Good afternoon. I wish to inform the House that I have received the following message from His Honour, the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories: "Please be advised that I wish to recommend to the 12th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories the passage of the following bill: Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Insurance Act. Yours truly, D.L. Norris, Commissioner."

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize visitors from the Province of Alberta, who are seated in the Speaker's Gallery. First, a friend who has visited us on many occasions, the Hon. Dr. David Carter, Member for Egmont.

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He is accompanied to Yellowknife by his wife, Mrs. Jean Carter, who is not here in the House today. Also with the Speaker are four interns from the Alberta Legislative Assembly's internship program. They are: Laurie McKay, Jason Foster, Mark Patton, and Greg Moffat.

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Welcome to our Legislative Assembly. Orders of the day for Tuesday, February 18, 1992. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Ministers' statements. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are different styles of houses now being constructed in the Northwest Territories, but the people in the communities are not given the opportunity to choose the kind of house that they would like to occupy. Some of the elderly people occupy two-storey houses with bedrooms upstairs and furnaces and storage areas on the lower level. I am especially concerned about the elderly who occupy those types of houses. If there was a house fire in a lower level they would be trapped upstairs, and the houses are not supplied with folding ladders which they should have in case of an emergency. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members' statements. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since I was elected to serve in this House just four short months ago, many important issues have been raised; issues such as the need to maximize northern and local benefits in construction projects, the escalating costs of health and social services, and the possible creation of Nunavut. One issue that has not

been raised, but which troubles me greatly, is the state of education and the system in the Northwest Territories.

I have been looking at the statistics on enrolment, attendance and graduation rates provided in the Department of Education's annual report and frankly, I find them frightening. I will quote some of the statistics that particularly frighten me. In 1980-81, 213 students graduated from grade 12 in the Northwest Territories. Ten years later this number had dropped to 162. In the intervening years we have surpassed our 1980-81 graduation totals only once. In my own region, with a population of 5500 people, there were only five high school graduates in 1989-90.

The Department of Education has told us that the education system is improving because we are seeing a steady rise in school enrolment each year. Enrolment is an important measure of the performance of our education system, but of what use is it to us if we are merely producing more drop-outs instead of graduates? It has always been my belief that our education system should focus on producing graduates who can go on to further training in vocational and practical programs, yet the number of students graduating from our system with general diplomas is decreasing while the number of graduates with advanced diplomas is increasing only slightly. It seems to me that something has gone wrong.

Mr. Speaker, the performance of our education system has an impact on most other issues we deal with in this House. I have spoken about the need to implement policies like "buy North" and "tender North" that maximize the benefits to Northerners, local workers and companies; however, we are simply paying lip service to these policies if we cannot train our people to take advantage of them.

For years I have listened to people tell us about the social problems in our society. We have heard in this House frequently...

Mr. Todd, your time has expired.

Could I have unanimous consent to continue, Mr. Speaker?

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There being no nays proceed, Mr. Todd.

For years I have listened to people tell us about the social problems in our society. We hear it in the House all the time --alcoholism, suicide, family violence. To me, these problems stem from a sense of hopelessness that is borne out from a lack of opportunity to advance forward. Education is the key that will open the door to opportunity. Without it the North will be forever saddled with the high costs of social programs and communities afflicted with despair.

Mr. Speaker, I do not have the answers to the problems I have raised today, but I do know there has to be a comprehensive long-term plan to solve these problems, and frankly, to date I have not seen it. You can be assured in this House that I will be asking the Minister of Education what his department's plan is to improve the education system in the NWT, especially the number of students graduating from our educational program. Thank you.

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Members' statements. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) When we met here last before Christmas, I was then a newly elected member. At the time, I told the Government Leader that I wanted to work with the Government Ministers. The Government Leader told me if I wanted to, I was welcome to work with her and the Ministers. I was thankful for her response. Since Christmas and up to the present time, three Ministers have joined me in visiting my constituency. I want to thank these three Ministers.

On January 17, 18 and 19, one of the Ministers, John Ningark, visited Fort Laird, Nahanni Butte and Fort Simpson. I want to thank him for this visit. The Minister comes from the extreme Arctic, the land where there are no trees. He comes from Pelly Bay. Fort Laird is a land with huge trees, and he was able to see these trees. As well, he mentioned that he had never seen a moose. As we flew around, we must have seen over one hundred moose. I want to thank him for having been to my constituency with me.

Donny Morin, Minister of Housing and Public Works, visited my constituency on January 22, 23 and 24. Housing was discussed in Fort Simpson. We travelled to Jean Marie River and Wrigley. People were able to discuss housing and public works issues, and I want to thank him for the visit.

Tony Whitford, Minister of Health and Social Services, was in Fort Simpson on January 8th. Issues concerning health and hospital were discussed. I would like to thank him for giving us that opportunity.

