do not seem to be any tickets issued by the motor vehicles officers on the Dempster Highway, the Ingraham Trail, the Fort Liard Highway, the Fort Resolution Highway nor the access roads to Apex and Nanisivik.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, I am a strong critic of the judicial system and its supposedly equal application to our society. I find it quite unacceptable that law enforcement is applied in one area but not in other jurisdictions. I will be pursuing the matter further, Mr. Speaker.

Members' statements. Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This being Valentine's Day, I would like to speak about a very impressive woman in Baker Lake. Her name is Susan Toolooktook. Susan Toolooktook departed this morning for Nauhaaq, which is a hill across from our community, called Sugarloaf Mountain. She left this morning at 8:00 o'clock. There were 50 people who gathered on the ice at 7:30 this morning to wish her good luck. This walk is being called Nauhaaq, walk of love. She is doing this to raise money for local families that are poverty stricken. A committee has been formed to collect and oversee donations. A spokesperson for this committee has been chosen, and this is Tom Kudloo.

The weather in Baker Lake for February 14th is expected to be -38 degrees. Susan has brought an HF radio with her and plans to make contact with the community of Baker Lake to keep them informed of her progress. The round trip to Nauhaaq is 50 miles. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mrs. Jeannie Marie-Jewell on February 12, 1992. The new pulp and paper regulation package that was published in the Canada Gazette had been put together by Environment Canada following extensive public consultation with provincial and territorial governments, the pulp and paper industry and environment groups.

The Department of Renewable Resources participated in the public consultation meeting held in Yellowknife regarding the amendments and prepared a series of questions relating to the concerns of the Northwest Territories. Our major concern was how the regulations would address the cumulative effects of several mills operating on the same river system. Department officials also participated in a workshop in Ottawa regarding the amendments. This was also followed up by correspondence to the federal Minister of the Environment.

The federal Environment Minister responded to our question by stating that cumulative effects could not specifically be dealt with by "end of pipe" regulations. However, our concerns would be addressed by the Northern Rivers Study, and if problems arise once the regulations are in place, then site-specific regulations could be developed. Environmental effects-monitoring studies required by the pulp mills may also lead to more specific site requirements.

Therefore, after reviewing the draft regulations, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, and based on the comments from the federal Minister, the Government of the Northwest Territories' concerns have been addressed. Those regulations call for no detection of dioxins and furons in pulp mill effluent and a ban on defoamers which form dioxins and furons. Once these regulations are implemented, they will virtually eliminate dioxins and furons in pulp mill effluent. Thank you.

Returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Lewis.

Minister of Education, Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the other school. The only information I have at this point is that it is teachers who are teaching at the SAM School who are concerned about the situation.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

In light of the fact that we do have a worsening situation -- and I verified this to be the case, Mr. Speaker -- what is the Minister prepared to do in order to cut this off, to prevent it from spreading?

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have asked my department to pay very close attention to this situation. There is a process in place, as I outlined yesterday, for teachers requesting administration days in addition to the professional days that are available to them. I believe professional days are five days a year. I believe the teachers in Inuvik are requesting an additional 2.5 days to do their administrative work. My deputy minister is working on it to see what we can do. At this point, what I require is a community council supporting the teachers and taking it to the divisional board. It is up to the divisional board, if they approve it, to take the request to me. I am told that my office has the authority to grant the wishes if they are supported by both organizations. Thank you.

Second supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Since the Minister's officials have gone to Inuvik and have told local people that they cannot have -- and it is not just administration days; these are called in-service days, 1.5 in-service days -- since he has already told them that they cannot have this, is he then prepared to be overruled? They have been told they cannot have 1.5 days; the official has already indicated that that cannot happen. So I would like to ask the Minister, if in fact there is a recommendation locally that they do have the 1.5 days, is he prepared to give it?

Mr. Allooloo.