Thank you. Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, Mr. Todd.

Last year, the WCB handled close to 3,600 claims, I believe. Out of that, if I remember rightly, there were 44 appeals that there was a concern about. My understanding is that these appeals are all up to date. When you deal with 3,600 claims, there are going to be some people who are disgruntled. We are trying to accommodate the majority of people across the Northwest Territories. I believe we've demonstrated that. We're fiscally sound. We're in a better position than the majority of WCBs in the rest of Canada and we should be very grateful to the board of directors, the general manager and the management of this operation. Thank you.

Thank you. May I remind the honourable Members to attempt not to provoke debate when answering questions. Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Aivilik, Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. From my earlier Member's statement, I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment a question. If, as the Minister says, the federal government used the official Languages Commissioner's report to argue for cuts, what was happening to the annual accounting of languages money that was supposed to be submitted to the federal government?

Thank you. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo. Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, the Executive offices are responsible for the languages unit, which is the body that monitors and reports on expenditures of the languages department and the agreement between the federal and territorial government.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Madam Speaker, I suppose I would then direct the question to the same Minister who responded. What I am confused about is, if this accounting took place like the Minister said, wouldn't the federal government have already been aware that some funds were lapsed?

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that the Member was not at the detailed briefing provided to Members yesterday. The federal government is fully aware that some of the dollars were lapsed, and that since we set up the languages unit there was better accounting, reporting and tracking of program expenditures. It has improved substantially.

I think the Member has to understand that the overall federal funding that is made available, whether it's for languages or any other government program, is under severe scrutiny. The federal government has a difficulty with continuing to finance provincial/territorial programs, as well as their own programs.

The decisions about cuts should probably be put in context of federal problems and their difficulty with funding at the levels they were previously able to do, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Supplementary, Madam Speaker. My apologies that I wasn't at the briefing yesterday. I would like to know what further action the Government of the Northwest Territories is considering to keep the language services at the same level.

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, I would be happy to provide the Member with the briefing that was presented to the Members of the Legislative Assembly. I want to assure the Member that every effort has been taken to try to

maintain levels of funding. I want to assure the Member that this particular area of program support is very important. We understand that, so we're doing everything we can to express to the federal government the importance of languages, particularly aboriginal languages, in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you. Minister of Justice, Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Baffin South, Mr. Pudlat.

It appears that the question should be posed to the Minister of Renewable Resources. However, the Minister of Finance may wish to answer. Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good afternoon. Madam Speaker, I'll take the question as notice, research what has been done, and report back to the House. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Gargan.