Oral questions. Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will look into this for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mrs. Marie Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, for many years there has been a winter road from Fort Smith to Fort Chipewyan, and Parks Canada has indicated to the community that they will be closing that particular road this year. I sincerely believe that any linkage for transportation is vitally needed, particularly in the North, and I would like to ask the Minister: In order to maintain this road, it cost approximately anywhere up to $30,000 or $40,000, and I would like the Minister to advise me whether or not his department has had any discussions with Parks Canada in an attempt to try and have them reverse their decision.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the announcement by Parks Canada that they will not maintain the winter road between Fort Smith and Fort Chipewyan, I have directed my department to contact Parks Canada to see if they could do anything. Since the radio announcement this spring, and also since we recognize this road as being very important even though it is in the jurisdiction of the Alberta government and Parks Canada, I have asked my department to communicate to the Alberta government and Parks Canada, to push Parks Canada to come up with the money that they have been able to in the past. The report has not come back to me yet. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have an oral question to the Minister of Government Services. Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier to the Minister of MACA in respect to NorthwesTel services, NorthwesTel provides a very poor quality of service to the community of Fort Smith. The residents of Fort Smith are continually getting out off when they are trying to obtain NorthwesTel services for longdistance telephone calls. I would like to ask the Minister of Government Services if the he would consider assisting Fort Smith by writing to NorthwesTel and request a fibre optic system as opposed to the satellite system that they are currently using, as the current satellite system is one of the oldest systems in the Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware of the problems that Fort Smith has. It has caused us problems in the past with transmitting data between Fort Smith and other areas of the Northwest Territories. Part of the problem, Mr. Speaker, stems from the fact that Fort Smith may be on the old TROPO system that most of the Northwest Territories was on, and that is primarily because the National Park refused to allow NorthwesTel to put microwave towers throughout the park. That was several years ago. I am aware that last year, or perhaps the year before, Mr. Speaker, there was a satellite system tried from Fort Smith. I gather that did not work very well at all, so we are very aware of the problems in Fort Smith, and yes, I will commit to talk to the Minister of Government Services and recommend to him that his department lend all assistance to Fort Smith to get better telephone services. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Social Services. However, before I proceed, Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to extend question period.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to extend question period. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Question period will be extended. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, and thank you, my honourable colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I have reviewed my return to my written question regarding the status of the board of management for alcohol and drug services, and I want to indicate to the Minister of Social Services that I was not at all pleased with his response. Mr. Speaker, right from the time that alcohol and drug programming was a federal responsibility, there has always been some acceptance of the need for community-based advice on alcohol and drug decision-making. Recognizing the importance of community input to decisions about the development of our system for alcohol and drug treatment, how can the Minister possibly justify the fact that the board of management has not met since November 1991?

Mr. Whitford.

Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that it is not a problem to address this through a conference call, but in the written return the Minister indicated to me that there was also one conference call held with the board, and I do not believe it is fair to ask the opinion of only one member of a board as opposed to the total board. I would like to ask the Minister, if he can indicate how he is receiving input about the continuing program needs of NWT communities in terms of the needs of alcohol and drug program projects?

Mr. Whitford.

Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, I fully recognize that there is no directive stopping the board members, but the point I am trying to make to the Minister is the board has yet to meet. It has never met since last November. The Minister should know that the board of management for alcohol and drug services does much more that just review funding applications. It is a source of information for the Minister about what is happening in terms of alcohol and drug abuse in regions represented by the board. It provides long-range strategic planning, and it co-ordinates program evaluation, and most importantly, it balances out the Yellowknife perspective which sometimes is dominated by the senior administration within the Social Services department. Is it now the Minister's policy that this community input is unnecessary for the administration of our alcohol and drug projects?