(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Education. Silas Arngna'naaq already asked this question to the Minister of Education. This is a supplementary to that question. I think the Minister is aware of my question. Will the Minister of Education inform me about the bus policy in the communities. All of the communities in the NWT are not provided with a school bus at the moment, like they are provided here in a larger community. The weather is always very cold in our communities, especially in the smaller ones with our lack of transportation.

My question to the Minister of Education is, has he been able to find any funding for school transportation for the smaller communities, especially for the younger grades?

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to clarify a number of matters before we get into the issue of purchasing buses as a department. I believe that the most appropriate way of addressing bussing -- and I've said this previously as Minister -- is as a department I don't feel we should be in the business of purchasing buses. I believe the best approach for us to take is to provide funding for bussing to all communities and to all divisional boards.

They then can contract someone in the appropriate community, so they can develop a program of bussing for students in that particular community. It only helps in terms of developing a business that will result in better returns for someone in the community, to receive resources that they can use to support their family and their community.

What has occurred to date, Mr. Speaker, is that there has been a review of the student transportation systems guidelines, which were in fact approved, in principle, as far back as 1989. But, no additional funds were approved to implement the guidelines. The criteria for bussing which, when approved in principle, was: funding would be provided to boards for students five to six years old, if they lived .5 kilometres or more from the school; students seven to ten years old, if they lived one kilometre or more from school; and students 11 and over, if they lived 1.5 kilometres or more from school. These criteria are now being used as guides in the approval of contributions to boards for bussing contracts.

Funding is also included in this area for transportation of students who require individual transportation support. In other words, we are also taking into consideration those students that are either handicapped or need special transportation to school.

So as a result of that, this consistent approach requires an increase of $433,000 this year to base funding. This request has been submitted and, I believe, has received approval and requires supplementary estimate approval in this House.

Supplementary, Mr. Pudlat.

(translation) Supplementary, Mr. Speaker. I didn't expect to purchase a school bus. I was talking about the smaller communities. I understand some of the smaller communities received transportation assistance through their schools but others are not given this assistance. I'm asking if this assistance has been discontinued, especially for those communities that are not provided a school bus as transportation? My other question is, are we going to establish a bus policy for the smaller communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to indicate to the honourable Member, as a result of the change for formula funding, we will be able to, through the new guidelines and criteria, provide the financial resources to the divisional boards to provide transportation in every community in the Northwest Territories. That is what we are trying to accomplish at this particular time. So the community that the honourable Member represents will receive the necessary funding.

The other issue that the honourable Member has raised is that we have the criteria and guidelines by which the funding will be allocated, across the Northwest Territories. I'd be pleased, Mr. Speaker, to provide them to all the Members of this House.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Finance, concerning the Minister of Education's statement just now. His response was that the Minister of Finance would be bringing forward a supplementary appropriation for student transportation. I would like to know when we can expect to see this.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are two supps before the Standing Committee

on Finance at the present time. The second one is an exceptionally large supp and I'm not absolutely sure that particular document is in that supplementary appropriation. I will find out and report to the House tomorrow, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the government of the Northwest Territories is directly involved in this mill through the NWT Development Corporation. It is a joint effort with a subsidiary called Northern Forest Products, I believe, a small holding by the Nuni Development Corporation in Resolution. This project has had somewhere in the region of $1.5 million in capital investment. It's anticipated, now that it's up and running, and with the price of lumber, we could be looking at 16 people employed in the mill and approximately another 14 to 16 involved in the cutting of the logs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's not the intention to have any formal continuing subsidy on this mill. It's the belief of the NWT Development Corporation that we can run this thing and break even and perhaps even, heaven forbid, have a profitable situation. So it's not the intent to provide ongoing subsidies similar to some of the operations we currently have that are owned and operated by the NWT Development Corporation. There is however as I said, on the outset, a significant front end capital investment of $1.5 million. However, we are predicting that there's somewhere between 30 to 40 jobs and, based on the research that's been done by Renewable Resources and ourselves, we're projecting somewhere between 20 to 25 years of renewable resource there that we would be able to access. It's our hope that we can log, I believe,-- I'm not very familiar with logs coming from the east,-- I'm told that we can log somewhere around five million board feet, I think. If we do that, we'd be in a break even situation and we would provide the community of Fort Resolution with a significant number of jobs at this time.

This project has the full support of the local settlement council, the Metis group, the Dene band and, of course, yours truly, Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Todd.

How many mills do we own? The NWT Development Corporation has an investment in the mill in Hay River, I believe, and this latest investment would make our growing acquisition of mills to two. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.