Good afternoon. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Baffin central, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In March of 1993, this Assembly approved the long-term staff housing strategy.

Contained in the strategy was the decision to dispose of all staff housing in level I communities. Specifically, we agreed to sell all government-owned staff housing units in Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Inuvik. If our staff housing units were leased, we decided we should negotiate with landlords to cancel the leases and allow employee/tenants to become direct tenants with the landlords.

In level II and III communities, employees who were tenants in government-owned staff houses, were given an opportunity to purchase their homes from us. Initially, only employee tenants in single detached units and some of our duplexes were given this opportunity.

Last month, all employee/tenants who were occupying a government-owned staff unit, including multi-family buildings, on December 16, 1993, were given a final opportunity to tell us if they were interested in purchasing their units. If they were interested, they had to advise Personnel before February 11, 1994.

In Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit, employees were given until February 18, 1994 to respond to our offer.

By the end of this week, we will have received all expressions of interest.

The Department of Public Works and Services will arrange for an independent appraiser to prepare property appraisals of each unit where the employee/tenant has indicated an interest to purchase.

Following those appraisals, invitations to purchase will be prepared by Public Works and Services to send to the employees. Sale prices will be based on 90 per cent of the appraised value. Each employee will be given 30 days time to respond with a formal offer.

Cabinet will review all proposed sale prices of multi-family buildings.

Personnel, in conjunction with affected departments, will then assess each community's staff housing needs to determine if there are any units that are surplus to staff needs. During the assessment, we will consider the number of high income employees who live in Housing Corporation units. Sufficient units will be retained to allow these employees to move in if they wish. We will also review the number of staff houses which have been leased to private organizations and non-employees.

When the community assessment is complete, I will meet with individual MLAs and discuss the assessment results, examine each community's needs and review methods of disposal of any surplus units. This consultation process is a critical step in any decision to dispose of units and I am committed to it.

Where the MLA and I agree that there are housing units which are surplus to our staff needs, I will formally advise the Minister of Public Works and Services. His department will remove the units from the staff housing inventory and dispose of them in accordance with the GNWT disposal policy. The disposal policy, which is the responsibility of Public Works and Services, provides for further consultation with MLAs, GNWT agencies and community governments. Under the policy, surplus housing units could be used for public housing, sold to community groups or to the general public.

With regard to future staff housing needs, and in particular, teacher housing needs, the OPPLAN review has already identified which communities will require additional units because of new positions. This includes the extension of grade levels offered in communities.

In July of last year, in addition to the OPPLAN process, the Financial Management Board approved the acquisition of 16 additional units. The majority of these extra housing units were for teachers.

Madam Speaker, the Department of Personnel's role in staff housing is quite specific. Personnel determines how many units are needed in each community. Personnel allocates units to individual staff members. In doing this, the department relies on established guidelines which identify the level of priority for employees based on their family size. The department has also found that regional housing committees, involving at least the regional director and another senior manager, prevent accusations and suggestions of favouritism.

Personnel advises Public Works and Services if any units are surplus to staff needs. Under the long-term staff housing strategy, our role is also quite clear.

Personnel plays the lead role in dealing with tenants on such things as rent, user-pay and eligibility to purchase.

Personnel does not negotiate purchases with tenants. That is the responsibility of Public Works and Services.

Madam Speaker, I hope this statement helps to clarify Personnel's role in the staff housing area. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Communication and Culture, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'd like to take this opportunity to report on the Nunavut education planning meeting I attended in Rankin Inlet last week.

This was an inaugural meeting, bringing together various partners in education to consider the matter of education in Nunavut and the development of a Nunavut school system. Planning for this important meeting began almost a year ago, largely at the initiative of Mr. Dennis Lyall, chairperson of Kitikmeot Divisional Board of Education. It was last September when I committed to Mr. Lyall that I would attend this formative meeting.

Twenty-four leaders in education attended, representing the three Nunavut divisional boards of education, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, the Nunavut Implementation Commission, the Nunavut Implementation Training Committee, Arctic College and my department.

