Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is nice to see you in the chair today, Mr. Speaker. Inspired by the eloquence of my colleagues, I am motivated to make a few comments about the budget address.

I would like to first of all say that one of the things that leapt out at me was the clear commitment to building new regional hospitals in Iqaluit and Inuvik.

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Mr. Speaker, this long-awaited project -- and I dare not speak for Inuvik, but I think I can say it is a long-awaited project -- in my constituency was promised in the transfer of Health by the federal government many years ago now. The facilities are old, out-moded, over-crowded and inadequate for the rapidly growing population of the region. I'm pleased to see there is a clear commitment reflected in the capital plan to get moving on this long-awaited project.

I would also like to say, Mr. Speaker, that I won't have a lot to say today because I have been privileged to participate in the Standing Committee on Finance deliberations on the capital budget and totally endorse the SCOF report. I would like to think it is a responsible, thoughtful and constructive document that wasn't presented in a spirit of confrontation or criticism, but rather intended to compliment the good work of the Minister of Finance and the other Ministers in the difficult task of putting together a capital budget during a time of diminishing resources.

I want to say one thing about the SCOF report now, and that is that I am very grateful that all the Members of that committee accepted the invitation of myself and Mr. Pudlat to meet in our constituencies and visit the newest and largest territorial park at Katannalik. I would like to thank the Members for taking the time and trouble to travel to Baffin to see first hand the investment that our government has in that park and the sense of ownership that the community of Lake Harbour and Iqaluit have in that park.

I want to thank the Members for their positive comments about the benefits of an investment of this kind for jobs, tourism and economic activity. I would like to think that issue has now been clarified, after some questions and doubts were raised in this Legislature. It is now clear that, where it is a priority in a community and in a region -- and it may not be the first priority in other communities and other regions, which I respect -- as it clearly is in the Baffin, tourism and parks can be a worthwhile investment and can generate real economic benefits.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to simply echo the comments of my colleagues previously in their replies to the budget address that education must be the first and most important priority of the government. I think it's clear, Mr. Speaker, that economic development, constitutional development, political development and social development will only be accomplished with an educated population, and so education becomes the most important of all priorities. In that regard, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make some comments about education, and I guess I would like to specifically express some concerns related to education in Nunavut and in my constituency.

The first one has to do with the split of Arctic College, and I want to say that I think this is the right thing to do. Education will be critical to the success of Nunavut. We have not struggled and fought for Nunavut for over 15 years so that the new government will employ southerners. We want the Nunavut government to have Inuktitut as its working language. This means northern people must be predominant in the Nunavut public service. I am pleased that the Government of the Northwest Territories has taken the step of preparing for Nunavut by proposing to divide Arctic College, and I am pleased that legislation is now before this House. But today, what I would like to address, Mr. Speaker, is the financial underpinnings and financial support for that college. It's not enough to divide the college into two colleges, east and west. I think we have to be sure that there's a fair allocation of resources. So, while I wish to congratulate the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment for moving ahead with the establishment of the Nunavut Arctic College and western Arctic College, I also want to express my concern that as we prepare for the establishment of new colleges in Nunavut and the western NWT, we ensure that there's equity and fairness in the allocation of resources within the present Arctic College systems.

It is clear that the people of Nunavut will rely heavily on the Nunavut Arctic College to meet the bulk of our training requirements. It is also clear there will be enormous positive economic benefits and cost-savings if northern residents can be trained to qualify for the jobs in the Nunavut government or an organization implementing the land claims. However, Mr. Speaker, in examining the current allocation of financial and human resources for programs in various campuses of Arctic College, it seems that there are sometimes wide disparities in funding and staffing levels. Some areas that I have looked at -- not necessarily, by any means, exhaustive -- are environmental technology, trades, student services and driver education and heavy equipment operator programs. Furthermore, as new health and hospital facilities are actively being planned in Nunavut, there are also rising expectations about the establishment of a nursing program and other health training in Nunavut. There is also a tremendous amount of interest in this area of political and constitutional development in a native studies program. We don't have a native studies program in any of the Nunavut Arctic College campuses.

