Good afternoon. Before we commence with orders of the day, I would like to recognize in the visitors' gallery the former Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, Ann Hansen.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As most northerners know, land is a valuable and scarce resource which must be managed by all governments, in trust for the present generation and future generations of our people. The importance of this resource to communities has been recognized in the Nunavut final claim agreement, which calls for all Commissioner's land -- land held by the Government of the Northwest Territories -- in the built-up areas to be transferred to the municipalities of Nunavut within three years after the agreement is ratified. Claims under way or being implemented in the Dene/Metis claims settlement area in the western Arctic may also be expected to promote greater community control of municipal lands.

Up until now, the role of many municipalities, especially of the hamlets, in land management has been limited. Hamlets would give the GNWT advice on who should receive a parcel or parcels of Commissioner's land, and often the hamlets would act as the GNWT agent for purposes of receiving applications for land from local residents.

Now -- as the claims process is completed in each area and in response to wishes of communities to seek more authorities under initiatives such as the community transfer initiative -- municipal governments will be able to take on direct management and control of complex land administration programs, which require technical and legal expertise and are tied in with the community planning and zoning processes.

In order to assist municipal governments of the NWT in getting ready for major new authority and responsibilities in municipal land management, Cabinet has approved a revised municipal lands policy. This policy is based on principles which emphasize the following: municipal lands as a valuable resource; the need for government to use fair and consistent practices when selling or leasing municipal lands; that when municipal land is sold, it should normally be sold at a price which only recovers the costs of government to develop the land; and, that land speculation should be discouraged.

Some of the major features of the new municipal lands policy include the following: the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and each municipal council would sign a land administration agreement which would outline the conditions for transfer of Commissioner's land to the municipal corporation; municipal councils would pass by-laws to adopt their land administration agreements with the Minister. The land administration agreement will be a public document and the community residents will know how the municipal government intends to price municipal land for lease or sale; municipal governments would be expected to set the price for new land lots on the basis of the costs to territorial and municipal governments of developing the lots. This should ensure that the public, especially new home owners and small businesses starting up, pay reasonable prices for lots.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that this new municipal lands policy clearly places community governments on the road to exercising autonomy in the management of public lands in their communities. The department has developed draft legislation intended to support this policy further and place even more authority in the hands of municipal governments. I will table this draft legislation with the Assembly today.

The municipal lands policy is being translated and will be sent to mayors and councils as soon as possible over the next month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 2, Ministers statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister of Renewable Resources I am responsible for maintaining the health of renewable resources in one third of Canada. To accomplish this task, I have always tried to work in partnership with the federal government. By pooling resources and working jointly, we have accomplished a number of tasks that would have been impossible alone.

Lately, though, Mr. speaker, I have heard that our federal partners are considering or have made funding cuts to a number of northern programs relating to renewable resource management. As with other federal cuts, there has been no consultation with our government. I find this very disturbing.

The proposed funding cuts that we are aware of include:

1. the humane trap research program which is also jointly funded by all other jurisdictions. This research is vital to developing new harvesting methods prior to 1995 when the European legislation takes effect to ban the import of furs from any country not using humane traps;

2. core funding to Indigenous Survival International which has promoted the northern life-styles and the northern fur industry in Europe;

3. the rabies vaccine program which has provided protection to our working dog teams that are used for harvesting and sport hunting in remote communities where there is no access to veterinarians; and,

4. a partial cut to funding promised to maintain the bison free zone south of Fort Providence and to help operate the Hanging Ice Bison Ranch. Until the diseased bison issue in Wood Buffalo Park is resolved, the corridor is the only way to keep healthy bison in the Mackenzie bison sanctuary and the Liard area from contacting diseased bison. The Hanging Ice Bison Ranch is an option being considered by the northern buffalo management board for raising bison for restocking. Federal support is needed to keep the ranch active.

I will be writing to each federal Minister to request that we be advised of potential cuts to renewable resource programs, and that we be involved in establishing priorities.

Renewable resources are very important to the life-styles and future economic options for our residents. We must do all we can to ensure that these resources remain healthy and abundant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express the concerns shared by the Members of the Ordinary Members' Caucus regarding the off-loading of federal responsibilities to this government. Over the past ten years we have seen a number of federal responsibilities transferred to this government, including inter-territorial highways, Baffin health services, NWT health services, forestry and fire suppression, Arctic B and C airports and a northern scientific resource centre.

Mr. Speaker, along with these responsibilities came resources. We had facilities, program services, person years and, of course, finances transferred to us. We understood that what we were given represented the amount that the federal government had required to run the programs. It seems that when this government inherited these program responsibilities, it also inherited the program deficiencies.

We receive funds each year from the federal government, and these monies are escalating or increased annually in a form of monies received under the formula financing agreement. Are these funds actually adequate to operate the program? The Members of the Ordinary Members' Caucus do not believe so. Just look at the dilemma this government is in with respect to northern highways. Northerners rely heavily on air transportation and to a lesser extent on road travel. Yet since taking over responsibilities for highways and Arctic A, B and C airports we do not have a proper transportation infrastructure in place.

Both the Beatty report and the government's own transportation strategy point to this inadequacy. Although the federal government still has responsibility for construction of new roads, I have yet to hear any firm commitment from them to start building.

Look also at the problems this government faces regarding the provision of health care services. Taxpayer's dollars are now being spent on a legal dispute involving the interpretation of the health transfer agreement. Did the GNWT acquire the responsibility to pay this for the health care of the Indian and Inuit people? A clear federal responsibility in the bargain.

Mrs. Marie-Jewell, your allotted time has elapsed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to continue.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How long is this battle going to go on? What will it cost us and what will it mean if we lose? At the least, our relations with Ottawa will be strained. Meanwhile, in the midst of that dispute, this government is spending $200 million on health care. Ordinary Members are very concerned with the chain of events to date and the current status of devolution. We wonder if this government can really handle all the program areas transferred to it, and can we afford to do so?

We ask this government to take a hard look at the whole process of devolution from its inception to the present day, including an examination of negotiations currently under way. One example of where to begin would be the northern accord.

Perhaps, we can learn from our past experiences. Mr. Speaker, the Members will be asking questions on this issue today. They are very concerned as to where the government is heading, particularly, in this area. Thank you.

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Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Whitford.

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Arvaluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Special Committee on Education completed its final report a little more than 10 years ago, it set the process in motion for development of autonomous boards to allow local administration of educational facilities, staff and programs.

Today there is much confusion about the degree of autonomy which divisional boards of education are allowed to exercise. There are mixed messages, Mr. Speaker. On one hand, the Government of the Northwest Territories has stated that it supports local and divisional control of education and, on the other hand, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Programs continues to tie the hands of board officials with administrative directives that leave the real power in the hands of its bureaucrats. For instance, the Keewatin divisional board of education has been eager to exercise its rightful authority to appoint both the director of education and the supervisor of schools as its employees and to determine the terms of their appointments. Although the board is given this authority on paper, administrative directives exist which severely limit the board's flexibility in selecting the appropriate candidates in establishing terms and conditions of employment.

The department establishes what these terms will be. The board is supposed to merely be the signing authority. The directive even states...

Mr. Arvaluk, your allotted time has elapsed. Mr. Arvaluk.