At the opening session, the board chairpersons described their concerns that the Nunavut final agreement said little about the school system, about the children of Nunavut and the fact that the children are the future of Nunavut.

Delegates looked at what is happening in each of the boards today and noted that much progress had been made in the past 25 years. They described their vision of schooling in Nunavut, with first language instruction in Inuktitut from kindergarten to grade 12, with the Inuit culture as the first culture and with Inuit teachers and administrators throughout the system. They also examined some of the challenges to achieving that vision. They talked about increasing community control of education and how to meet the needs of children in schools. They asked themselves what should a school look like to make it an Inuit school.

They also noted that community-based education is having a tremendously positive economic impact -- divisional boards of education are often the single largest employer in communities.

Madam Speaker, the people of Nunavut have a vision for their children and their children's education. The proposed transfer of education is scheduled for 2006, but the consensus was that education should be among the first responsibilities of the new government in 1999. They want to begin planning now, and begin acting together now, so that the design and delivery of the education system is in place as soon as possible to support the development of Nunavut and the preparation of the Inuit to run the new government.

Madam Speaker, the divisional boards of education want to be recognized as playing a leadership role in preparing their constituents for the new opportunities of Nunavut. They wish to work together with the rest of the Nunavut leadership at the meeting and with the Nunavut Caucus of this Assembly to develop plans and steps for implementation starting now.

I applaud their vision and their leadership, and along with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporation and the Nunavut Implementation Committee, representatives present agreed to support a working committee with all key players to continue the planning process. The committee is planning to meet in March.

Madam Speaker, when I receive the minutes from the meeting, I will circulate them to all Members of this House. I then look forward to the coming months and to participation in this absolutely critical matter of moving the development of the people of Nunavut to the forefront for consideration in discussions on division.

At the appropriate time, I will be tabling the agenda of the particular meeting. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Minister of Education.

Madam Speaker, at the end of January, the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, the federal Minister of Human Resource Development, made an announcement on income security reform in the House of Commons. He highlighted the need to restructure the unemployment insurance program and the Canada assistance plan. He also stated the importance of enhancing child care, ensuring basic income security for those in need and improving education and training opportunities for social assistance recipients.

Our government has already begun developing a new approach to income security so that we can use social assistance dollars to invest in people. Many people on social assistance are capable of working and need counselling, upgrading, training and work experience to help them access jobs and become more self-sufficient. We are developing pilot projects with communities and the federal government which we hope will begin in the next fiscal year.

The reform process will take a great deal of commitment if it is to be meaningful. However, the current system was designed in the mid-1940s and is no longer relevant for Canadians. It must be changed, and we will have to devote the needed resources to this project to ensure that the reforms satisfy the unique needs of the Northwest Territories. Following this announcement, a joint meeting of federal/provincial/territorial Labour Market and Social Services Ministers was held in Ottawa, of which I attended, to plan the reform process.

I have just returned from the meeting and was extremely pleased with the outcome. All jurisdictions are committed to the process of national income security reform, and are actively involved in the process of change. Pilot projects have already started in Quebec and New Brunswick to test innovative new approaches to income security and job creation. We have a lot to learn from the work that is going on across the country, but I am confident the approach we have undertaken is consistent with those of other jurisdictions and will allow us to continue existing cost-sharing arrangements with the federal government.

The joint Ministers' meeting resulted in a consensus on the need for reform. An agreement was reached on a cooperative approach to changing the structure of the national safety net. A wide range of activities are planned over the course of the next few months. A steering committee of all federal/provincial/territorial deputy ministers has been established to develop the scope, the principles and the time frame for the reform process. Their work will be done in the next month.

The federal budget scheduled for next week is expected to propose changes to regulations to allow for flexibility in developing and testing innovative cost-shared pilot projects between the different levels of government.

Further, a series of ministerial meetings have been scheduled. The first will be a meeting of education and labour market Ministers held at the end of February to explore the school-to-work transition, to discuss the national apprenticeship program, and to consider additional training initiatives for our workforce.

