Thank you, Madam Speaker. Has the Minister communicated that information to the people of Chesterfield Inlet?

Thank you. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you. No, I have not communicated that. That is normally the communication we offer directly to the board. In fact, that is one of the responsibilities of the board, under our directive of creating them and the authorities we transferred to them. The members of the Keewatin Divisional Board of Education all have been advised that that is part of the authority they have: planning for schools and planning for the use of the schools.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you. I believe this is my final supplementary. I'm trying to get some agreement between Chesterfield Inlet, the divisional board and the Department of Education. It is the community education council that has been communicating with the regional divisional board of education and also, through me, to the Minister regarding the overcrowding of that school.

The divisional board is saying it is only 68.3 per cent full, which the Minister must take as a fact, and the community education council -- who is actually living in Chesterfield Inlet -- is stating the school is so full we're using rooms we're not supposed to use. Can the Minister tell me what action he's planning to take so this conflicting information will come into focus?

Thank you. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think the best solution would be for me to have the assistant deputy minister dealing with schools address that particular matter, along with the director for capital planning, so there is no confusion about the information that is being brought forward to both the Member and myself, as the Minister responsible.

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

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Madam Speaker, when I was elected the first time, we had a student that attended a university in the south. We tried to work very hard to support the student who was taking university courses. We like to encourage students to go to university. We know education is very important.

Madam Speaker, that person from Lake Harbour who went to University was having a difficult time, financially. I wonder if the Minister can do anything to support students who would like to further their education?

Thank you. Minister of Education, Mr. Nerysoo.

Madam Speaker, I would first of all like to get the specific name from the honourable Member. Unless I know the circumstances and the individual, it makes it difficult to determine whether or not we can provide assistance. I just want to indicate to the honourable Member, and all Members, that approximately ten months ago, when we came forward with a budget, I made changes to the budget which improved the financial assistance we were providing to

students. We increased the amount of dollars being provided to aboriginal students, in particular.

Unless I know the circumstances and the student, and I will ask the honourable Member to provide me with the name, it makes it difficult for me to respond. But, I will respond, as soon as he provides me with a name.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Whitford.

Thank you. Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the company in question is Arctic Paging Network and there is no arrangement between the Government of the Northwest Territories and this particular company. I think what happened is this company phoned and wanted to survey government departments on the usage of pagers across the Northwest Territories. The Department of Public Services told them they shouldn't be surveying government offices, we will do that. Unfortunately, the letter that went out -- and Mr. Whitford is correct, the bottom of the page says, "buy north" -- indicated that this government is supporting an Ontario company in coming here to do business in the paging sector. Although, the letter would indicate that, Madam Speaker, that is not the case. It is unfortunate that that wording was used. DPW was merely finding out what the use of pagers is across the Northwest Territories, in which communities, to what extent and if there is a necessity for us to look at some service provided by a company in that area. We are well aware that there are three NWT companies, at least, that can provide that service to us. If it was necessary for us to obtain that service, we would go to a proposal call which obviously would go to those three companies. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you. Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

The Minister of Public Works, Mr. Morin, has assured me, upon his return from Ottawa, he will deal with this matter immediately. If there is information that has already been gathered, it will be delivered to the Minister's office and he will decide what becomes of that information. So there will be no information released to an Ontario company in this regard, until Mr. Morin has reviewed the situation. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kitikmeot, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. On November 24, in a question I raised to her regarding initiatives the government was undertaking since March of 1993, she responded, "We will try, in the next week, to present a paper on mining and we will try to draw in that information." She also said later on, "Considerable work has been done on it." Yesterday, almost three weeks later, the Minister tabled, Towards an NWT Mineral Strategy. Although it is not a strategy, it outlines the items that are required in a strategy. Since I am still concerned how the government is going to ensure that northern interests are protected for jobs, business opportunities and from environmental damage as a result of mining initiatives, when will her department table an NWT mining strategy which outlines the government's position on mining?

Thank you. The Minister responsible for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Ms. Cournoyea.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Rather than being absent and not providing anything to the

honourable Member, while the thicker document is being translated, we tabled that. As soon as the translation is finished, that will be available to all Members. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ng.