Good afternoon. Orders of the day, item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Todd.

Mr. Speaker, since becoming the Minister of Transportation, Members of the House have made it very clear to me that there is a large desire for local transportation facilities in the communities. These include wharves, breakwaters and landings for small boats and access roads or trails to local attractions. These facilities are needed to support resource harvesting, recreation, tourism and cultural pursuits.

It has also become clear to me that the needs are not being adequately met. In part, this shortfall can be addressed by speaking more on these programs, and I intend to do so. However, this is not the only answer.

In many cases, communities know what is needed and are quite capable of building it themselves. Often, they are prepared to make a substantial contribution to the work and are asking only for some assistance to pay wages or purchase materials or fuel.

I believe we should support this kind of community initiative and commitment. By doing so, we can respond to community priorities and increase the local control and stake in the projects. We can also stretch our limited dollars a little further.

Mr. Speaker, I am, therefore, pleased to announced that Cabinet has approved a contributions policy for community transportation infrastructure. This policy will increase our flexibility in making contributions to communities who wish to undertake improvements to local access roads and small craft facilities.

Communities will be encouraged to develop proposals outlining the work to be done, including the costs and schedule, the contribution requested and the anticipated benefits. I should caution that this policy is aimed at smaller local projects and our total funding is not unlimited. However, we will make every effort to respond positively to sound proposals.

Department of Transportation staff will also be available to assist in developing proposals and provide expertise where required. We will also continue, where appropriate, with more traditional implementation methods for community marine and access road projects.

This policy will therefore not exclude those communities who do not have the means to initiate such proposals. Nor will it exclude larger or more complex projects which do require more thorough planning, engineering or environmental assessments.

Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to make details of this new policy available to interested Members and community councils. I hope my colleagues will agree that this policy is a positive step forward towards community control in satisfying local needs and aspirations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Todd. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later on this afternoon, Mr. Speaker, I will table the building and learning strategy on behalf of the NWT Housing Corporation, the Departments of Public Works and Services and the Honourable Richard Nerysoo, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. This important initiative is a result of months of hard work and collaboration between the NWT Housing Corporation and the Departments of Public Works and Services, Education, Culture and Employment.

Every year, our government spends millions of dollars on capital projects. We build houses, schools, nursing stations, recreational facilities and other buildings that are needed in our communities. These capital projects have the potential to create much more benefit to the communities than just the buildings themselves. The jobs generated by construction work are needed by the people in the communities. Jobs are scarce in many communities, and employment is needed so people can be self-sufficient and provide a better quality of life for themselves and their families.

Jobs, training and business opportunities for the communities are what the building and learning strategy is all about. Government, communities and NWT construction industry will work together to create new jobs for northerners on government funded local construction projects. Through these efforts, we will build a trained, skilled, northern construction workforce, and strengthen our northern construction industry.

I would like to thank the Honourable Richard Nerysoo and all those who contributed to the development of this strategy. We will continue to work together to ensure that government-funded construction projects result not only in quality buildings, but also in stronger, more self-sufficient northern communities, citizens and businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Morin. Item 3, Ministers' statements. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The importance of basing education in local culture has long been recognized in the Northwest Territories. Although language and cultural activities have been a part of school programs, communities, educators, school boards and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment have recognized the need to include aboriginal culture and language in the school system in a consistent way.

I am pleased to tell this Assembly that Dene Kede, the first curriculum to provide a Dene perspective on education, was officially launched at a ceremony in Rae in mid-October, and has been officially introduced into schools across the western Arctic. The curriculum encompasses the language, culture and way in which five Dene nations view the world.

Approximately fifty themes, such as drumming, fire, and caribou, are used to teach the four concepts central to Dene perspective: the spiritual world, the land, the self and the people. The purpose of the curriculum is to enhance Dene culture and language, and to help students develop respectful relationships with themselves, other people, the spirit world and the land.

To ensure that Dene Kede is truly community-based, it was essential to involve as many communities as possible in its development. Elders, in particular, had a key role to play at every stage. As a result, the way in which Dene Kede was produced was unique. Over a period of three years, a group of elders from all five of the Dene regions developed the curriculum by identifying the major themes and how they reflect Dene perspective. The staff of the department and 24 other aboriginal teachers acted as support to these elders.

The curriculum was piloted in five schools in the western Arctic in 1992-93, including Fort McPherson, Fort Providence, Rae-Edzo and two schools in Yellowknife. The curriculum is now being implemented in all western Arctic schools and is expected to take up to three years, at which point it will be evaluated. I am proud of this accomplishment and will be providing every Member with a copy of this curriculum. Mr. Speaker, I would like to note that my colleague, the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi, was Minister of Education when work began on this important initiative.