A second meeting will be held at the end of April to review the work of the deputy ministers' steering committee and to consider recommendations from a task force of eminent Canadians established by Mr. Axworthy. A half-day consultation session has been scheduled to deal specifically with aboriginal issues related to income security. The meeting will result in a plan of action for public input and consultation prior to making legislative and policy changes.

A third meeting will occur in the fall of 1994 and will follow a series of public forums and consultations on a range of potential options. At that point, the federal Minister will involve the provincial/territorial Ministers in making decisions on the development and implementation of new employment and social security legislation to take effect in 1995-96.

Madam Speaker, discussions also have to take place with the federal government over the next few months to work out a suitable process for public participation in all jurisdictions. I am pleased to advise that Mr. Axworthy has agreed to negotiate bilaterally to eliminate overlap and duplication between all levels of government. We will be proposing the idea of co-locating the administrative staff of the federal and territorial governments to more appropriately serve the people of the Northwest Territories.

Madam Speaker, we must be involved in this change and I am confident that we will be able to influence it. My colleague, the Honourable Rebecca Mike, and I will be tabling a discussion paper later this session to outline our approach and the process of income security reform for the Northwest Territories. We would like to again extend the offer to brief the legislative Caucus on the proposed initiative, and we are committed to further involve MLAs and the public in determining the new direction for income support.

Madam Speaker, I intend to continue to participate in the national discussions as they develop, and I will keep the House informed of progress made at the territorial and federal levels. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, this is to advise that the Honourable Don Morin will be absent from the House today. His absence is due to attending the annual general meeting of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association in Cambridge Bay. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Before we go to Item 3, Members' statements, the Speaker would like to recognize the university graduates from the Ontario internship program from the Ontario Legislative Assembly, accompanied by Professor Graham White, who is the director of the internship program. Welcome to our Assembly.

---Applause

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

Yesterday, in response to Question 83-12(5), Mr. Patterson had asked the Honourable Rebecca Mike about the location of the long-term staff housing policy, where subsequently, Madam Speaker, you recognized the Premier who then proceeded to give a history of the long-term housing strategy of the government from a prepared text, and, in fact, gave us a combination of both the history and the policy of this government as it's been developed over many years, and I rose on a point of order.

I'm new in this job, Madam Speaker. I looked around and saw that many of the Members were quizzical and uncertain as to what was going on, and for that reason I had risen on a point of order. I realized afterwards that I am now one of your officers at this table, three of us, and that I could have been put in the very difficult position, if you had been sick today, of having to rule on my own point of order. So I rise today to inform the House that in future, if I see any procedural problems, I will not stand and raise any procedural issues. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yesterday evening, the Inuit of Yellowknife assembled in the great hall of this building to celebrate the beginning of the Yellowknife Inuit Association. I would like to thank you, Madam Speaker, for graciously allowing us the use of this beautiful facility. The event, according to all accounts, was very successful. I am told that 224 people signed up for membership. Including visitors, there were well over 250 people attending the event. We feasted on muktuk, caribou, char, stew and bannock, along with gallons of tea and coffee. The music of Susan Aglukark and Simeonie Keenainak had us enjoying somewhat confused, but very fun-filled square dances. This happened as factions from different regions simultaneously tried to incorporate their local styles into Yellowknife square dance.

---Laughter

We also received some good suggestions for future events and drew up a list of people willing to contribute their time and talent to the organization. A committee of volunteers are at the present time drafting up a process for the election of executive to be held by the end of March 1994.