So, Mr. Speaker, I want to express my earnest hope that the establishment of two new colleges from one will be seen by the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and his Cabinet colleagues as an opportunity to rectify present inequities so as to ensure that the Nunavut Arctic College begins operations with its fair share of the existing resources and is given the capacity to deliver programs and training already in high demand and to respond quickly to the anticipated demands for new programming. May I say that I think this will be especially pressing in the area of trades training. All I am asking for, Mr. Speaker, is fairness and equity, nothing more. So I am hoping, Mr. Speaker, that as we implement the division of Arctic College following the passage of this legislation, there will be a fair process to carefully and objectively review the adequacy of base funding provided for all programs and services within the financial arrangements for the new colleges.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I know that there is a college funding allocation system that has been developed by the ministry following work done by a consultant from the firm of Price Waterhouse, and I know that this college funding allocation system is designed to implement the new financial arrangements in a fair manner. I want to serve notice that I will want to be assured, as we move forward with the financial arrangements -- some of which will be discussed in the forthcoming O and M budget session -- that there is an equitable and fair distribution of existing resources.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I think the job of the Minister of Finance is undoubtedly the toughest one in Cabinet. I know I can recall, when I had the onerous task of assigning portfolio responsibilities in the distant past, I never found any great competition for the job of the Finance portfolio. It's a difficult job and it becomes increasingly difficult in our increasingly difficult financial times, and I do want to say that I admire the discipline that Mr. Pollard is putting into the job and the personal commitment he's putting into the job, and I know that if he listened to all the requests to preserve programs, we'd be getting nowhere with our restraint, and our government wouldn't be in the strong financial position that it now is, relative to other jurisdictions in Canada, including the federal government. However, Mr. Speaker, I have another concern that I want to express about education, because I think that if we have to make cuts, we have to avoid making cuts that diminish our human resources and the capital that we have invested in the people of the Northwest Territories.

One other point I wanted to make about the challenging job of the Minister of Finance before I turn to another educational issue, Mr. Speaker, is that I am just delighted today to learn that his financial burden has been somewhat relieved by the announcement made by Mr. Morin about the recovery of the $9 million. Now, I suspect there will be some interesting debate within the Financial Management Board about just how much of that $9 million Mr. Morin gets to keep and how much Mr. Pollard takes into general revenues. I would love to observe that debate, Mr. Speaker, but the bottom line is that whether the whole sum is put into housing or whether some of it is put into deficit reduction, we have been relieved somewhat today by this accomplishment, and I don't want to underestimate the difficult challenge that Mr. Morin has had in getting this money. I frankly was increasingly pessimistic that we would recover anything from the social housing shortfall, and I think it's a tribute to his doggedness and determination and undoubtedly that of his Cabinet colleagues that we have this positive news today as we debate the budget. So I want to say that I am happy for Mr. Pollard that after a dry season of forest fires and the increased cost of fighting forest fires, and after the challenges he's had with the health billings dispute and with the social housing shortfall, I'm delighted that some good news has come on us today, and that his job might be made just a trifle easier by this good news we have today.

Mr. Speaker, I was talking about the importance of education. I want to note another concern. I've recently had occasion to take a look at the terms of reference for a consultant proposal call issued by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to evaluate future direction for existing student residences located in Inuvik, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit. Mr. Speaker, not surprisingly in our present difficult climate, one of the main purposes of this study -- and it's listed upfront in the terms of reference -- is to realize cost savings. This goal I understand. However, the terms of reference seem to anticipate the closure of some or all of these residences. The terms of reference called for a "phase-out plan for residences that are recommended for closure," "explore optional uses" and, "recommend future direction for residences that will be phased out."

Mr. Speaker, I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Ukiivik Residence in Iqaluit with the Minister of Education, and I was surprised to find that the complexion of that residence had changed. There were some students from smaller communities in the Baffin where high school programs were still not yet available as has been in the past, but I was surprised to learn that the majority of students who were there were in Iqaluit to take the advanced diploma or matriculation program, either because there was no advanced diploma offered in the high school program in their community, or there was no demand in their home community for such a program at all.

So, Mr. Speaker, we have now the pleasant situation of having students from communities who are making the difficult journey to a regional residence because they want to go to university, and they want to take professional training to prepare them for Nunavut. So I want to say, Mr. Speaker, that even though I know we have increasing fiscal problems and even though I know that these residences are very costly institutions to run and that there might be a great temptation on the Department of Education to close those residences because community high school programs have been established, it may just not be that simple. In fact, what we may be doing is imposing a barrier if we close those residences, imposing an obstacle to students who want to gain the advanced diploma and go on to university who do not today have that opportunity in their home community.

So I want to say, let us take great care as we establish the Nunavut Arctic College, and as we review the high school residences in Inuvik, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit, that we do not jeopardize the progress we've worked hard to make in the Northwest Territories...more students going to college closer to home, more students finally taking the advanced diploma and taking matriculation and even being willing to leave their home community to do so.

So, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to express these two concerns of many about education. I want to endorse the report of the Standing Committee on Finance, their emphasis on early intervention, their emphasis on special needs, and, of course, the challenges that we've thrown to the government to have a response on family violence, to have plans for justice programs developed in the coming year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.