Good afternoon. I would like to take this opportunity to express the condolences of all Members to our colleague, Mr. Zoe, on the passing of his mother, Marie Agnes Zoe after a long battle with cancer. Mrs. Zoe resided in Fort Rae where she spent her life and had eight children. I am sure all Members join me in expressing our deepest sympathies to the Member and to the Member's family. Thank you very much.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Ms. Cournoyea.

I have two statements. The Hon. Steve Kakfwi will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend a meeting of the Western Arctic Regional Leaders Meeting.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of a presentation, I would like again to state our appreciation to the staff of the Legislative Assembly and the people who went to a great deal of effort to have a very successful opening of this marvellous building.

Mr. Speaker, considerable progress has been made since the Assembly took office in October of 1991. All of us have been involved in the process and this is an appropriate occasion to reflect on what has been accomplished and to indicate what has been planned for the final two years of our term.

The amount of change we have brought about is substantial and the amount of effort and time we've put into the business of the House has been unprecedented.

Setting the stage for change, in a time of economic restraint and declining revenues, hasn't been easy. There are many important tasks facing all of us.

They include improving the structure of government because the system we inherited was designed for earlier times. It didn't work as well as it could and it was expensive to operate.

As a result, the government and the Committee on Reshaping Northern Government embarked on an ambitious plan of consolidation that combined a number of government departments and eliminated a number of boards that had outlived their useful purpose. Similar steps have been taken throughout Canada and at the federal level.

In addition, the government undertook a process of decentralization in order to get more jobs out into the regions. Health insurance services opened its offices in Inuvik earlier this month and a similar office is scheduled to be opened in Rankin Inlet in January. Earlier this year, the petroleum, oil and lubricants program was moved to Fort Simpson and the Public Utilities Board and Highway Transport Board were located in Hay River.

As well, privatization of liquor warehousing services and print and design operations are getting the government out of running things that are better left to the private sector.

Privatization means more money in the hands of the private sector. For instance, at least $600,000 worth of services will be purchased each year from the private sector with the closing of our in-house print and design shop.

Another way to stimulate local economies is by improving local housing markets.

It took a lot of debate to reach a consensus, but we also implemented a staff housing strategy designed to get the government out of home ownership and its landlord relationships with its employees. And part of the strategy involves selling government-owned houses.

Since the strategy was implemented, 89 units of staff housing have been sold throughout the territories and another 91 sales are pending. An estimated half million dollars worth of construction tools and materials have been purchased by the private sector by new owners to renovate or reinsulate their houses.

The Assembly also adjusted the capital planning process to give northern contractors more time to plan for the construction season and to maximize job opportunities for northern workers and it has refined the ways it deals with legislative proposals.

Together, we are making better use of our financial and human resources, while attempting to find new sources of revenue and employment opportunities from increased economic activity in both renewable and non-renewable sectors.

Mr. Speaker, we also wanted to give communities greater responsibility and the resources to deal with programs that matter most, like education, economic development, housing and social services. This is being done through the community transfer initiative and we are presently in various stages of discussions with 29 communities throughout the territories.

The community transfer initiative is extremely important to the Northwest Territories where strong families, well-educated youth and a greater degree of community control are the keys to a better future. Placing responsibility at the community level will support our constituents in finding community-based solutions to the problems that they are facing.

At the same time, education and training, housing, job creation and social programs remain top priorities and are being protected. And by improving the way we do business, we have been able to fund initiatives that are important to our constituents.

For instance, by cutting back in other areas, the government was able to create jobs by introducing a $6 million workers' training fund this summer, expand grade levels in 22 schools, implement new housing programs, improve airstrips and build new ones, enhance training opportunities in construction and conduct test fisheries work off Baffin Island.

Mr. Speaker, despite these initiatives, no one should conclude that our financial problems are all over. They aren't. We still have some tough choices to make. But compared to other jurisdictions, I think we're doing quite well.

So far we have managed to stay away from going into a long-term debt that would have to be paid off by our children sometime in the future.

While our budget may be severely taxed, our financial future is presently more secure than most of the provinces where the total provincial government debt is well over $150 billion. This is in addition to the total federal debt of about $400 million.

That much money would pay for the operation of our government for at least five hundred years.

Mr. Speaker, while Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly have made considerable progress since the last election, the next two years promise to be equally significant.

