Mr. Chairman, I wanted to advise the Minister that was one of the main purposes of the motion presented today, to ensure that you were aware there were not enough inspectors to enable you to find other methods of addressing that important issue. Thank you.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Mine Safety

Mr. Chairman, with regard to mine inspections, are we fairly consistent with regard to inspections in our mine operations?

Yes, it all works under the chief mine inspector and the rules which apply to one place apply to every place. This is a serious activity and responsibility. The rules are for everyone. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, could I ask the Minister if he has any thoughts on resolving the long-standing discussion/debate/confrontation with regard to the responsibility for safety education between the Workers' Compensation Board and the Department of Safety and Public Services? Does he have any ideas about how this issue can be gratefully resolved and put aside?

With respect to educational safety, should it lay with the Workers' Compensation Board, in Safety or is it a combination of both? I have indicated to the chairman of the

WCB and to the deputy minister, in polite terms, they better work it out. We cannot simply be going out there and duplicating each other. There has to be a way to do this in a manner which is cost-effective. I am one of the people who believe you can be regulatory and be educational at the same time. We are working on that right now. There are discussions going on between the chairman of the WCB and the deputy. I have indicated that they cannot go on forever. I have said to them they had better come to a compromise and it has to be in a manner which is going to ensure that there is adequate safety education out there.

I did get a report from the WCB safety division and they are getting out into the communities. I am pleased by that. The whole issue of safety is intertwined with WCB in a sense because it relates to assessments and accidents, et cetera. We are working towards a position where both the WCB and the Department of Safety can work in harmony to provide both the regulatory functions and the educational functions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to hear that. As a former Minister who was responsible for both the department and the WCB, also directed the deputy and urged the chairman to resolve it and saw negotiations go so far as a draft memorandum of agreement, I wish the Minister well in resolving this issue. I hope he has more success than I did in settling it because there is a need to settle it, we cannot afford the luxury of competition. I know the Minister agrees. Thank you.

Yes, I agree with what Mr. Patterson is saying. Clearly, there is a need for an integrated approach to safety, whether it is mine safety or construction safety. I have told both the chairman and the deputy, they have to work it out. I want it done soon. I am confident, with Mr. Quirke and Mr. Gilmour, that they will see the necessity to move expeditiously in resolving this issue.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I heard all the agrees come from that side, but not from this side. I do have a question. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister, in respect to mine safety, would he provide to us the number of inspections and services of mines for the NWT. I believe they have those statistics available.

This was inspections on mines, Mr. Chairman?

I can provide it in hard copy and I can do it orally, if you wish. We had 122 mine inspections to date for the first nine months of the year, 40 inspections in underground mines, 30 mill and surface inspections, 1 open pit, 14 quarried, 12 abandoned mines and 18 blasting general industries for a total of 122 inspections.

In previous years we did close to the same, I think. We are sitting with 122 inspections to date in nine months, which is not bad.