Madam Speaker, many people contributed a lot of time and effort to last night's event, and I would like to mention the following: Honourable Nellie Cournoyea for her generosity in cooking the caribou roast; Chief Jonas Sangris; Paul Lyall; Nunasi Corporation; Joe Arlooktoo; Becky Mike for soft drinks; Tony Whitford; Gary Perkison; Mikle Langenhan; Dorothy Zoe; Gary Jaeb; and Royal Catering, for contributing to the meal. Pido Productions also contributed the sound system for music. I also want to acknowledge the hard work of the Yellowknife Inuit Association working group that I had the pleasure of working with: Susie Napayok; Victor Tooktoo; Mikle Langenhan. I request unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue with his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Continue, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. As I was saying, the working group consisted of: Susie Napayok; Victor Tooktoo; Mikle Langenhan; Sarah Leonard is; Norman Keenainak; Rhoda Perkison; Geela Qaqqasiq; Mary Carter; Marius Tungilik; and Goo Arlooktoo. In conclusion, I look forward to participating in the work of the Yellowknife Inuit Association in its future endeavours. I invite this House to join me in congratulating the Yellowknife Inuit

Association for a very successful beginning. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. On behalf of the Yellowknife MLAs and the people of Yellowknife, I would like to congratulate the Inuit of Yellowknife in forming their association, the Yellowknife Inuit Association. I give special congratulations to Goo Arlooktoo, who I know worked very hard in organizing this group. It is really a sign of the changing face of Yellowknife. Aboriginal people are taking a much more prominent role in Yellowknife. I think it is a lesson to all of us, that people from across the territories of all races, of all cultures can live together and can support each other. So, on behalf of the Yellowknife MLAs and all the people of Yellowknife, we wish the new association the best of luck. Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. My voice is getting better and I can now talk. I rise today to discuss the plight of our NWT dental therapists. It has been brought to my attention that many of the experienced dental therapists in the Delta/Beaufort communities have resigned. There are probably many reasons for their resignations but there is an underlying concern which impacts on all dental therapists in the Northwest Territories. This issue concerns the unresolved pay rate classification of dental therapists. In April 1988, dental therapists, as part of the EG group were transferred from the federal government to this government as part of the health transfer agreement. At that time, the new federal pay rate classification had not been negotiated for that particular group. To date, this government has not ratified the pay rate schedule. Consequently, dental therapists are being paid at a lower rate of pay than what they are entitled to. Madam Speaker, at the time of the transfer, federal dental therapists under the PSAC collective agreement had expired as of December 22, 1987. Subsequently, this government based its pay rate classification for dental therapists on the invalid and expired federal pay rate schedule, therefore, the pay rate classification schedule determined by the Government of the Northwest Territories for dental therapists on the transfer date of April 19, 1988, did not and still does not reflect an accurate pay rate classification level for dental therapists. It was the understanding of transferring dental therapists that once the new federal rate had been negotiated, a further review of the Government of the Northwest Territories pay rate would be conducted to assess further adjustments and retroactive pay for NWT dental therapists. Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue with his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Continue, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, honourable colleagues. It is our understanding that only federally-transferred dental therapists received pay rate conversion adjustments but still outstanding is the ratification of the pay rate classification level schedule placement HC/TE, as per the collective agreement. In May 1990, the treasury board of Canada approved a revised pay rate classification standard and level structure for the EG group which federal dental therapists come under, retroactive to December 22, 1987 when the federal PSAC collective agreement expired.

The Northwest Territories' dental therapists pay schedule should have been adjusted in May 1990 to reflect the new federal increases. Madam Speaker, NWT dental therapists are presently receiving lower starting salaries than their counterparts, the federal dental therapists, and this issue should be resolved as soon as possible. Mahsi.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there have been recent troubling signs that bootlegging is a growing problem in Iqaluit. On a Friday night, a few weeks ago, 36 60-ounce bottles of liquor were seized by the RCMP and a person charged with bootlegging.

I am informed that much of the recent illegal liquor sales and the seizures involve American liquor, which has apparently been smuggled into Canada and from there to Iqaluit perhaps by sealift. The 60-ounce bottles were being sold for up to $160 and 40-ounce bottles for $100 or $125. Often, I am told, unfortunately it is persons on welfare who are making these purchases with social assistance funds.

Iqaluit is the first point of entry in Baffin for smuggled alcohol and illegal drugs, since it has direct connections with Montreal and Ottawa. Now there is a great concern that with drastically lower cigarette prices in Quebec, cigarette smuggling will be added to these other two criminal activities, bootlegging and drug trafficking.