Dene Kede has currently been developed for students in kindergarten to grade six. Work on the curriculum for grades seven to nine is scheduled to begin in 1995-96. I am also pleased to announce that work is proceeding on Inuuqatigiit, the Inuktitut language and culture curriculum, which will be piloted in January of 1994. I will keep the Assembly informed of progress on this curriculum. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Nerysoo. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to speak about the proposed closure of Akaitcho Hall. Akaitcho Hall has served the needs of all students in the Northwest Territories for more than 25 years. It is an institution that has helped to graduate many of our leaders, by giving them a sound environment in which to learn and grow. The proposed closure, in the spring of 1994, of Akaitcho Hall limits the educational opportunities for our children. If we are to continue to want the best possible education for our children, we must provide them with choices. I do not believe that the divisional boards of education can supply the same recreational, cultural and educational opportunities that are available in a city the size of Yellowknife. The divisional boards can not provide large enough student numbers in each grade level to ensure a variety of classes and options. To replace Akaitcho Hall with a home boarding program is not an option. The majority of the people who would be involved in offering their homes through this program would be of European descent. Taking a native student and placing them in such an environment serves, again, to reduce the opportunity to maintain one's own cultural identity.

In the capital project address on November 19, the Honourable John Pollard stated that one of the biggest concerns this government had was the lack of educational facilities for the development of our children. I submit, Mr. Speaker, that the need for Akaitcho Hall is far from over and that the department's failure to include this fact in this planning may show short-sightedness on their part. Akaitcho Hall has served, in the past, as a melting pot of all cultures in the Northwest Territories. Students who attend Akaitcho Hall are exposed to a different aspect of Dene and Inuit culture. The interchange of ideas and culture results in our children having a greater understanding and appreciation of the diversity of the people of the Northwest Territories. This understanding can not be achieved in a home boarding program.

Children from the smaller communities with a native heritage must be exposed to larger communities such as Yellowknife to lessen the cultural shock that might occur, should they decide to further their education in the south. We need educated native-born northerners with the necessary skills to guide and shape the destiny of the Northwest Territories into the 25th century. The closure of Akaitcho Hall...

Mr. Gargan.

Mr. Chairman, I seek unanimous consent.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and honourable Members. The closure of Akaitcho Hall robs northern students of the freedom to make their own choices. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Gargan. Members' statements. Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today, with regard to being the deputy speaker. I will be resigning from my position as Deputy Speaker, as I have served my two year term. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you and the two other chairpersons. I am sure the Members are aware that there would be a person from amongst the Members to be elected as a Speaker and a deputy speaker. I would like to encourage every one of you to be the Speaker or the deputy speaker. Thank you very much, to all the Members for giving me support when I was chairperson and when I was a deputy speaker. I really appreciate your support. (Translation ends)

My resignation as the deputy speaker will be effective at the end of the Fourth Session of the 12th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pudluk. I think all Members join me in thanking you very much for your contributions, not only in the last two years as deputy speaker, but for your many, many years in the House. Thanks so much, Mr. Pudluk.

---Applause

Members' statements. Mr. Whitford.

Thank you, Mr. Whitford. Members' statements. Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of my highlights this past summer was to arrange for a prospecting course in Baker Lake. The process was tedious and time-consuming, as two NWT government departments were involved and the federal department of Indian and Northern Affairs. However, the course did take place late in the summer. I spoke to some of the students during the course and afterwards. The students were ecstatic as they took in the information from the instructor. I have stated in this House previously, that I believe our corner of the country is one of the last frontiers, as it relates to minerals. I think the potential in mineral development is incredible. This is where the north will find its financial resources to build the much-needed infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, there has been a record number of mineral claim staking in the area of north Great Slave Lake and they are going to continue to move eastward. In 1992, 20 million acres of claims were recorded, with 3.1 million acres in the month of December alone. There were more claims staked in one month than had occurred in many years. At the end of 1992, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs gave out an additional 7.1 million acres in prospecting permits. This calendar year, between the months of January and October, 45 million acres were recorded.

Mr. Speaker, the people of the Northwest Territories have to be intimately involved in this development. One of the ways to start is by running similar courses in the communities. Our people have to start staking some of this land. They have to learn what it means to be a miner, otherwise, mining companies will be up here with no involvement by the people. Much the same as has happened in the development of our government over the past three or four decades.

As is the norm, our people will be given token positions to show the numbers are there. They will not be in a position to be able to influence the major decisions that will have to be made. I encourage the Government of the Northwest Territories to start campaigning across the north the potential for jobs in the mining industry. Where that starts, Mr. Speaker, is in education.

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. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We must make information about job opportunities, and the possibilities of mining, readily available to young people across the north, and train them in those positions. In fact, when approached properly, it offers a unique opportunity for northerners to create businesses, owned and operated, by northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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