Thank you, Mr. Koe. Orders of the day for Monday, December 6, 1993. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Concerning the Premier's absence from the House, the Premier's return from Tuktoyaktuk has been delayed for a day, as a result of the tragic events on the weekend. Ms. Cournoyea will be in the House tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Pollard. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Ordinary Members' Caucus, I would like to express our sincere condolences to the family, relatives and friends in the Delta area who have been affected by the tragedy in Tuktoyaktuk. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, a tragedy happened Friday evening, on December 3. After having problems with one of its engines, a Britain-Norman Islander plane, owned by Arctic Wings & Rotors Limited, crashed nose-first in a small lake ten kilometres south of Tuktoyaktuk. All seven passengers on board were killed.

Among the dead were Edna Anna Elias, Jason Jacobson, Jimmy Cockney, and Willard Brooks, all from Tuktoyaktuk. Naomi Cardinal and her two week-old baby from Arctic Red River were also killed. The pilot with Arctic Wings and Rotors was also killed. Mr. Speaker, our thoughts and prayers are with the community, and we ask the Lord to give the families the strength they need in dealing with such a tragic loss. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Marie-Jewell. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Arvaluk.

Mr. Speaker, it has not been a good weekend in the NWT. First we heard of the terrible plane crash near Tuktoyaktuk, then at about 1:20 am Saturday morning, there was a fire in the Sanajiit staff house in Rankin Inlet. Fortunately, although it was in the middle of the night, most of the building's occupants escaped. Sadly, one of the hotel staff members -- and I have not received the official release of her name -- was unable to get out of the building and perished as a result of the fire.

Her unfortunate death reminds us all that tragedy may strike at any time. On behalf of the Ordinary Members' Caucus and the Cabinet, I offer our prayers and condolences to her family and friends.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Cabinet, I wish to express our deepest sympathies for the families and friends for the seven people who died Friday when a small plane crashed on a frozen lake between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I express my condolences to those who are left and who are wondering how something so terrible could happen to the ones they loved.

There are no easy answers to help us understand why something like this happens, Mr. Speaker, and there are no easy words to help the wounds created by such a loss. I just want to say that the hearts of all northern residents go out to the families and friends of those killed in this horrible tragedy. We offer to them our most profound sympathies, our strongest support in their time of deep, personal suffering, and we will continue to give thought to those who are feeling the sadness of this event. We also offer our prayers to those who require our support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Nerysoo. If all Members would join me for a moment of silence for the victims of the tragic plane crash in Tuktoyaktuk and the tragic fire in Rankin Inlet, and to think of the families and friends of the victims. Please rise.

---Minute of Silence Thank you. Please be seated. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to welcome the following pages from Fort Providence. Mr. Speaker, they are standing by the door, there. At the far left is Lorie MacKenzie, second to the right is Melissa Nadli, Trinett Constant is on the far right and Delmore Bonnetrouge is second to the left.

Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure of driving these young people in from Fort Providence yesterday. I was very impressed, as their parents are, with their children being selected to serve as pages in this House. Mr. Speaker, these young adults were chosen by the principal of Deh Gah Elementary School on the basis of their high marks and attitudes. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud of these kids and I know they will provide positive role models for other kids upon their return to Fort Providence. I ask honourable Members to join me in welcoming these young people to our place of Assembly.

---Applause

Further, Mr. Speaker, as most Members are aware, it is not difficult for me to arrange transportation and accommodation for these fine young people. There is little cost when I request pages from a constituency. However, unfortunately, the same situation cannot apply to pages from other constituencies that have to cover high costs of transportation. As Members, we all have the same desire for our younger generation to be exposed to the political arena. I say to the honourable Members in this House and you, Mr. Speaker, that perhaps a review of pages serving from our communities is one area we should seriously look at, for consistency, as a consensus government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have read the report of the Languages Commissioner titled, Eight Official Languages - Meeting the Challenge, and I find it to be an excellent piece of work. Any criticisms I have are very minor. This is the first report of the Languages Commissioner and provides much background information about language in the Northwest Territories, the Official Languages Act itself, and language rights. It's expected that future reports of the Commissioner would not need to cover information provided in the first 70 pages of this report. The first report, therefore, provides excellent information for future reference.

One section, on attitudes to official languages, provides some insights into the way people feel about official languages, but is very anecdotal. The information can only be useful if it is collected in a systematic fashion. Only then would it be possible to discern trends or changing opinions towards official languages in the future. The information on attitudes presented by the Commissioner is too impressionistic to be of any real practical use, and could be improved. Perhaps the Commissioner could arrange to develop some method to track changing attitudes in the future.