It is also well known in Iqaluit, and has been a practice for years, that Montreal merchants are all too eager to illegally ship alcohol by air freight without import permits and without paying NWT taxes to persons in Iqaluit making food orders. Cigarette cartons may well be next.

There are obvious social policy concerns with the devastating health and social effects of all these forms of contraband. There is also a significant loss of revenue to our government in the form of foregone taxation on alcohol and cigarettes.

In researching this matter, I was quite surprised to learn that despite the well known and growing problem of illegal smuggling of alcohol and drugs through Iqaluit, there are no RCMP members in Iqaluit designated for enforcement of federal customs excise and narcotics laws. As I understand it, these so-called FES, federal enforcement section, members of the RCMP, are funded 100 per cent by Ottawa and they would give the Iqaluit RCMP much-needed ability to closely monitor air and sea traffic to the community to focus on contraband. Iqaluit RCMP area already too hard-pressed dealing with day-to-day emergencies, community relations, crimes and search and rescue to focus on these sometimes sophisticated operations.

Part of the federal government's recent response has been to increase allocations for anti smuggling enforcement in Quebec and Ontario. Later this session, I will be asking the Minister of Justice whether he will consider using his good offices to pitch for more RCMP resources in Iqaluit. Thank you.

---Applause

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

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to speak today about income tax return preparation assistance presently available in the communities of my constituency. What I am about to speak of, is likely the case in most smaller communities. Every year, there are problems with the availability of people who can help prepare income tax returns.

Although there are some people in the communities who offer this service, there is some concern regarding the quality and accuracy of returns that are prepared. I have been told that mistakes have been made where people were told by the person who prepared their returns to expect a refund, only to find out later they are owing taxes instead.

Sometimes this is quite a shock when they find out they owe a large amount of money. This has been an ongoing problem for many years. There is a need for more professional people to provide this service to my constituents.

Madam Speaker, there is also an urgent need for more information to be circulated in the communities regarding the goods and services tax. People need to understand what they should be doing with regard to this tax. If they are running a small business, they should know how much they should expect to get back if they are eligible for a refund.

These are two urgent matters that need to be addressed so people in smaller communities have the assistance and information required to keep their finances in order. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. During the cold snap in January, there were school closures all over the southern Northwest Territories. Some had to do with busses not running and some were just out of concern for the well-being of the children. Madam Speaker, Fort Providence was no exception to this. The school was officially closed for three days. My problem with this, Madam Speaker, is after the three continuous days off were given to the kids, it was decided that the closure could not continue indefinitely, especially since it appeared the cold weather had no intention of leaving any time soon.

What they did in Fort Providence was make an announcement that the school would be open for business for any student whose parents felt they should attend. Attendance was not compulsory. It was the parents' choice if their child should attend.

My problem with this arrangement is that it penalizes those students whose parents do not have a vehicle to get them to school. I, personally, would not have wanted my children to walk to school on some of those days in question.

Madam Speaker, I believe I am under the mistaken impression that we are supposed to have compulsory education in the Northwest Territories. All students under 16 are required to attend school when it is open. Where do we draw the line, Madam Speaker, between children's safety and the requirements that students attend a certain amount of school each year?

In the Northwest Territories, we are occasionally get these extreme cold spells. Perhaps we should look at the school closures while they are happening and add those days to the end of the year. Madam Speaker, the guidelines in the Education Act are perhaps too stringent in what they allow the school boards and the principals to do. This is an area that I encourage all local education authorities, divisional boards and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to develop a set of guidelines covering school closures. We need some concrete plans, not the wishy-washy solution recently implemented in Fort Providence. Thank you.

---Applause

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

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. In the communities I represent, because spring is coming around the corner, people will be travelling out on the land. They will be travelling a great distance. I would like to tell the people who I represent, the people in my constituency, with regard to my response yesterday from the Minister of Health, that they will have to use sun block lotions, and they will have to protect themselves from ultraviolet rays. It is very important that they should use sun block lotion when they are going out on the land. I would like to encourage them, during my statement, that they will have to take this with them when they are going out on the land so they will be healthy. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements.