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Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Mr. Morin.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to a question asked by Mr. Nerysoo on Monday, February 17, 1992, with regard to an analysis of the potential impact of the restructuring of the NWT Housing Corporation which has taken place. Restructuring would entail the present corporation adopting a departmental structure and the elimination of the present board of directors. Our analysis indicates that the restructuring would allow for significant savings to be made in the administration of the board as well as ensuring that the housing policies and housing programs are closely co-ordinated with this government's economic, social, health and education policies.

An important element of this analysis was reviewing the structures and changes which are taking place in the provinces. Several provinces have changed or are in the process of changing to a departmental structure. Provinces which have converted or are soon to be converted are Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Our analysis also indicates that it would likely be desirable to maintain some form of corporate structure, operating under the authority of a departmental structure, in order that existing agreements with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation would be continued and to ensure continued access to all CMHC programs.

Restructuring of the corporation would have no major immediate impact upon employees of the corporation nor upon internal operations and programs. The social housing programs managed by the corporation are vital to many territorial residents, and the delivery of these programs would continue.

Restructuring would eventually require some changes to the NWT Housing Corporation Act as well as changes to administration and management policies, directives and procedures. These changes would be required to reflect the closer linkages to the government with regard to the departmental structure. Thank you.

Returns to oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to Question O19-12(2), asked by Henry Zoe on February 13, 1992. As the Members are aware, this government implemented an expenditure management program for the 1991-92 fiscal year effective November 25, 1991 which applies to all departments and agencies.

Specifically, all capital projects for which a contract had not been entered into by November 29, 1991 were to be submitted to the Financial Management Board for review, to consider the possibility of cancellation or deferral.

I concurred with the recommendation to delay the facility at Lac la Martre to follow the new airport construction. A heliport is planned as part of the station, and this should be located at the airport. The current site that is proposed for the Lac la Martre base is in the middle of town. This is not a good site for the heliport. Other communities who have heliports in the middle of town are also requesting relocation of the offices. We expect this would happen in Lac la Martre and prefer not to have to move the facility once it is constructed.

The department advised the community of Lac la Martre in the fall of 1991 that the project was under review and there was a possibility of postponing construction of the station to coincide with the reconstruction of the airport.

The chairman of the Financial Management Board met with all deputy ministers on December 20, 1991 to identify potential reductions or deferrals. The actual decision to defer the Lac la Martre project was confirmed by the Financial Management Board on December 24, 1991. We have not formally advised the community of any decision pending the standing committee on finance review and the tabling of the proposed reductions.

Returns to oral questions. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to Question O45-12(2), with regard to Southerners owning homes in both the South and the North, asked by Mr. Pudluk on Monday, February 17th.

The Housing Corporation approves clients for the home-ownership assistance program, HAP, who have proven that they are in need of assistance. In other words, Mr. Speaker, applicants must be living in a house that is inadequate or unsuitable to their needs and be unable to afford such a house within 30 per cent of their income.

The Housing Corporation has a residency policy which requires applicants to have lived in the Territories for five consecutive years prior to their application. In the case of applicants who currently own a house, whether it is located in the South or here in the North, the key is affordability.

The Housing Corporation will consider applications from people who have homes, because many families in the North live in their own homes but do not have proper facilities or are overcrowded. These families would not be able to afford an adequate and suitable home without government assistance.

Returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask a question to the Government Leader -- oh, I did not realize she was not in the House, but I believe she has a Deputy Government Leader -- did you get demoted?

Mrs. Marie-Jewell, the Government Leader is not here. Perhaps you would like to pose your question to a specific Minister or wait until the Government Leader comes back.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will ask my question to the Minister of Renewable Resources. In regard to the question to the Minister of Renewable Resources about testing procedures used in sampling dioxins and furans in fish as part of efforts to monitor water quality. I am sure that the Minister is aware that during the environmental assessment panel review of the ALPAC proposal way back in December, 1989, data which showed high levels of dioxins and furans in the liver of fish from the Wapiti River were with held by the Alberta Forestry Minister. Instead, the samples, at that time, were reanalyzed and only the contaminant levels in the fish fillets were reported to the panel. When they were criticized about this, Mr. Speaker, the Alberta Forestry and Environment Ministers claimed that they were only interested in testing the edible portions of the fish.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that you are aware that the aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories have long considered the liver of the fish as a delicacy, and since the Minister indicated last week that there were some furans and dioxins in the burbot liver of the fish samples taken from Chitty Lake and Leland Lake, I would like to know: Will the Minister direct his department officials to conduct a review, which can be tabled in this House, of all sampling methods used in the various water quality monitoring programs undertaken by Alberta, the federal government and the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

The Minister of Renewable Resources, Mr. Ningark.