Good morning. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, every four years the people of the Northwest Territories exercise their democratic right and elect to this Legislature Members who they trust with the representation of their interests and matters that concern their welfare.

Upon entering these hallowed halls, each Member further serves the public by participating in the deliberation of standing and special committees. These committees are one of the means by which Members can hold this government accountable. Madam Speaker, it is my opinion that one of the most important obligations we undertake when we are elected is the responsibility of legislators. Making decisions about the laws that govern this territory is an awesome responsibility because a decision we make regarding legislation affects all people who must live under these laws.

In the past, decisions were made to create, for the purpose of reviewing important legislation, the Standing Committee on Legislation. This standing committee is committed to determining the will of the people with regard to proposed legislation, reviewing the legislation to ensure that laws of the Northwest Territories are not restricting upon the people of this territory and making recommendations to the House on legislation.

Madam Speaker, I was very disappointed that the debate surrounding Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Arctic College Act, was concluded in the absence of the chairman of the standing committee that reviewed the proposed legislation. The committee report on the review of Bill 7 did not recommend support for the proposed amendment. It is my belief that the committee report reflected the will of the people of the Northwest Territories. Further, the chairman of each committee of this Legislature receives information from the people who we were elected to serve. Although this information is not always received during deliberations of standing committees, a chairman can bring forward these interests during the debates on issues in committee of the whole.

Therefore, I feel it is important that Members ensure that the chairman of the standing committee is present during the debate on issues that have been before the committee. By providing this courtesy, we appear to represent the interests of the people...

Mr. Gargan.

Madam Speaker, I would like to get unanimous consent to complete my last paragraph.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, honourable Members. By providing this courtesy, we appear to represent the interests of the people who elected us to these positions and not to institutions that govern. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Shame.

Madam Speaker, this government had an opportunity to provide political direction if the Minister had decided that the 1988 games should be awarded to Inuvik. The Arctic Winter Games International Committee, before considering either bid, asked MACA whether they wished to provide political direction on the awarding of the 1998 games and were apparently told no. The international committee was told by MACA to evaluate the bids without any bias for one location over another.

Madam Speaker, once a decision has been announced, for a deputy minister to suggest that our representatives should resign in protest is a shabby way to divert the heat, heat that the Minister obviously expected over the decision, away from herself. If the Minister is not happy with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee's decision, she has no one to blame but herself, and should not have directed her deputy minister to suggest to Mr. Cooper and Mr. Legaree that they resign.

Madam Speaker, Mr. Cooper has dedicated 10 years of volunteer service as director and, most recently, president of the Arctic Winter Games Corporation. Mr. Legaree was a director for four years and, I understand, very active in helping Inuvik prepare their bid for the games. Have we heard any thanks from the government for their dedication and time served? No. Instead, we hear the government suggest they resign in a political gesture.

Shame.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Dent.

Hear, hear.

Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for High Arctic, Mr. Pudluk.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am going to make an unusual statement this morning. I have been coming here regularly since 1975 when I was elected as an MLA for High Arctic.

Since I started coming here, I have never had problems with getting food delivered to my room. When I was a Minister, I had a big house; four bedrooms and a kitchen. Since the government policy came up last April, I had to move out from my apartment. I had to find a place to stay when we were holding session in Yellowknife. So mostly I stay at Northern United Place. It has kitchen facilities. It has a sink and a two-burner stove. It doesn't have an oven in that apartment, so when I bring my family here I have to order food.

My kids really like pizza. We don't have pizza in Resolute Bay, so when they are in town, they order a lot of pizza. So last week, my kids ordered a pizza from the restaurant. The delivery man knocked on my door and I opened it.

Madam Speaker, I am going to run out of time. I seek unanimous consent to continue.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Pudluk.

Thank you, Madam Speaker and colleagues. I opened the door. And I always give a little tip to the delivery man. He handed me the pizza and he said to me have you ever done any home cooking? It was very embarrassing to me and to my family. I thought the business people in town want to make money. I was really shocked that the delivery man said that to me. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I just received a news release today announcing the scheduling of the true Arctic Winter Games to be held in Inuvik in the spring of 1995. Inuvik wishes to expand the scope of their immensely popular Muskrat Jamboree. This will mark the beginning for true winter games north of the Arctic Circle.