The substance of the report is contained in chapters four through eight, covering the next 115 pages. The most important section is chapter five, which deals with complaints and inquiries from around 250 different sources. This information is presented according to general topics and is extremely useful in highlighting weaknesses in the act, in policy directions and in implementation. The plan, to provide some statistical analysis of the data in future reports, is a very good one.

The government tends to be a little irritated, perhaps, by reports which deal with complaints. Especially, when it demonstrates many shortcomings of government. This report is quite critical of the government's inability to make use of funds allocated to it. However, this report should be welcomed by the government and also by people who are interested in language issues. It is well-planned, well-written and it is objective. It clearly sets out what the job of a Languages Commissioner is all about, so that people can fully understand the kind of problems we are dealing with. It is a good beginning by the Languages Commissioner and she should be congratulated on the quality of this report. Thank you.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during 1969 and 1970, the Registrar General of vital statistics initiated a naming project in order to eliminate disc numbers and disc lists which identified individuals of Inuit descent. The program was called, project surname. It entailed that each Inuit family would select a surname and be registered as such, for federal government purposes. Residents from the entire Arctic were named under this program. Since project surname was completed, there have been tens of thousands of new individuals born and registered in the Northwest Territories. Birth registrations have been done by missionaries, government bureaucrats, and by health care officials. Mr. Speaker, as individuals completing registration forms varied and changed, so did the spelling of people's names. This led to variations and inconsistencies in the spelling of names throughout the Arctic for various reasons. The primary reason for the misspelling of names, is the utilization of the letter "k" or "q" in names. The Baffin and Keewatin regions primarily utilized "q" in their spelling, while the western Arctic primarily uses "k." The Kitikmeot region is almost split. The Natilikmiot communities use "q," while the Kitikmeot communities use "k."

Mr. Speaker, in the NWT, the Change of Name Act is administered by the Supreme Court. This results in individuals wishing to change their name, or correct the spelling of their name, having to hire legal counsel and apply through the courts for name changes. In other Canadian jurisdictions, the majority of the change of name acts are administered by the Department of Vital Statistics, resulting in minimal costs. Newfoundland's Change of Name Act is administered by their Department of Justice, again, a minimal costs to individuals wishing to change names. PEI is the only other jurisdiction, besides ours, which requires individuals to utilize the court system for name changes. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the legal profession, we all know that legal fees charged by lawyers are not inexpensive. In fact, the cost of their fees are often questioned by their clients, as they are more often than not perceived to be excessive. The majority of individuals in our communities do not have the access or the financial means to hire lawyers to carry out name changes or minor spelling corrections in their names. Mr. Speaker, I am pointing this out as I see the need for our government to enact the necessary changes to make it easier for individuals...

Mr. Ng.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Ng.

I am pointing this out, as I see the need for our government to enact the necessary changes to make it easier for individuals to correct or change the spelling of their names, at minimal cost and inconvenience. Thank you.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week I made a statement about my disappointment with this government's handling and administration of the Canada/Northwest Territories cooperation agreement on aboriginal languages and French. The issues came to light when the first annual report of the Languages Commissioner of the Northwest Territories was tabled in this Assembly. Mr. Speaker, it seems that some Cabinet Ministers are not completely enamoured with this report, nor do they agree with some of the information which was printed in the report. For example, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment stated, and I quote from unedited Hansard of December 1, "There is refutable information in this report." He also stated, and I quote, "I have read the summary and in my view, it is not completely accurate." Mr. Speaker, I understand that Members have the privilege of making comments on reports and I know that certain groups of people in this House have access to much more information and decision-making responsibilities than others, and should be given the chance to review and investigate the issues and concerns raised by people in positions such as the Languages Commissioner.

However, Mr. Speaker, I have great concern when Members, who are in a position of authority, make statements which try to alleviate the focus from their responsibilities. The main point in the Languages Commissioner's review of the languages agreement is that this government lapsed significant amounts of funds, which I believe could have been used to support and enhance many of our northern languages projects. Mr. Speaker, the responsibility rests with each Minister to encourage, enhance, and promote the use of aboriginal languages in the workplace and in the north. To me, it doesn't matter that the underspending was $1,000 or $1 million dollars. The point is, all the funds should be utilized for the items for which they were budgeted.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue my statement.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, the reason for my statement is that this Assembly will have to eventually deal with the issue of the Languages Commissioner. We have to determine who is responsible and we must decide to whom the Languages Commissioner is accountable. We need to do this, try to stay away from personality clashes and focus on the roles and responsibilities of the positions. We have to determine the correct facts related to the management of government programs and services. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Koe. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Arngna'naaq.