The question is taken as notice. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today is budget day in the House of Commons, and the federal Minister of Finance is scheduled to make a budget speech at 2:30 p.m. our time. This budget may have implications for our government's finances. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I would seek unanimous consent to waive the rules to recess the House to the call of the Chair to hear the federal budget speech.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to waive the rules. Are there any nays? There are no nays. I will take one more oral question and then we will recess the House. Oral questions. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As many Members of this House are aware, the cost of food in the North is quite high. I just want to identify the community of Trout Lake as, I believe, one of the highest in the Northwest Territories, and according to the latest food price index published by the Bureau of Statistics, the cost of food in Trout Lake is 68 per cent higher than Yellowknife, and 68 per cent higher than what a lot of people in Yellowknife complain about. Mr. Speaker, the people of Trout Lake live a traditional lifestyle and do not have high income levels. People simply cannot afford to pay such prices for food.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism and deals with the store in Trout Lake that his department runs. Would the Minister commit his department to look at finding innovative ways to better manage food supplies in Trout Lake to lower the cost of food in this community?

Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Mr. Pollard.

Yes, I would be glad to, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

We will now recess the House. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi. Supplementary. One possible strategy is to truck food supplies into the community over winter roads and store it either at the store or another facility. This would lessen the amount of food supplies transported into the community by air. Would the Minister take this suggestion into account when he looks at the serious problem?

Mr. Pollard.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. We will now recess the House until the call of the Chair, and we will freeze the question period clock like a football game.

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I would like to call the House back to order. We are in question period, with 33 minutes and 12 seconds remaining.

Oral questions. Oral questions. One more time, oral questions. Item 6, written questions. Written questions. Mr. Zoe.

The Member has asked for unanimous consent to return to Item 5, oral questions. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Proceed, Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Zoe, would you please clarify, for the record, which Minister.

The Minister of Education, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have instructed my officials to review the busing guidelines to ensure that the busing is consistent throughout the Northwest Territories. I anticipate that the student transportation assistance policy guideline will be reviewed with the local education authorities and the divisional boards in time for the 1993-94 school year.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education was never funded to provide students with transportation. The funding for student busing has been provided for individual requests -- the school bus funding has been justified because of distance and severe safety hazards.

In 1990-91, the department provided $1.5 million to the boards for busing. The department carried out a survey in 1989 analyzing housing patterns in the communities and their distance from the schools, as well as safety hazards and transportation needs of students. As a result, the student transportation assistance policy guidelines were approved in principle in 1989 by the cabinet, but no additional funding was approved to implement the guidelines.

The two main principles guiding the student busing are that all students should have access to school programs, and student age and the distance from their homes should be considered the main criteria for funding of busing services. Mr. Speaker, the criteria for busing, approved in principle as I said earlier, says that the boards will provide for students who are the age of five and six if they live half a kilometre away from the school; students the age of seven to 10 years old if they live one kilometre away from the school; and students the age of 11 and over if they live one and a half kilometres away from the school. However, this criteria is used now only as contracts. Additional funding is required to implement the policy guidelines if they are to be stated. In some cases where there are no private contractors we have assisted the divisional boards in purchasing the buses through our capital process. Those places are: Fort Rae, Edzo and Pangnirtung. Thank you.

If I could suggest to Members that because

time is at such a premium during question period, if Members want to pose a question to Ministers that will take a detailed response it would probably be better handled in written questions. Oral questions. Mr. Nerysoo.

If I might, Mr. Speaker, ask the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Rights and Constitutional Development: Does he intend to table the report of the commission for constitutional development?

Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Kakfwi.

Oral questions. Mr. Zoe.