---Applause Part of the games will involve truly traditional northern winter sports. Events such as biathlon, snowshoe races, river ice curling and dogteam races will be held. Inuvik will also host the good woman and good man contests.

---Applause

---Laughter

To date, some of the events scheduled so far are international charades, duck and run, reject and deflect, the bureaucratic shuffle race and pass the buck.

---Laughter

---Applause

These sound like fun. So book these dates ahead of time and start practising for the first-ever true Arctic Winter Games. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife North, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, tomorrow is Remembrance Day and like other colleagues, today I want to take some time to recognize the sacrifices made by the Canadian Armed Forces. They fought and died in many wars and peace-keeping operations in this century.

Our armed forces' sacrifice has allowed all of us to live in a wonderful democracy that we sometimes take for granted. There were 68,000 Canadian soldiers who died in World War I; 45,000 Canadian soldiers died in World War II and hundreds more in Korea. It continues. Over 100 Canadians have died in peace-keeping operations around the world since the United Nations started peace-keeping operations. In the latest peace-keeping operation in Yugoslavia, 10 Canadians have died already.

I would also like to recognize some of the sacrifices made by my family over the years. Both my father's father and my mother's father were both gassed in World War I in separate battles. Both of them died young because of complications. I never had a chance to know either one of them. My father's uncle, Lieutenant Allan Minns, was wounded three different times and was killed at the age of 21 in World War I. Another one of my father's uncles, Captain Minns, was wounded five different times, won almost every major bravery decoration and was honoured by the Governor General after the war.

My father served as a combat engineer in World War II and was a career army officer for 29 years. Like most Canadians, I am very proud of my family's contribution. I feel all of us owe a great debt of thanks to the many Canadians who have served and died for this country. Without them, there would be no Canada as we know it today. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was only five years old, Madam Speaker, when my father went off to war. He was 28 years old with a couple of children. He could have continued working in a protected industry for the war effort; coal mining. Instead, he and his friend went off to war. I remember my mother in tears when he got on the train, so I knew there was something serious happening.

Because he was married, he was not posted overseas. Instead, he spent many nights in a sentry-box overlooking the Atlantic Ocean spotting ships and aircraft. He got leave from time to time, so he was able to visit us. He and his friend, however, became restless. They asked to be posted overseas. Imagine their surprise when my father finds himself posted to Burma, in preparation for the Japanese campaign, and his friend is posted to prepare for battle in Europe. Such was the way of war.

The friend was eventually killed in the Normandy landings, and my father eventually became a casualty and shipped to hospital in Bombay, India and he stayed there for the remainder of the war.

When my father was demobilized and returned to our village, I was full of questions about war, Madam Speaker. He told me that such things were better forgotten and not talked about. Years later, as a teenager, I began to understand. He believed that the various servicemen's clubs and the large number of war movies only served to glorify war.

Madam Speaker, he claimed that very often people only got together to relive their great exploits as war heroes. In fact, I remember him returning his war medals to the War Ministry. However, Madam Speaker, he always recognized Remembrance Day. He believed that this day was the right response, both to the horror of war and to honour the people who made the ultimate sacrifice. And tomorrow, like I have done on other occasions, I will honour it, because this is the day that he recognizes. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, earlier this year the Minister of Housing presented proposed social housing rent scale changes. The proposed changes unleashed a great deal of anxiety, although everyone understood the financial pressures from CMHC, that rent changes were long overdue and that some high-income people could afford to pay more, there was also strong concern that the proposed rent scale changes were not workable, that they did not adequately consider the cost of living in remote communities, that they did not adequately consider the condition of units, that overcrowding and other factors which were not considered adequately could result in the failure of the new social housing rent scale. There was a special concern that the proposed changes regarding elders could pit them against their own employed children.