Administratively, the government intends to concentrate its efforts on taking care of business in order to make sure what began in 1991 is either completed, or nearing completion, by 1995.

That includes taking the next step in considering plans to turn the Northwest Territories Power Corporation into a user-owned utility that would give northern residents and organizations an excellent opportunity to invest in their future by giving them preference in the purchasing of shares.

Creating an investor owned utility means that a new northern company, regulated by the Public Utilities Board, would be formed. It would employ existing corporation employees, maintain their benefits and be financed through a sale of shares to the public, rather than being sold to a large corporation or a single investor.

The agenda over the next 24 months also includes steps dealing with the education system, labour-related concerns and plans to improve public access to government information.

As you know, the way in which we respond to the educational and training needs of young adults is the single biggest challenge facing us. Increasing enrolments are straining our ability to pay and are making it necessary for change and more of a creative approach.

The process of change started with the consolidation of the departments of Education and Culture and Communications. It will continue over the next number of months in a major consultation process with a series of round table discussions involving the departments and their various clients.

Mr. Speaker, education is a partnership and the government intends to seek public input on a discussion paper that will be used to finalize a comprehensive strategy and, by next spring, will guide the development and delivery of education, culture and employment programs to the year 2010. The Minister of Education will speak to this important initiative later in this session.

Mr. Speaker, education is more than just an academic experience in the classroom. Many people wanting a job need proper training. Because of this, and in order to maximize local employment and training in the construction of millions of dollars worth of capital projects funded by the government each year, we're introducing a new strategy called building and learning.

The strategy was developed by the Housing Corporation, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Programs and the Department of Public Works and Services. One of its key elements is to provide the kind of training needed to certify workers who are mostly self-taught and have little, if any, formal trades training.

Under that strategy, successful bidders on government construction contracts would be part of a community working group established to make sure the strategy is coordinated at the local level and that it maximizes training opportunities. The delivery of training programs will be written into the contract documents.

By taking this approach, the government expects that properly trained northern workers will recapture -- by the year 2000 - the estimated $16 million per year in wages that are currently being paid to southern construction workers.

In other areas, Mr. Speaker, there is a need for a review of labour-related matters in the territories. Because of this, the government has established a commission to help prepare for the future of the northern workplace, a workplace which includes both the wage economy and traditional pursuits such as hunting, trapping and carving.

The northern workplace needs to be examined in the light of the many changes now facing us. Those changes include division, the settlement of land claims and negotiations for self-government, the transfer of government responsibilities and services to communities, and the changing northern economy.

All of these developments will affect the relationships between workers, employers and communities.

The commission has been given two years to work with the public and northern organizations, identify concerns, and research policy options. Its final report -- to be published in the fall of 1995 -- is intended to provide a framework for planning which will be useful to everyone involved in the northern workplace.

Mr. Speaker, the government will also be introducing legislation dealing with access to information during our budget session next February. The Access to Information and Privacy Act will provide a right of access and a mechanism for the public to access all information held by the government, subject to limited and specific exceptions. It will also provide for the protection of privacy in respect to information relating to individuals.

Other important documents that will be brought forward during this session include papers on income support and training, Workers' Compensation Board reform, custom adoption, family violence and a response to the gender equality report.

Our agenda over the next two years also includes many activities that are mostly external to the daily delivery of government programs and services and have been the subject of strategy sessions involving all Members of the Assembly. These workshops are designed to identify the operation and constitutional decisions that have to be made over the next few years by the territorial government and Legislative Assembly.

The work to be done includes coordination of many complex and -- until recently -- uncoordinated issues, such as: land claims; implementation of post-claim regimes; developing a new constitution for the western territories; arranging for a boundaries commission to create the constituencies that will be required in the west and in Nunavut because of division; and working toward the creation of a Nunavut government by the year 1999.

All of these matters will require a federal government that is responsive to our needs. We can't take anything for granted at this time. Just because a new Liberal government took office in Ottawa earlier this month, and both of our Members of Parliament are on the winning team, doesn't mean our problems will go away or that our economy will improve overnight.

It does mean that we have a new opportunity to resolve some old problems, this time with a Prime Minister who is no stranger to the north. We have already started this process during meetings with Mr. Chretien and Indian and Northern Affairs Minister, Ron Irwin.