(Microphone turned off)

The time clock wasn't on, so you were fortunate today.

---Laughter

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

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will be speaking in my language. I think it was yesterday, the Minister of Finance gave a statement about the budget. He talked about Economic Development and Tourism. As a result of that, now Economic Development will be working differently in the way they come about having their budget. There were some other things he said. Changes will result in smaller communities being able to benefit from them. As a result of that, I think economically they will be gaining. I think if they take that direction it will be beneficial for smaller communities.

In the past, the small communities, when they wanted economic gains and they met with the government they would have to wait a long time before their proposals were considered. Now that they have an area superintendent and they are able to borrow $250,000, I feel thankful for that. If policies like that are adopted, the small communities will be able to benefit economically. If they are able to borrow money in a hurry then it will be good for them. So I think it will be good. This is all I will be saying. Thank you.

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

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would just like to add to my Member's statement, earlier.

Mr. Pudlat, I've been advised that apparently you did want to ask for an extension at the time for your Member's statement, and to seek unanimous consent to continue with your Member's statement. However, the interpreters did not advise this House. Therefore, I went on to another Member's statement. If you are now seeking consent to continue with your statement, I believe you have to ask for approval from the House.

(Translation) Madam Speaker, I'd like to complete by statement.

Mr. Pudlat is seeking unanimous consent to carry on with his original statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Continue, Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker and my colleagues. Madam Speaker, I was talking with regard to income tax preparation returns. People who need assistance in preparing their income tax returns in their communities...Madam Speaker, in the Northwest Territories I would like to encourage the Government of the Northwest Territories to make available chartered accountants in the communities so they will be available to assist the people who need assistance in preparing their income tax returns. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Before I proceed with oral questions, I would like to provide the House with my ruling on the point of order raised by the Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Lewis, yesterday during question period.

Speaker's Ruling

I think it is important to remind the House of the circumstances that lead up to Mr. Lewis raising his point of order. The Premier was in the process of answering the supplementary question originally posed to the Minister of Personnel by the honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson. The supplementary question posed by Mr. Patterson is contained on page 305 of the unedited Hansard. Although the preamble to Mr. Patterson's supplementary was long and his actual question was, and I quote, "For the new long-term staff housing strategy, are there similar guidelines or procedures available for government employees when they are dealing with questions and implementing that strategy?"

The Premier then proceeded to answer the supplementary question and indicated in the first part of her response the following, and I quote again from page 305 of the unedited Hansard, "I have been looking at Hansard and looking at some of the questions. I would like to bring into perspective the process that we started with and why we are here in terms of the long-term staff housing policy, or strategy, so everyone will have the same information. Some of the questions and supplementaries will be incorporated in this explanation." My review of the unedited Hansard indicates that the Premier then proceeded to give an explanation of the process of establishing and implementing the long-term staff housing strategy. My review also indicates that the Premier did not specifically answer Mr. Patterson's question until just before Mr. Lewis raised his point of order and, in fact, the Premier was just beginning to specifically answer Mr. Patterson's question when Mr. Lewis' point of order interrupted the honourable Member for Nunakput.

To the point of order raised by Mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis in raising his point of order indicated that, and I quote from page 306 of the unedited Hansard, "This is a long response and it is very unclear to me what the question is that this response is being made to." As I indicated yesterday, there is nothing in our rules that indicates the time frame that should be allotted for reply to oral questions. The chair can get guidance from other authorities and numerous cautions and advice from the chair by our former Speakers in the matter of asking and answering oral questions. I quote from Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms 6th edition, citation 410 (5) "The primary purpose of question period is the seeking of information and call the government to account." I am sure all Members will agree that this is the primary purpose, and to ensure the efficient use of question period there are a number of general principles that should guide us. The point of order raised by Mr. Lewis provides the chair with an opportunity to provide the House with a number of principles that I hope will guide all Members in posing questions and Ministers in responding. It will also give notice to all honourable Members how I intend to approach the conduct of question period. I would like to offer a couple of citations from Beauchesne's 6th edition:

Citation 408 (1)(e) "Such questions should not be of a nature requiring a lengthy and detailed answer." Of course, written questions are the item on the order paper for these types of questions. In saying this, however, there are times a Member's questions may get a lengthy answer from a Minister when one is not needed.

