Good afternoon. Before we get into the orders of the day, I have a message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the Commissioner is wishing the Premier Nellie Cournoyea a very happy birthday.

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I think we all join the Commissioner in wishing Ms. Cournoyea all the best on her 39th birthday.

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Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The mine safety bill committee was formed in December of 1991 to prepare a new mine safety bill and regulations. At that time, the unions representing the vast majority of unionized mine workers in the Northwest Territories refused to join the committee because they objected to the manner in which the committee was structured.

The committee is comprised of two representatives from mine management, one representative of employees from a non-union mine and one representative from the Union of Northern Workers who represents a small number of mine employees.

Despite the absence of organized workers, the committee has continued with its work and has been developing a new mine safety bill and regulations for close to one year.

To date, the committee has completed the drafting instructions for the new bill and has made substantial headway on the regulations that will accompany this legislation.

While the work of the committee has been admirable, this process does not address the views of all of the stakeholders concerned with mine safety in the Northwest Territories. The absence of organized workers in this process means that the views of a significant and important sector of the mining industry in the Northwest Territories are not being considered.

Like previous Ministers of Safety and Public Services, I have tried to explore ways that organized labour could be accommodated within the existing review process as a full and willing participant.

After a great deal of discussion with the president of the Northwest Territories Federation of Labour, an accommodation has been reached that will allow organized labour to participate in the development of this important legislation.

This agreement would allow the Northwest Territories Federation of Labour to nominate persons from organized labour to sit on the committee, the number to be equivalent to the membership of the committee as currently structured. The Federation of Labour would also be given the opportunity to review the proposed new act and the work done on the regulations to date and offer suggestions on how it can be improved.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the president and executive of the Northwest Territories federation of labour for their efforts in bringing organized labour back to the table to review this important piece of legislation.

It is important to ensure, at the conclusion of this process, we have a good piece of legislation which ensures the safety of all mine workers in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I note we failed to mark the passage of your birthday last week, Mr. Speaker. Of a similar vintage to yourself, Mr. Speaker, is an institution in this city called the Yellowknife guild of crafts. It was founded in 1946. Ruth Stanton was the first president. The first secretary was Mrs. Anderson-Thomson. The guild, in those days, was established because people were very interested in doing creative things with their hands in a place which, at that time, was very isolated. People lived under conditions which were much different than what they are today. Some people may be amused by the idea of people sitting down doing handicrafts for long hours on those winter nights. However, one of the things which happened with that guild, Mr. Speaker, which many people do not know of, is that Dr. Stanton on all of his travels throughout the Mackenzie Valley and up to the Delta, was instrumental in bringing the art work of many aboriginal

people to the attention of Yellowknife and the rest of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, this has been of interest to me. This is still something which is seen as elitist, something that is somehow irrelevant to the Northwest Territories because it serves only the interests of urban people who are bored and have nothing to do. Many of us do not see it that way. We have seen all kinds of very interesting things done there and I will be tabling a letter from that guild as they are very concerned about the future of this institution which has been around, Mr. Speaker, for about the same length of time as you have.

Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Personnel. The Minister should be aware that the high school in Coral Harbour will be proceeding with grade extensions to allow grade 11 students to remain in their home community. This expansion will likely require the addition of two more teachers. Many people in the community have raised concerns regarding the inadequate availability of government staff housing. They are wondering what arrangements are going to be made for housing these new teachers. Frankly, this is a problem which seems to occur every time program expansion or decentralization has been discussed in eastern Arctic communities. It has remained one of the biggest barriers to the establishment of the government infrastructure. Can the Minister of Personnel tell the House what he is planning to do to address the chronic shortage of housing for government employees, especially teachers, during the 1993-94 fiscal year?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Like many other honourable Members, I would have no trouble supporting the principle that the GNWT should get out of the business of being a landlord for its staff. However, I cannot see moving quickly toward policy equalization when there are such great inadequacies of availability and condition of housing, which presently exist in our communities. Can the Minister of Personnel explain how his new staff housing strategy is going to deal with the critical shortage of staff housing and the poor conditions of old staff houses which still exist?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Personnel will then be able to write to the community education councils and inform them that the guarantees are available to build such houses and the teachers can be properly housed. The community education councils can then inform the public, especially the business sector, to proceed with the process of loan guarantees to build houses for government staff. Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. This is your last supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister making a commitment that he will be accepting proposals from the private sector from Coral Harbour, who want to build staff housing for the government?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. A few days ago I asked the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation about the methods of transportation for housing materials. In one of the Minister's responses, he stated he is in the process of preparing a decision paper for Cabinet to consider barge companies having the opportunity to carry cargo, and whether we can ship materials in the Inuvik region by truck. Can the Minister please advise when he is proposing to deal with this issue in Cabinet?

Mr. Minister.