At the top of the list of issues we discussed was eliminating the recent federal budget cuts that have crippled our social housing program, along with resolution of our health billings dispute and removal of the flaws in our current formula funding arrangement that provides disincentives to economic development.

We also talked about the economic potential of the territories and the need for a federal commitment on the construction of infrastructure, particularly as it relates to the exciting mineral and diamond finds stretching north of this city to Izok Lake and Coppermine on the Arctic coast.

Development in this area will benefit not only the Northwest Territories, but all of Canada. It's important for the territories that we move toward great self-sufficiency. To do this, we need to develop these resources in partnership with industry, both levels of government and local aboriginal organizations.

I also informed the Prime Minister that territorial and community governments want to be active participants in the federal government's review of defence policy, particularly as it related to Arctic sovereignty and US/Canada agreements on the testing of military equipment, such as cruise missiles and low-level bomber exercises in the Northwest Territories.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, we have come a long way in the past two years. The challenge is to keep doing more. We have to make the territories better. We have to make it more accessible, make sure that essential services are protected and that the same choices and opportunities for a productive life are available to all residents of the territories, regardless of who they are and where they live.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Madam Premier. I would like to recognize Mr. Jack Anawak, the Member of Parliament from the Nunatsiaq riding.

---Applause

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to move Minister's Statement 3-12(4) into committee of the whole. Thank you.

Seconder to the motion? Seconded by Mr. Gargan. The motion is in order. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all the ordinary Members of the Legislative Assembly, I would like to offer our condolences to our colleague, Mr. Zoe, his wife Dolly and their family on the death, yesterday, of his mother, Mrs. Marie Agnes Zoe, known by her friends as Mimi. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Zoe was 69 years of age when she was

called to God. She has lived all her life here and around Rae. She and her husband Edward have eight children, six boys and two girls, all of whom are alive today and mourning their mother, as are the other residents of the territories who knew Mrs. Zoe. I have known our colleague, the Member for the North Slave, since the early 1980's, Mr. Speaker, and I have only to look at Henry to see that his mother must have been a very fine person. I wish to extend our sympathy to Henry and his family and to all of Mrs. Zoe's family on the loss of a mother and a good friend. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Ningark. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I may have to ask for consent to continue. About a week and a half ago -- a week last Sunday -- I listened to the radio, while laying in my bed, to a broadcast which tests you on your ability to recognize a national or international figure on the basis of several pieces of music that are played.

The first piece of music had a very famous American singer belting out a piece from "Annie Get Your Gun." My wife turned to me and said, "Do we know anybody called Ethel, because that's Ethel Merman." I thought, yes. The last singer was Julie Andrews. On Saturday or Sunday there will be an announcement and the winners who identify this national figure will receive a certain prize. You only have a few days to get your answer into CBC, to Audio File, saying who this person is.

I made that statement today, Mr. Speaker, because Ethel Blondin-Andrew is a national and, soon to be, international figure. Not only was she on this particular Audio File I'm referring to, but she was also on Northern Exposure; another voice the satirists have to learn to imitate.

I make this point, Mr. Speaker, because yesterday we had a chance to meet the new Prime Minister, the Minister of DIAND, and Ethel, in the back room. She reminded me of a visit I made to Tuktoyaktuk in 1978, visiting her grade one class. She said, "Boy, things have happened, since the 1970s, to me."

Mr. Lewis, are you going to ask for unanimous consent?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to continue my statement. I've broken every rule in this House and I know them very well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Lewis. You also gave me the opportunity for the first time to use my priority button three times. Now I know how to do it. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please continue, Mr. Lewis.

You're very kind, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Members. The point I want to make is she has become a controversial figure in a sense because many people wanted to reserve her for themselves, for their own cause. But this person is something more than just somebody who represents, in the public mind, a group of people. She represents somebody who can deliver the major priority of the new government, which is to deal with employment and education.

I gave the little anecdote about her teaching background because she is going to have a major job to play in the future of this country, in a portfolio that affects every single Canadian. We should be proud of that fact, rather than find negative interpretations of the kind of assignment that she's taken. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

My first statement in this House is a statement of appreciation. Mr. Speaker, I met Mr. Ningark in 1979-80 when we were both settlement secretaries for our respective communities. Now, 13 years later, we are both Members of this House addressing many of the same issues we dealt with back then.

