A return ask by Mr. Ng on December 7 with respect to negotiations for the Arctic A airports.

On Tuesday, December 7, the honourable Member for Kitikmeot asked me if, in the even of a successful transfer of the Arctic A airports from the federal to the territorial government, how the Department of Transportation intended to operate the airports themselves, contract their operation to a private firm or further devolve them to municipalities.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation has no special preference or commitment to any one way of managing and operating the airports it may require and remains open to all three options the Member suggested. Department, private or municipal operation each have their pros and cons. The department would look at each airport on a case by case basis and determine which method of operation seemed to make the most sense in the particular circumstances.

The department would probably operate the airports by itself for a while, at least until the inevitable wrinkles with the transfer were worked out and the department had become familiar with their operations. At that stage, it could begin to consider the best long-term operating arrangements for each of the airports.

Again, I want to emphasize that negotiations have only begun and, as I said to the Member, unless we get a good agreement, I cannot say, with certainty, that a transfer will take place at all. It is far too early for me to start making commitments about the best way to operate them.

I also have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Pudluk on November 30 regarding the availability of funding to communities visiting Greenland.

In October, 1993, the main delegation from Pangnirtung going to Greenland was the entire council, as well as two hamlet administrative staff. Council had been planning this trip for over a year so that they could review different management systems, the structure of council, committee systems and program management. They were not representing the Baffin region in any official capacity but rather were looking for possible solutions to some of the problems facing their own community.

The community requested financial assistance from my department as they were recovering from a substantial deficit. Since the council had been making a strong effort to retire their debt and put new systems in place to exercise better controls, the Baffin regional superintendent made a recommendation that the department provide some financial assistance in recognition of what the council had achieved. The Minister of the day agreed to make a contribution. The council was required to identify some of their own funds to help offset the total cost. These visits are planned as exchange visits and the hamlet council of Pangnirtung agreed to host a delegation from Greenland in return.

Other such exchanges have taken place in conjunction with a memorandum of agreement signed in April, 1989 between the Greenland Home Rule Government and this government. Broughton Island, Lake Harbour, Pond Inlet and Grise Fiord are other communities that have participated. Some have received financial assistance and some have not. Each request is considered separately, on its own merit.

However, the department is not funded specifically to provide financial assistance to councils wishing to travel to Greenland or other locations. There is no application process prescribed and no money allocated to assist in travel costs. There is no assurance that if any further requests are received, further funding could be provided. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Todd. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, as requested by Mr. Dent in an oral question asked on December 2, I will be circulating to Members today, the guidelines for negotiated contracts.

I also have a return to a question asked by Mr. Ng on December 1, 1993. Mr. Ng asked if there were one or two financial coordinators in the official languages unit of the Department of the Executive.

There is one financial coordinator in the unit. The position has been filled since April of 1993, and was created to ensure better financial reporting by departments.

I also have a return to a question asked by Mr. Gargan on December 1, 1993, regarding funds for communities under language agreements.

Both the territorial and federal governments have committed funding for community-based initiatives relating to the aboriginal languages through the Canada-NWT cooperation agreement for French and aboriginal languages. Under the 1993-94 annual appendix for aboriginal languages, approximately $2.5 million is directed to community-based contribution programs. This represents 45 per cent of the available agreement funding and does not include funding directed towards the communities through the delivery of other GNWT programs and services funded out of the agreement.

This funding can be categorized into two areas:

i)Funding which is accessible by community groups or individuals for projects they propose. These include the following contribution programs:

- community proposed geographic place name projects, $55,000;

- community proposed language enhancement initiatives,

$460,000;

- community proposed literacy projects, $112,000; to a total of $627,000.

ii)Funding driven by community needs and carried out at the community level. These include the following contribution programs:

- community based broadcasting organizations, $240,000;

- community based teaching and learning centres, $1.11

million;

- community based teacher education training program,

$550,000; for a total of $1.89 million.

It should be noted that when the 10 per cent cuts announced by the federal government were applied, the impact upon community-based contribution programs was minimal because a greater proportion of the cuts was applied against other programs. All of the above mentioned projects had their funding increased from the 1992-93 fiscal year, with the exception of the teaching and learning centres.

All of these contribution programs are administered by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. These contributions are allocated through normal GNWT procedures. All NWT communities can access these funds, and many communities are already experiencing the benefits of these programs. Specific details with respect to contribution recipients or rejections can be provided by the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to a question asked on December 1 by Mrs. Marie-Jewell regarding the date the Premier became aware of lapsed funds under the languages agreement and also a question on the languages agreement. Both questions are addressed in this one reply.

During the 1992-93 fiscal year, all departments were asked to identify projected lapses on four separate occasions, September, November, December of 1992, and February of 1993. Additional requests for information were made at the monthly languages coordinators meeting which includes representatives from all departments.

