Thank you. Ms. Cournoyea.

Madam Speaker, I will be tabling it in the next session. However, as soon as it is available, I will circulate it, so we don't have wait for the next sitting of the House. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Amittuq, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I received a letter from the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Programs. I would like to say thank you to the Minister for responding quite quickly. The letter was dated December 8, regarding a student from my constituency who is attending school in Ottawa. I asked the Minister to see if this person could be assisted because the parents have to pay for everything, tuition fees, transportation, accommodation, although this is an aboriginal person from Pond Inlet. In his letter, he did not suggest any solution. The Minister replied that he supports the divisional board's decision not to financially support the student. I would like to know what other alternatives are out there to help these kinds of students. Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister of Education, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. At present, there are no other funding arrangements. If the board chose to fund the student, that would have been within their authority. What makes it difficult to me, at this juncture, is we have moved all the operational funds, with the support of Members of this House, into the hands of the directors. As such, we have left that responsibility in their hands. I am not opposed to the idea of additional funding being made available for those students. But the fact is, the policy dictates that is the way in which we administer our finances. That is, through the divisional boards.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Allooloo.

Supplementary, Madam Speaker. Is the Minister suggesting that the money that was allocated to this student, if he were to attend school in Iqaluit, was in the hands of the divisional board?

Thank you. Minister of Education, Mr. Nerysoo.

Madam Speaker, yes. The basis on which we divide the financial resources for education is based on per capita. In other words, the total number of students in a particular divisional board area. Then we reassign the appropriate dollars accordingly. That was the way in which the resources were handled previously, by other Ministers as well.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. If the board was funded, why did the Minister write to me and say the board does not receive funding for that student? I am suggesting that the money must still be within the department.

Thank you. Minister of Education, Mr. Nerysoo.

No. We would have to go back and review that, but the fact is we fund the board for the student to attend school in the Baffin region. We don't fund the board for the student to attend school in southern Canada. That is the way in which we provide the financial resources.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It seems like the education of our kids has to be a priority and the priority of this government. The parents of this student are not working any more. They cannot afford to send this kid to school in Ottawa. It sounds like the department does not have a program to help these students who are bright, who will be finishing their schooling and will be successful. Madam Speaker, it looks like they cannot even bring the student back home because they have no resources. Would the Minister do his best to help the parents and the student at this point because there is no other help available to this family. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is difficult to respond to the honourable Member's request. That is not to suggest that I won't be helpful, I will. But, the fact is, on the matter of policy, it has been the decision of this government, and this Assembly, that we will provide programming closer to home, whether it is in Pond Inlet, in Iqaluit or any other community. As a result of that, there has been no identification of financial resources to assist students of the type that the honourable Member has mentioned. That is not to suggest we're not interested, but the fact is, the basis on which the Assembly has allocated the resources does not consider that at all.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Baffin South, Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to ask this question to the Minister of Transportation. At the beginning of this session, I mentioned that in Cape Dorset the terminal is in bad shape. I would like to ask the Minister if there are any plans for terminal upgrading in Lake Harbour. I realize there is some planning in the budget for 1994-95, but I would like to know if the Minister could perhaps, give me a written response, answering my question. Thank you.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I stated earlier, last week in the House, a new air terminal facility for Cape Dorset is in the long-term capital plan for 1995. It is the intention this summer to upgrade the airstrip facility, improve the lighting, and the new terminal building is earmarked for 1995.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Aivilik.