A most important concern was that if the changes were not phased in gradually, individual tenants, potential home owners and local housing authorities and associations could not and would not be prepared to implement and accept the changes and the intent of encouraging home ownership might fail.

Madam Speaker, since the first proposed social housing rent scale was tabled in this House by the Minister, a lot has happened and some good things have happened. There have been extensive district consultation meetings in all regions which produced, I think, constructive and reasonable recommendations. Then the Advisory Committee on Social Housing was invited by the Minister -- and I thank him for that -- to work together with him on revisions on the draft rent scale which could make it more workable. The Advisory Committee on Social Housing worked especially hard in Taloyoak from September 23rd to 25th to work with the Minister and propose and agree on revisions to the social housing rent scale which would make the new social housing rent scale more acceptable and more workable in our constituencies, as was spelled out in our report in this House on October 27th.

Madam Speaker, the Minister has stated that he would make a response to the recommendations during this session. I think this is the last day. I'm most anxious to find out what the Minister is going to do about this report. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Baffin South, Mr. Pudlat.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. (Translation) I will be speaking in my language. Tomorrow, November 11th, is Remembrance Day. This is what I would like to talk about. This day is in remembrance of a war that happened a long time ago. All the people who participated in the war participated to make it better for us. We have to remember them, we have to remember this day.

There are quite a few people from the territories who participated in the war. When I was a young person, there were some people who had participated in the war who talked about it. There are some people from Fort Simpson who had participated, and there are some Dene people and Metis people who were in the war. This is what we have to remember. Our relatives were there. I feel thankful that they participated in the war, so it would be better for us.

So, in remembrance of that, I would just like to talk about Remembrance Day today. Thanks.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statement. Mr. Pudluk.

Point Of Order

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I raised this issue before. Madam Speaker, once again I must raise a point of order. Yesterday, under the item tabling of documents, the Clerk, on page 2183 of unedited Hansard, indicated that he was tabling a response to a petition that was presented by Mr. Pudluk. I have had a chance to review the response and find that the petition was presented by Mr. Pudlat.

Madam Speaker, once again I am being named incorrectly in this House. I would appreciate it if all Members and staff would please stop embarrassing me and get my name correct. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you. Mr. Pudluk, technically, you do not have a point of order, however, I am sure Members and staff will be conscientious in making every attempt to get your name correct in the future.

Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Whitford.

Sorry, Mr. Whitford, we did not get the translation at the beginning of your Member's statement.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Aivilik, Mr. Arvaluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to make a statement regarding Remembrance Day, particularly regarding the people of the Northwest Territories. Perhaps there are not too many of us who participated in the last world war, however, we are all part of this special day. I appreciate the fact that they were willing to sacrifice their own lives for the betterment of future generations in Canada.

All the people in Canada appreciate the people brave enough to go to war, leaving their families and friends behind. We also remember that if the Canadians and North Americans had been defeated in World War II, we would not have a democracy like we do today. We would have a severe shortage of housing and food had we lost in the war. We have to keep that in mind and appreciate those people who were willing to sacrifice their lives to save Canada and the rest of the world.

We all know that Inuit people and others are always willing to help people in need, such as when there are food shortages. For instance, the Inuit people have been very generous in helping people who have been starving. In particular, Inuit are recognized as being the biggest givers for those Somalians when they were starving. I would like to recognize the Inuit people and the rest of Canadians for helping each other out during hard times. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Amittuq, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today, I would like to make a Member's statement on government negotiated contracts, specifically in my community of Pond Inlet. Pond Inlet had a chance to experience one of the first negotiated contracts. I would like to report that, although this was a relatively small contract that was negotiated between the co-op of Pond Inlet, Qillaut Development, and Merkosak Construction, well over 100 people are employed right now in Pond Inlet.

I would like to commend this initiative taken up by government, and especially the Minister of Housing for his ability to foresee that negotiated contracts will work in smaller communities. We have had numerous contracts in the community, but they are given to outside contractors who only employ three or four local people. At the present time, because of this negotiated contract and also because of the cooperative effort of the co-op, Qillaut Development and Merkosak Construction, we are able to see well over 100 people employed in the community. For that, I would like to thank the government. I hope this will continue in the future. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Zoe.

