Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Housing Corporation Minister. I understand that some of the people who rent Housing Corporation housing have been asked to move out of their houses. My question is how many people have been asked to move out of their houses? I am concerned about this because the NWT communities where we live are very cold in the winter-time. We have very harsh winters. I am wondering if the Minister of the Housing Corporation can answer the question as to how many people have had to move out of their homes, to date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no intention on the part of the Housing Corporation to evict people out of public housing because they have missed one or two month's rent. Eviction is a final act of the housing authorities at the community level. They make every attempt to have the tenants pay their rent on time, and their final action is eviction. I have no idea, at this time. I think it would take a lot of work to find out how many have been given eviction notices in the whole of the Northwest Territories. It's done at the community level. Consultation is done with the clients and it's usually as a very, very last resort that they're asked to move out of their units.

There is a long waiting list for housing in every community. There are a lot of people that are ready, willing and able to pay their rent on time. The rent is usually a very minimal amount. Those people have to be dealt with as fairly as those that do not follow the rules and do not pay their rent.

If the Member could be more precise as to the community or an individual case, then I would be happy to look into it.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was referring to the communities of the Baffin region. Mr. Speaker, thank you for the clarification. I would like make a supplementary.

He had just stated that the rent they pay is very minimal for public housing. I wonder if there is going to be an increase in the rent for 1994-95? We were told we would have to face an increase in public housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's been no increase in public housing rents since 1983. The only time a person will get a increase in his rent, is if he gets an increase in wages to justify paying more rent. The rent is based on 25 per cent of his gross income. We're reviewing the rent scale at the present time. I'm working on doing that with the Advisory Committee on Housing and the community consultation process as well. We have to review them. In some cases, the rents will go up and, in other cases, the rents will go down. I can't really speculate on which communities will have the rent go up and which ones will have it go down. There will be full community consultation. As well, if the rents do go up in any communities, it will be phased in. It's not going to happen overnight. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister Responsible for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. Earlier, she stated that her department was responsible for the overall coordination of mining yet the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism just stated that he wasn't aware of the establishment of this office to handle industrial benefits from major projects. I guess this confirms my concern that the mining initiatives of this government aren't being coordinated.

My question to the Minister is, how has the coordinated government approached the mining initiatives when the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism isn't even aware of this initiative that she announced on Friday, regarding the establishment of an office for handling industrial benefits?

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, when a statement is written up, all departments participates in making the statement. If that is not the case, I don't know how it got in to the statement. When the statement is drafted, obviously, everyone concerned should have been involved with that statement or passed through that statement. If there has been a misunderstanding, or if someone has fed in some information, we'll have to check that out. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ng.

I'd like to ask the Minister, then, which department's initiative is it for the establishment of this office? Is it your department or is it the Department of Economic Development and Tourism?

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, like I said to the honourable Member, I will check and see just exactly how that was referred to in the statement and get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. Item 6, written questions. Item 7, returns to written questions. Mr. Clerk.

Mr. Speaker, there is Return to Written Question 15-12(4), asked by Mr. Patterson to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment concerning disabled persons vocational rehabilitation cost-sharing.

A three year cost-sharing agreement with the federal government to provide the vocational rehabilitation for disabled persons program (VRDP) was signed in July, 1993. The program totals $742,000. The majority of this funding supports the operation of alcohol and drug treatment centres in the NWT and the Abe Miller Centre in Yellowknife.

Fort-five thousand dollars of this cost-shared agreement has been allocated to respond to individual requests for vocational rehabilitation. Twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars is provided by the territorial government, and the remaining fifty per cent of the total is provided by the federal government on a cost-recovery basis. People are eligible to apply for assistance through this program if, because of a physical or mental impairment, they cannot be steadily employed without receiving vocational rehabilitation services.

The responsibility for administering the $45,000 for individual applications under the VRDP program was transferred from the Department of Social Services to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in April, 1993. In the past, the territorial portion of the funding, $22,500, was divided amongst the regional offices of Social Services. Over the last two fiscal years, this funding was not spent. The program is difficult to administer, the funds available in each region were small, and regional offices found other ways to address the needs identified by the community.

This year, because the total amount of funding available was relatively small, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment decided to bring this funding together in headquarters and to use the funding for assessments and follow-ups. Diagnostic assessments for learning disabilities were recently provided for fifteen individuals. Based on the assessments, recommendations have been made to meet the education and employment needs of these individuals. The balance of the funding available through this program this year will be used to implement these recommendations, and address additional requests for services wherever possible.

This year so far thirty people have applied for funding through this program. It is difficult to determine how many people in the NWT would be eligible for individual assistance through the vocational rehabilitation for disabled persons program, but it is reasonable to conclude that the demand is greater than can be met through current funding.

I have Return to Written Question 16-12(4), asked by Mr. Koe to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment concerning student loan agreements.

Student 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 am separately provide the MLA for Inuvik with copies of all of the documents required at all stages of the student financial assistance process.

With respect to the consolidated loan agreement, this agreement obligates a student to repay the loans, both the principal and interest, made to him in accordance with the Student Financial Assistance Act and regulations, at the rate stated in the agreement.

The student must inform the government if he becomes a full-time student again after ceasing to be a full-time student. In such a case, the government will suspend the student's obligation to pay the principal and interest of the loan until six months after he again ceases to be a full-time student. Also, the student may repay the full amount of the loan at any time without penalty.

I would be pleased to arrange a meeting for the MLA for Inuvik with departmental officials to answer any more specific questions he may have on the student loan agreement or other documents used in the program.

I have Return to Written Question 18-12(4), asked by Mr. Patterson to the Government Leader concerning Ministers' home travel.

Today, I will be tabling a report showing home travel undertaken by Ministers during the period November 1991 to October 15, 1993.

I have Return to Written Question 24-12(4), asked by Mr. Gargan to the Premier concerning Languages Commissioner's travel list.

It would be inappropriate for a Member of the Executive Council to request travel information from the Languages Commissioner, since the Languages Commissioner reports to this Assembly. I have forwarded a copy of Written Question 24-12(4) to the Speaker with a request that the information be compiled and provided to Mr. Gargan.

I have Return to Written Question 25-12(4), asked by Mrs. Marie-Jewell to the Minister of Social Services concerning the Bosco Homes contracts and/or contributions.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Item 7, returns to written questions. Item 8, replies to opening address. Item 9, petitions. Item 10, reports of standing and special committees. Item 11, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 12, tabling of documents. Mr. Morin.