Good morning. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Arvaluk.

Mr. Speaker, September 30 is International Translation Day, a day set aside to recognize the valuable contributions interpreter/communicators make to our society. This day is also recognized at the national level, and is observed in the Northwest Territories by the Interpreter/Translator Society of the N.W.T.

The work of interpreter/communicators has special significance for us here in the Northwest Territories. Our northern society is made up of a number of very distinct cultural groups. Clear communication is essential if we are to understand each other's views of the world, as well as our goals and aspirations.

We are fortunate to have a strong group of well-trained, professional interpreter/communicators who help us communicate effectively. At this point, I would like to express my appreciation for the important role all of the N.W.T.'s interpreters/communicators play in helping us understand each other better. I would particularly like to thank the staff of the Language Bureau for their dedication. Whether these people work in headquarters or the regions, they put in long hours all year round, especially while this Legislative Assembly is in session. Without their assistance, our government would have a very difficult time in working to meet the goals of northerners.

To give us all a better idea of the skills needed to be an interpreter/communicator, and the role translation plays in the north, the Language Bureau is celebrating National Translation Day with an open house. It will be held tomorrow, September 30, from 10:00 a.m. to noon, on the third floor of the Laing Building.

There will be simultaneous interpreting demonstrations and aboriginal languages displays. I would like to invite you all to join us celebrating National Translation Day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to raise a number of concerns. I will probably be going over my allotted time. I want to indicate, Mr. Speaker, that there were comments that had been attributed to the Government Leader, in the September 7, 1992, edition of News/North, that could be interpreted as indicative of inconsistency in the application of policies.

The news article states that Ms. Cournoyea indicated publicly that the people of Tuktoyaktuk, Nunakput, should have been told a man who was carrying the A.I.D.S. virus was returning to their community. This conflicts with the position taken in November 1988, when Ms. Cournoyea was Minister of Health, regarding disclosure to the communities, or even regions, when two individuals with A.I.D.S. had been reported.

The position attributed to Ms. Cournoyea in the News/North article also conflicts with the existing establishment policy in the Department of Health. Section 2(a)(ii) of the Government of the Northwest Territories policy manual states, "only the executive council has the authority to approve major change to a department establishment policy."

As senior Minister of the Executive Council, the Government Leader signs each establishment policy. On January 10, 1989, the former Government Leader, the honourable Dennis Patterson signed a Health establishment policy which stated, "in the absence of N.W.T. regulations or guidelines, recognized Canadian standards shall be maintained" with respect to the delivery of health services.

A similar policy was also in effect in 1988. When Ms. Cournoyea was the Minister of Health, she was asked by Mr. Arlooktoo, at that time the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Baffin South, on November 7, 1988, to confirm radio reports that two H.I.V...

Mr. Nerysoo, your allotted time has expired.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to seek unanimous consent to proceed with my statement.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Proceed please, Mr. Nerysoo.

Mr. Speaker, I will begin with that paragraph again. Thank you, my honourable colleagues. When Ms. Cournoyea was the Minister of Health, she was asked by Mr. Arlooktoo, who was the Member for the Legislative Assembly for Baffin south, on November 7, 1988, to confirm radio reports that two cases of A.I.D.S. had been reported in the Baffin region.

Mr. Speaker, she refused to do so and stated, "I cannot report that information. We have general policies, and guidelines, which were carried over from Health and Welfare Canada, including their established practice of only reporting A.I.D.S. statistics on a territorial-wide level." Mr. Speaker, the Health and Welfare standards in this area have not changed.

In response to further questioning on the subject, she indicated that it was important to ensure complete confidentiality in order to encourage infected individuals to come forward and seek treatment. She elaborated on the reason for the policy by stating, "I believe that, given the fact that the N.W.T. is a small community, and people generally find out things, confidentiality is mainly for the protection of the individuals who are seeking treatment. We feel that we must have the ability to have an open and honest approach, to make people feel that their particular problem will be treated confidentially when they are seeking medical treatment".

On September 7, 1992, News/North ran a third page article titled Cournoyea backs A.I.D.S. disclosure. The story under Ronna Bremer's by-line, concerned an incident that had reportedly occurred during the spring of 1992, in which an H.I.V. positive male from Vancouver, was alleged to have travelled to Tuktoyaktuk, and engaged in unprotected sexual activity with females in the community.

The comments attributed to Ms. Cournoyea without quotations. The newspaper included the following statement: that people of Tuktoyaktuk should have been told that a man, who was carrying the A.I.D.S. virus, was returning to their community, says Nunakput M.L.A. Nellie Cournoyea.

Also, Cournoyea understands the issue of patient confidentiality, and protocol, but said if the community had been informed, it could have alleviated much of the distress. Also, Ms. Cournoyea said Health Minister, Dennis Patterson, is aware of the situation, and is reviewing the issue of protocol. Now quotations included in the newspaper article also included a number of direct quotes of statements reportedly made by Ms. Cournoyea, including "they did not need to know the name, but if they had told, we have an individual returning to your community, they could have been asked what is the best way to deal with it?" said Cournoyea. Ms. Cournoyea was also quoted as saying, "the problems in town with the A.I.D.S. infected man would probably never have existed if the community had been informed."

Mr. Speaker, I want to know, whether or not the position stated publicly by Ms. Cournoyea, directly contradicts the established policy of the Department of Health for which she is responsible as the senior ministry in the Executive Council. This raises questions as to whether she is planning to alter the policy in the way that makes exposure criteria inconsistent with the Canadian standards used in the rest of the country.

