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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement will try to represent some of the views of the Advisory Committee on Social Housing.

The Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation, with the cooperation of this Legislative Assembly, dissolved the NWT Housing Corporation board with the agreement to replace it with the Advisory Committee on Social Housing, including Members of this Assembly. However, Mr. Speaker, this committee has not been actively involved in strategic planning to deal with the housing crises that we are facing today. One example, the Minister wrote to advisory committee Members proposing to meet on Wednesday, at 6:00 pm after he returns from an Ottawa meeting on housing matters.

Mr. Speaker, we're starting to wonder whether or not the Minister and the president of the Housing Corporation take the Advisory Committee on Social Housing seriously. I, for one, did not have any plans to down play the former Housing Corporation board. Rather, I want to be active and as dedicated as they were in doing my job in that capacity. I am sure the other Members of the advisory committee share these same thoughts.

I'm not trying to down play the Minister's energy and hard work in trying to deal with that problem, all I'm saying is that we were appointed by this Legislative Assembly, let us participate so that the task will be easier.

Mr. Speaker, I have no choice but to bring this matter to the House. I will be asking questions of the Minister on this issue later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend I was privileged to be in Inuvik to participate in the opening of the new health insurance services division. Mr. Speaker, it was over one year ago, on June 16, 1992, that announcements of decentralization were made. Inuvik was chosen as the regional centre for this branch of the Department of Health. There have been many positive effects of this decision, especially in Inuvik, where the 12 employees who were transferred, currently 10 are employed in the division. Of those ten, I think nine of them are from the Inuvik region. There are many people to thank and many departments and agencies involved in the timing of the opening. I would like to thank Arctic College for the decentralization training program they put in place for this, the Department of Health, all the new staff who were trained and are now working in these offices, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation who own the building these offices are in and lease back to the government and the people of Inuvik for attending the opening and witnessing this historic event.

In cases of decisions like this, I will personally continue to support initiatives to decentralize, not only in my own constituency, but across the north wherever it is feasible. When we make decisions such as this, it allows government to bring the delivery of their programs closer to the people of the north. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Koe. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For 15 years the NWT Council for Disabled Persons has held a celebrity auction. In the past, I would offer to teach a class, any age, grade or level, except home economics. I taught the whole Jackson family for one whole day in Mr. Kakfwi's area at Fossil Lake. It was a real challenge. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank, on behalf of all Yellowknife MLAs and those people from out of town, who supported the NWT Council for Disabled Persons' celebrity auction on Saturday night. They were able to raise $21,000 and more and more...

---Applause

...groups like this are being asked to try to find other ways of funding their organizations as the government's ability to fund these organizations is being reduced. I hope it is recognized that people do make a big effort and we should recognize that as we look at funding these very important social organizations. I would like to thank the following Members: Mr. Allooloo; Mr. Antoine; Madam Cournoyea; Mr. Nerysoo; and, Madam Mike for their assistance.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Patterson. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement is regarding family allowances. The people who are employed do not receive family allowance any more. We have recognized that even carvers in the communities receive this even though they are employed. This is coming up more and more that they are not receiving the allowance they should be getting. I will be asking more about this information. It is very difficult to try to get income in the north. For that reason, I will say that family allowance is getting less and less. I will be asking to get more explanation on this. Even though they go to school, there are many families without regular income. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Pudlat. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Whitford.

Thank you, Mr. Whitford. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Last week, the Prime Minister of the country was here for the official opening of the new Legislative Assembly building as an invited guest. The Premier, Nellie Cournoyea, had a meeting with the Prime Minister during the Commissioner's opening address. On behalf of the Members of the Legislative Assembly and the people in the Northwest Territories, I would like to know what happened during this private discussion with the Prime Minister.

I would like to ask the Premier to share with us what was discussed at this historic meeting. Would she tell the House what items were discussed and were there any agreement or pledges of support on any of the key issues which northern people and this Legislative Assembly are facing today? Mahsi.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I believe there was a brief press release out on that, but I'll just recap it for you. I had just under 20 minutes to speak with the Prime Minister, Jean Chretien. What I expressed to him was that we would very much like to get our financial house in order on a number of issues. I related to him that the number one issue was the housing issue and that the number two issue was the health billings issue. As well, I believe we very briefly mentioned the issue of the military, the review they are doing and the request for our involvement.

We talked mostly about a positive and more open relationship between the territorial and federal governments, and the relationship of the territorial government at federal-provincial meetings. There was a commitment, particularly to resolve the financial issues that are presently at stake. The Prime Minister indicated that he felt he had indications from the Members of Parliament, particularly on the housing issue, and that had to be resolved. He said he would do everything he could to try to come to a conclusion on that, including discussing that with the Minister of Indian Affairs.

I said I would follow up with a detailed letter on the concerns we have so that we might address them at a date in the near future when he had more time to deal with them. As well, I also indicated that there were land claims that were being settled and land claims that would be settled in a different manner, perhaps. That is all we had time to discuss, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier indicated that there was some discussion on housing. We all know that housing is not being funded by the federal government any more and we regard this as a crisis in the north today. Was there any strong commitment made by the Prime Minister to address this pressing issue? Mahsi.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I don't wish to give overly optimistic results of the meeting, but when I did indicate to him that was the number one issue, he said he would deal with the Minister of Indian Affairs on that matter. As well, I indicated that Mr. Morin would be meeting with the Minister responsible for Housing, which was previously CMHC, whether that exists or not.

There was a strong indication that he recognized that it possibly was an oversight. I did mention to him that we had come to some kind of understanding with the Minister of the previous government that there was an oversight in dealing with the Northwest Territories. It appears there was optimism. I believe that will be determined by our follow-up meetings with them, as soon as that's possible. Mr. Morin will be leaving later today to meet with the Minister responsible for housing. Upon his return, we'll assess all the meetings that have taken place, and continue to try to resolve it.

We also provided information to the Member of Parliament, Ethel Blondin-Andrew, which we have been doing on an ongoing basis, and also to Jack Anawak. They are also coordinating the information and the priority as we indicated. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Premier. Last week, we also had another invited guest, the new Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, the Honourable Ron Irwin. I understand that Cabinet had a private meeting with Mr. Irwin. Can the Premier advise this House as to what issues were discussed with Mr. Irwin.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, all of the topics that were addressed with the Prime Minister were carried over into the discussions with the Minister of Indian Affairs. We concentrated heavily on the financial situation because the issues that were of concern relate to whether we can financially afford the resolution of those problems. The Minister of Finance is doing a follow-up on all of those areas so we can capsulize exactly what those discussions were.

The other issues we discussed included the northern accord. I did not discuss this with the Prime Minister because when I was about to bring it up, he indicated that he was interested in looking at the overall devolution of responsibilities to the territorial government, taking into consideration other interests, but moving ahead in that area.

All the issues that I related to Mr. Chretien were passed on to Mr. Ron Irwin in addition to the northern accord. In addition, we also discussed outstanding land claim issues, whether they should be under the comprehensive claim or go a different route with that as well. I don't know if I missed anything. I don't have a comprehensive list. Thank you.