Thank you. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I believe there wasn't an independent review prior to the reorganization of the department.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Zoe.

Thank you. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'll be happy to do that.

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

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Madam Speaker, generally speaking, most of them are government employees except those interpreters/translators who we have in addition on contract.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

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

Madam Speaker, I am unable to provide that as it varies depending on what contracts we're talking about. So I'll get the information and provide the honourable Member the detailed costs associated to those contracts.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

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

I can indicate, Madam Speaker, to the honourable Member that we're looking at a number of alternatives as a result of the whole issue of the cutbacks by the federal government to our financial resources for aboriginal languages and French, as well. However, that will only be determined after an assessment has been done to ensure that we are providing proper services to the general public. That's one of the considerations, but we haven't reached any final conclusions on that yet.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Just to indicate to the honourable Member that there have

been no decisions that have been made on this issue at this particular juncture. One of the alternatives has been considered, along with the issue of maintaining staff in government. But the question we're trying to ask and determine is whether or not the service would be better provided by agencies outside of government. But, the issue has not been determined, has not been taken to Cabinet and I'm not going to make any decision to change the issue until we go to Cabinet.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Dent.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I can advise the honourable Member that I'll report back to the Members of the House. However, if there are circumstances where we can move to a cost-saving measure that will still provide this government with adequate access in services... The fact is that some aboriginal organizations may want to consider the idea of providing language services. We haven't determined that, and I'm not at the stage right now where I can say to the honourable Member that we've made a decision. So when we get to that point, obviously, through the budgetary process, I'll advise and inform the honourable Members.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Yesterday I made a statement in the House with regard to the Canada/Northwest Territories infrastructure agreement, which was signed August 24th. My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Just about $1 million committed by the federal government was from the First Nations infrastructure program. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs officials are part of the approval process. Can the Minister assure me that, at the very least, this amount of money would be allocated to projects priorized by the First Nations organizations? Mahsi.

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

Madam Speaker, just to advise the honourable Member it was our view that a collective position from the community be taken on infrastructure needs. The fact is that maybe most of the resources that have been allocated could respond to aboriginal needs because it improves the quality of life for that community. If the honourable Member is saying that I should only take $1 million and not use other dollars, I think it could cause some problems. Certainly I can indicate to the honourable Member, we are already reviewing submissions that have been made by bands in conjunction and with the support of the municipal governments. So we are already considering that.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Supplementary to the same Minister. I had expressed some concerns about this agreement. I would like to ask the Minister, could the Minister explain the checks and balances in place to ensure that special interest concerns do not manage to get all the money allocated to any given community? I'm specifically concerned that different levels of aboriginal governments get their fair share of this funding. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Just so that it's very clear, as a government, we were also very concerned about the resources that would be made available to communities. As a result, there were limits that were set. The fact is that we were able, because we utilized the NWT works criteria, and therefore set upper limits and lower limits, to provide more resources to smaller communities than we would have had if we simply went on a per capita basis. So we did consider that.

The other component that is important to consider is that during the review, discussions and projects under the NWT works program, which is similar to this, the process accommodated most of the requests that were made by aboriginal communities. So I think the process, if it's used the way it was used previously, will respond more favourably to the aboriginal community.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. One of my concerns was that the local bands and Metis locals, in order for them to benefit from this agreement, have to have funds to match the contributions from the federal and territorial governments. As you know, not all bands and Metis locals

have this kind of funding. Only those that reach a final land claims agreement may have this kind of accessible cash. Would the Minister explain how he was going to make sure that the best possible distribution of funding be available to all the stakeholders in each community?

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. To advise the honourable Member, there is no need for the bands, if that is a municipal organization, to raise the additional resources. What is clear is because we have allocated the dollars, the communities can work within those dollars and appropriately allocate more than would have approved on a per capita basis.