Her comments on September 7, also represent a reversal from the stand she took in November, 1988, when the 11th Assembly M.L.A.s from Baffin South, Aivilik and Mackenzie Delta asked her to confirm the incidents of reported A.I.D.S. cases by community or even by region. This raises concerns whether the Government Leader has established a "double standard" in which decisions made about the disclosure of A.I.D.S. incidents in Nunakput are going to be made differently in other territorial constituencies.

Ms. Cournoyea indicated in the newspaper article that the current Minister of Health, the Honourable Dennis Patterson, will be reviewing the issue of protocol. Recognizing that Ms. Cournoyea's 1988 statement, that public disclosure may discourage A.I.D.S. victims, is still valid today, one might question, why is it suddenly become imperative for the Minister to review the protocol now?

Further if the Minister has determined that such a review is necessary, it should proceed objectively and in the absence of any prior opinions expressed by the Government Leader to whom he reports. Now the comments reportedly made by the Government Leader on this subject, following the incident in her home community could be seen as a senior political interfere in policy development within the Department of Health.

Mr. Speaker, I will be pursuing this particular matter with questions.

Thank you, Mr. Nerysoo. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, my point of order, is that with respect to the honourable Member, his whole statement is premised, I believe, on a newspaper report, which is not before the House, and whose accuracy is unknown to the House.

I wonder, Mr. Speaker, if the use of an unsubstantiated newspaper report as the basis for debate in this House is within the rules? Thank you.

Order please. Mr. Patterson, under our rules there are no specific provisions dealing with Members' statements, and historically in this House Members have been given very broad latitude in making their views and comments known during Members' statements.

You do not have a point of order, Mr. Patterson, however I would ask Members in fairness, and in respect to the privilege of all Members that if Members are building a case in Members' statements that they try not to over-use the attributed quotes in newspaper articles and attempt to use as the basis of arguments, documentation, questions, and answers, that are actually before the House.

If I could ask Members, if they would attempt to do that. Under our rules, Mr. Patterson, you have no point of order. Thank you.

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Zoe.

I would like to take this opportunity, to recognize in the gallery, Mr. Nick Sibbeston, former colleague, and former Government Leader.

---Applause

His image was still there in my mind.

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Dent.

Members' statement, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the summer, I did quite a bit of travelling on the highway between Hay River and Yellowknife. During these trips there was a lot of disruption due to the construction crews working on various parts of the highway, particularly in the Fort Providence area.

Mr. Speaker, I was quite happy to put up with these disruptions to my travels. I have long believed that the development of a good highway system would have substantial long-term economic benefits for all of the Northwest Territories, and I am still convinced of this.

However, Mr. Speaker, there are other short-term benefits to be received as well. As the honourable Member for Keewatin Central has stated in this House many times, it is important that local residents receive some economic benefits, both in terms of training and employment, from construction projects in their region.

During my trip, I noticed quite a few of my constituents working in these construction crews, employed as heavy equipment operators, flag persons, and surveyors.

This shows that the contractors have made some efforts to employ local people, and I would like to thank them for this. However, I believe it important that we, as a government, continue to promote, and monitor, local employment in construction projects.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister of Transportation during the last Assembly, Mr. Gordon Wray, for his vision in developing and implementing the N.W.T. Transportation Strategy.

I believe Mr. Wray recognized the importance of developing a viable transportation link to the rest of Canada. I am happy to see that this strategy has been followed by the former Minister, Mr. Allooloo, and the current Minister, Mr. Whitford.

Like Mr. Wray, I believe that the development of a transportation system should be one of the highest priorities of this government, not only for the link it provides with the rest of Canada, but for the substantial long-term and short-term economic benefits and opportunities it provides to the lesser developed regions of the N.W.T.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 3, Members' statements, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about the four communities in my constituency of Jean Marie River, Nahanni Butte, Trout Lake, and Wrigley.

Mr. Speaker, these communities are unincorporated, run by band councils, and they are classified by this government as unorganized communities. In debate on the budget of M.A.C.A. last Thursday, the Minister told me that departments have no policy to provide funding for these communities because they are considered unorganized.

Mr. Speaker, as I have stated before, I sometimes get frustrated in this House, but I have rarely been as frustrated as I was that day. I am tired of the constant running around. The Minister told me that these communities are under federal jurisdiction. The federal government states that they are a territorial responsibility, and I was wondering when does it stop.

I have outlined some of the conditions in these communities, particularly water and sewer in the Nahanni Butte. The Standing Committee on Finance had the opportunity to visit the community, and see some of these conditions.

The four communities are predominately traditional Dene communities. I guess the real question is, why can the people of the communities not enjoy the same programs and services that other residents of the Northwest Territories take for granted? Service such as a good, clean source of water, and a decent sewer system.

I was pleased that the Minister stated that the policy is being developed to fund communities that are, for want of a better term, unorganized. The policy is long overdue, and I expect that it will be completed soon.

I will have some questions on these issues, perhaps later today. Thank you.

Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Transportation.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today, I spoke about the importance of the N.W.T. Transportation Strategy, and the development of transportation infrastructure in the Northwest Territories, particularly the development of a good highway system.

My question to the Minister is, could the Minister tell me whether the N.W.T. transportation strategy is still in the blueprint for the department, in the development of a transportation infrastructure in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Whitford.