When I met Mr. Ningark, he was an easy-going, hard working, caring and unselfish individual. Today, although we have both aged -- him more so than I --

--Laughter

...he remains the same caring, unselfish individual.

It is those traits that lead him to take on the additional responsibility of acting as the Kitikmeot representative of this Legislative Assembly, upon the resignation of the former Member this past winter.

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour as my first Member's statement in this Assembly and our new home, to extend the appreciation and gratitude on behalf of my constituents and I, to my friend, the honourable Member for Natilikmiot for acting as our representative from February 5, 1993 until my election on May 10 of this past year. Qujannamiik, Mr. Ningark.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ng. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to congratulate the Inuit of Nunavut on two important events that occurred during this summer while the Legislative Assembly was not in session

The first was the successful completion over the summer of the TFN claim. I'm sure that the celebration in Coppermine on July 9 will be long remembered by residents of Nunavut, as this represented the culmination of nearly 20 years of hard work by many dedicated people. Now the challenge is in making the claim work and ensuring that the terms of the agreement are met by the parties involved in the negotiations. I'm confident that there will be appreciable change in the life of Nunavut residents once the claim has been fully implemented.

Of equal importance, the passage of the Nunavut Act was given royal assent on June 10 by the Governor General. This act sets the stage for the division of what we know today as the Northwest Territories, into two new territories. This has long been a dream of many of the Nunavut residents, and required much hard work by them as they steadily worked toward the goal of Nunavut. I congratulate all those involved in this task.

A major change in the north will occur on April 1, 1999 when division will take place. There is much to be done by both the people of Nunavut and by those of us who live in the western Arctic. We must begin our work immediately and with integrity as we set our houses in order before division takes place. In the meantime, as we work in this Legislative Assembly, we must continue to work toward common goals. The most important goal is that of delivering the best possible government for the residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Western Caucus and the Western Constitutional Steering Development Committee, I once again commend the Inuit for their achievements and assure them our full support in achieving their dreams. Qujannamiik. Mahsi cho.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Koe. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On behalf of all Members of this House I would like to thank the residents of Nunavut involved in the opening of the new Legislative Assembly building.

The Nunavut delegation showed their kindness and diplomacy by supporting the construction of this building, although they may have wished to delay the construction of the building until 1999. However, with the principle of fairness and respect Nunavut citizens do not want either territory to be delayed unnecessarily because the other territory might not be ready.

On behalf of all Nunavut citizens, I wish the western Members success as they work toward the establishment of the new

At this time, I would like to recognize my mother who is in the public gallery today. On behalf of the Nunavut delegation, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Arvaluk. We are honoured by your mother's presence in our House today. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we celebrated the opening of this new Legislature as a tribute to consensus government. We talked about how we would respect our diversities within the circle of this Chamber. We talked about how we cherish democracy. From its first days in office two years ago, our government has prided itself on support for communities. "Strength at Two Levels" -- not one level -- and the community transfer initiative are concrete examples of our government's oft-stated commitment to develop and support stronger local governments.

Our government also prides itself on its consensus form of government where ordinary Members' views and input are sought and welcomed. We have a Cabinet which has pledged to consult with ordinary Members on important territorial initiatives and major developments in constituencies. In fact, when she was running for Government Leader on November 12, 1991, Ms. Cournoyea stated, "I think we have come to the conclusion that MLAs want to be more involved, and MLAs know their communities probably better than anyone else." In the same debate, Mr. Allooloo, now Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, said, "This morning I was very impressed by all the MLAs' knowledge with regard to community needs. I was impressed with the vast knowledge and the valuable suggestions that the MLAs had.

This all sounds wonderful, Mr. Speaker, but when democracy was suspended abruptly in the town of Iqaluit on November 12, what was the involvement of the local MLA? What was the advantage taken of the wisdom of the local MLA? That morning, Mr. Speaker, a bureaucrat from Municipal and Community Affairs handed me a letter from Mr. Allooloo, the Minister, dated November 10, signed by Mr. Kakfwi, with a copy of an order by Mr. Allooloo to appoint a municipal administrator in Iqaluit, also dated November 10, also signed by Mr. Kakfwi. I was told on that date, while we met...

Mr. Patterson, you've exceeded your allotted time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the indulgence of the House to continue my statement.