In the case of Yellowknife, for instance, they are now able to, along with other tax-based communities, raise one-third of the share. But for aboriginal organizations, it is a straightforward contribution to those communities. We have already considered that and there are no additional resources required.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Looking at the agreement, I find that if a community is applying for this funding, they have to put in their own cash to match the dollars. What would happen to small communities that don't have the funds? What is going to happen to their share of the money? Is it going to remain in place or are they going to access it later on? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In those cases, there is no need for them to raise any additional dollars. If they want to provide additional resources so that the project is larger, they can do that. In the case of a larger city, they are prepared to raise approximately one-third of the dollars associated. So they can do that. In the case of the smaller communities, it is straightforward in terms of the dollars that have been assigned, they can then apply those to projects in the community.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the acting Minister of Health and Social Services. I understand that yesterday there was a major staff meeting of the amalgamated departments of Health and Social Services in Yellowknife. They used the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre to have a meeting of all the staff and I understand union reps were there. Can the Minister confirm if such a meeting was held?

Thank you. Acting Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good morning. Madam Speaker, yes, a meeting was held yesterday. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Can the Minister indicate what the purpose of the meeting was?

Thank you. Acting Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, we had the meeting to advise the staff on the reorganization within the Department of Health. We showed them the reorganized charts and, in general, discussed the issue of the jobs and the changes that might occur. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

The Minister mentioned that they showed the staff charts on reorganization plans. Is the Minister going to table those reorganization charts and plans in this Assembly?

Thank you. Acting Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Pollard.

That will be done, Madam Speaker. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi. In conjunction with the reorganization, were any notices of lay-offs or changes to staff given at yesterday's meeting?

Thank you. Acting Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Pollard.

There were no lay-off notices issued yesterday, Madam Speaker. Thank you.

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

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of the Housing Corporation. During our meeting here, I tabled a document regarding social housing rent increases. Up until today, Madam Speaker, my constituents are still not aware of what kind of increases the corporation will be proposing. A lot of my constituents have raised concerns regarding this issue. We all know we are in severe shortage of funding for social housing. How will the people who are living in social housing be affected? How much of an increase will this be? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The document that the Member refers to is a petition from his community. It is to deal with the reinstatement of social housing funding. It has nothing to do with the rent scale.

As far as the rent scale goes, hopefully on Monday I will have that document to Cabinet and I can table it in this House then. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Minister didn't answer my question. I will try to rephrase it. The last time I tabled a document, the Minister stated that it was staff housing. However, I have another concern regarding staff housing for those people who are government employees. I would like to ask the Minister how much turnover has there been with regard to the shortage of funding for housing?

Thank you. That is a question that initially started with social housing, then it changed to staff housing. I believe it is the Minister of Personnel who is responsible for staff housing. Minister for the Housing Corporation, do you want to reply to that? Mr. Pudlat, maybe we can ask you to clarify your question. Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was referring to government employee housing when I first asked my question. I raised this issue during our last session in February or March. I apologize for not being clear in my question. I will rephrase this question to the Minister of Personnel. When government staff has housing in the communities such as teachers, how many people have left communities due to a lack of government subsidized housing in the communities? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Personnel, Ms. Mike.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. To answer the Member for Baffin South, first of all, staff within the Government of the Northwest Territories staff housing were proposing to buy the houses, when the government stated they would be selling houses in the communities for whoever would like to buy them. I have not noticed any staff turnovers when we made changes to the staff housing policy in our department; however, I can get that to the Member and indicate to him how many quit their jobs. Thank you.

Members I would like to interrupt our regular orders of the day, recognizing the clock. It is near 11:00 am, and since we won't be in session tomorrow, according to our rules, I would respectfully request all Members to rise for a minute of silence to show our gratitude and respect for all the people who fought for the freedom of Canadians.

---Minute of Silence

Thank you. Lest we forget. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife North, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the acting Premier. Madam Speaker, the territorial government, environmental groups, aboriginal organizations and the proponent BHP have all agreed that there should be an environmental review process. I don't think, Madam Speaker, we can expect mining companies to continue to invest tens of millions of dollars in the Northwest Territories when they face unnecessary delays, for no obvious reasons, in the regulatory process. My question to the Minister is, what is causing the delay in the set up of the environmental review panel?