Thank you. Contributions. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Chairman, I understand the budget includes provisions to deal with the cost of the housing strategy. Where are these costs reflected in the budget? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

I believe this particular matter is dealt with in the area of salaries. I would like to ask Mr. Devitt to explain further.

Mr. Devitt, would you like to go from there?

Mr. Chairman, the change in the budget is to reflect the housing strategy. It is, as the Minister stated, reflected throughout the budget and salaries. Most of the additional funding of approximately $1.2 million was for the additional cost of accommodation allowance. As well, there is about a $270,000 reduction in household allowances as a result of this strategy. Thank you.

Thank you. Contributions, $159.917 million. Agreed?

Agreed.

---Agreed

All right. Grants and contributions, $172.484 million. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Chairman, we have just covered the contributions to divisional boards. I have a question to the Minister about hiring practices for divisional boards. I understand, Mr. Chairman, that the department has informed the Baffin divisional board that they will not be allowed to recruit outside of a certain geographical area in southern Canada. Is that correct? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was made aware of that particular situation by Mr. Enook at a meeting I held with the chairman of the Baffin divisional board of education. I can confirm that particular instruction was given to the divisional board. It was as a result of concerns relating to the economy with regard to recruiting and the availability of teachers in eastern Canada. I also indicated to Mr. Enook that I would raise the particular matter with my colleague and see how he might address it or maintain the policy as was instructed. That is the extent of our discussion so far.

Thank you. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister about his attitude toward autonomy with the divisional boards of education. I think the direction was heavy-handed to assume that it would be cheaper for the divisional board to recruit in western Canada than in eastern Canada, whereas I think an examination of the costs will show that it may cost less to recruit and travel in the maritimes than in western Canada. It is well known that southern personnel, who are hired in the Baffin, often come from the maritimes because they are in the same time zone and they feel closer to family and relatives. As long as we have to hire in southern Canada, the policy was rather heavy-handed. Is it not the preferable option to inform the boards that they have a fixed budget for recruitment, that they should spend the money wisely and they should obviously avoid travelling or recruiting from too far a field in order to conserve their budget, rather than giving them arbitrary guidelines about where they should recruit? Is that not a more respectful approach in keeping with the principle that people in the region are quite capable of governing themselves without big brother from headquarters nickel and diming them on every travel warrant?

Mr. Minister.

Thank you. If I could talk to brother Patterson, I just want to make one thing clear. It was not the Department of Education that gave the instruction. I still believe, despite the concern that was raised, and I appreciate the position of Mr. Enook on this matter, that we all have to recognize that there is still a need for us to address the matter of our financial concerns in this government and with the boards that deliver programs and services on our behalf. The final comments he made is the direction the Department of Education is going right now. We are, in fact, already on that road. We are singing the same tune on that issue. Still, I would continue to be concerned as Minister if I thought the boards were not being prudent about their expenditures, but I am not interested in running the day to day business of school programs only to have them recognize that there is a core program. There are financial resources we provide to them and they must be accountable and responsible for those financial resources. If they are not, as Minister, I would have to intervene on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories. Generally speaking, on the matter of policy, I concur with the remarks made by the honourable Member.

I have always liked the diplomatic relationship between you two brothers. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Chairman, if I have accused the wrong Minister of being a trifle heavy-handed, then I apologize and I will save my comments for the Minister of Personnel, but I am satisfied with the response of the Minister of Education. I believe, from what I recall of positions he has taken on the autonomy of health boards in his former incarnation as an ordinary Member, that he will be hard pressed to erode the autonomy of the divisional boards without being reminded of his strong positions when he was on this side of the House. I am confident that this issue can be worked out in the Baffin, from what the Minister has said. Mr. Chairman, what is the policy now on the method of payment for contributions to divisional boards?

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The policy still remains where we would provide monthly payments based on historical cash requirements. In those times, when there was a significantly high requirement for financial resources, then they would be available at that particular juncture. It is still carrying on. It is a matter that has been raised with me by the trustees and also by the boards, as to how we address that. I know the honourable Member has been made aware that boards still would like to go to the quarterly payment, but that may not be the case. We can accommodate the monthly payments to address some of the concerns these boards have.

Thank you. The honourable Member for Iqaluit.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I understand the Government Leader has taken over responsibility for administering language funding. Does that mean the budget of this department includes the reduction for the transfer of funds which were formally in the contribution agreement with Canada for aboriginal languages? Are those funds now transferred to the Department of Executive?

Mr. Nerysoo.

The responsibility which has been transferred is the coordination and policy role. There have been some PYs moved from this department into the Department of Executive to deal with the matter of the languages agreement.