In response to the official languages unit request for projected expenditures in December of 1992, the departments projected a zero dollar lapse for aboriginal languages and $397,000 lapse for French.

Final activity and financial reports required by the agreement were submitted to the official language unit one month after the end of the fiscal year. By the end of April, the GNWT was aware that the level of lapse was higher than they had been projecting a few months earlier.

Various Members of this House rose to make statements to protest the ten per cent cuts to the agreement in March of 1993. At that time, the GNWT was only projecting a four per cent overall lapse. Even with the actual lapses, concern with the cuts remained. The government signed a multi-year agreement with the Government of Canada. To have cuts imposed unilaterally during the life of the agreement shows a disregard for the commitment to the GNWT and community groups by the federal government.

The official language unit has increased its efforts to better monitor the agreement funding through exploring variance reporting for vote 4 as well as advising departments of their continued obligation to monitor their programs effectively. Appropriate and effective management of all program resources is expected of individual departments.

Every effort is being made to ensure that the projections are accurate to reallocate available funding appropriately. Based on the information provided by the departments for the interim activity report, the GNWT is expecting no lapse for aboriginal languages and $269,000 for French. Lapses for French are due mostly to year end expenditures such as accommodation services and payout of benefits. This will be monitored closely.

Mr. Speaker, I have a reply to an oral question asked by Mr. Patterson on December 2, concerning the Government of the Northwest Territories' commitment to spreading conference business throughout the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I will be circulating today, copies of two letters respecting the need for spreading conference business throughout the Northwest Territories. The first letter, which was issued on January 20, 1993, resulted in the development of a listing of proposed GNWT sponsored conferences for 1993 along with an estimation of the number of participants and the location of each conferences. This listing, which I will also circulate today, reflects that out of 107 conferences and meetings planned for 1993, only 27 were to take place in Yellowknife.

The second letter which I issued following Mr. Patterson's question on December 2 was intended to enforce the position that our conference business should be spread throughout the NWT whenever and wherever possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Allooloo on December 2, regarding the cost of sending a student from Pond Inlet to Iqaluit.

A kindergarten to grade 12 education program is offered at Takijualuk School in Pond Inlet. As well, there is a student residence in Pond Inlet, the Samuel Angnetsiak residence, to accommodate senior secondary students from Grise Fiord, Resolute, Arctic Bay and Nanisivik. There is one other student residence in the Baffin, the Ukiivik student residence in Iqaluit, and a student home boarding program in Igloolik for senior secondary students from Hall Beach. If a student were to be accommodated in Ukiivik residence from Pond Inlet, travel from Pond Inlet to Iqaluit, including one return trip home at Christmas, would cost approximately $2,190. In addition, there would be the cost of providing accommodation and meals in the residence. The total cost per student in the Baffin for providing travel to and from home, accommodation and meals can be estimated by averaging the total costs of operating the two residences and one home boarding program for each student receiving these services. The average cost of these services per student is $24,500.

Under the current policy and direction for senior secondary education, this does not mean, however, that $24,500 or any portion of that amount, is available to be contributed to any student in the Baffin to support their attendance at schools outside the Baffin region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have a return to a question asked by Mr. Koe on Monday, November 29 regarding student loan agreements.

Students receiving student financial assistance from this government are required to sign a number of documents both in advance of receiving assistance and upon completion of their studies. The same forms are used for students attending post secondary education inside and outside the Northwest Territories.

I believe that's a return to a written question. We'll wait for the appropriate time on the order paper. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister responsible for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. The current Department of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources has a staff of 24. This department used to be very small, but grew significantly in the past four years. It is difficult to determine what work is being done by the department or why it is structured the way it is. My question to the Minister is, is the department really an understudy, learning the role of the federal government in anticipation of being able to play the part after a transfer of responsibility to the GNWT?

Minister responsible for EM&PR, Madam Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, the department carries a number of ongoing duties. To best express the role of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, it is not staffed to understudy. They actually take on a role in representing the

territorial government in the area of responsibility that we have. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Ng.

Supplementary, at one time the Department of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources was staffed primarily by oil and gas experts. The department now seems to have a mineral policy division with four people and a mineral development agreement division with six people. Can the Minister advise this House whether the department is, in fact, focusing more on mineral development, which are the pressing issues of the moment?

Minister Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, that is true. We do have an agreement with the federal government which is a mineral development agreement. The department does a lot of work and has refocussed on the mineral development area, although we still do some work with oil and gas. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Ng.

For those staff who are geared toward mining activities, what are they doing to ensure northerners are involved in and have a fair share of the action in the mining developments?

Minister Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, what I would provide for the Member, if he wishes, is the total make up of the department, and the goals and objectives. I could extensively go through each activity but it would be a rather long response. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.