The following citation I also considered in making my ruling. Citation 409 (11) "A question which seeks an opinion about government policy is probably out of order in that it asks for an opinion and not information. A question asking for a general statement of government policy may be out of order in that it requires a long answer that should be made on motions (now statements by Ministers) or in debate. Other questions inevitably deal with government policy and the general restrictions regarding such questions have never been applied."

These citations assisted me when dealing with asking questions and the type of questions that should be asked. The other side of the question period, of course, is the answers by Ministers. I offer a citation again from Beauchesne's 6th edition.

The chair feels that the following citation is appropriate when dealing with the point of order before us today, and I quote citation 417 "Answers to questions should be as brief as possible, deal with the matter raised and should not provoke debate."

I rule that Mr. Lewis does have a point of order as the Premier did indicate in her response that, and I quote, "Some of the questions and supplementaries will be incorporated in this explanation." If the primary purpose of question period is the seeking of information and to ensure that the ordinary Members can get this information, and the Ministers have an opportunity to provide the information, it is important that efficient use of question period is made. I would suggest that the Premier did try to answer questions and supplementaries that had been taken as notice on previous days, as well as earlier yesterday by the Minister of Personnel. There would have been an opportunity for the Minister of Personnel and the Premier to provide a response in the item "returns to oral questions," or by using other avenues available on the order paper such as tabling of documents. The chair, however, is cognisant of the fact that the Premier was trying to provide information to the House that the House had requested.

In summary, it is not the chair's wish to try in any way to prevent a free-flowing exchange during question period as Members endeavour to carry out their responsibilities, but I will try to keep it as flexible as possible so that question period does not get bogged down with lengthy questions or lengthy answers, so that all Members can participate fully in question period without placing an impediment on their fundamental right of freedom of speech. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Health, who is also the Minister of Finance. In my Member's statement today, I referred to the concerns of dental therapists regarding pay rate classifications. My question to the Minister, is this government reviewing the pay rate classifications of dental therapists in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you. Minister of Health, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yesterday, Mr. Ballantyne asked a question about the public health nurses and it concerned the 1988 transfer as well. We are looking at that situation, and I know the other problem occurred at the same time. Yes, we are looking at both of the problems. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is, is it this government's position that these reviews, if there are adjustments required, would be retroactive to the date of the health transfer, April 19, 1988?

Thank you. Minister of Health, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, as I said yesterday, all the jobs in the Northwest Territories government have been under review for some time. We anticipate in June or July getting that finished. These issues are being dealt with in that package. Although I am taking notice and have agreed to report to the House with regard to Mr. Ballantyne's question as soon as possible. I'm not able to say at this time if there would be any retroactivity if there were any changes made to the pay rates. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

The Minister has referred to a review of the public health nurses. Would the Minister also confirm that he would investigate the issue regarding dental therapists to us in the time frame that he mentioned, June or July of this year.

Thank you. Minister of Health, Mr. Pollard.

Yes, Madam Speaker, I would. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Whitford.

Thank you. Minister of WCB, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We all regret the resignation of Mr. Bourque. He was an outstanding chairman with respect to appeals. I did appoint Mr. Don McNenly, who is a 25 or 26 year northern veteran, to replace Mr. Bourque. He has significant employer/employee experience. We are proceeding on schedule as previously committed. That is that we're trying to endeavour to move on these appeals by taking the next six months to fast-track as many of them as we can. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife North, Mr. Ballantyne.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is our intention to, hopefully, have the transfer completed by July 1, 1994.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is directed to the Minister of Personnel. This is regarding the statement made today. Specifically, where will the 16 additional units, approved by the Financial Management Board in July of last year, be located? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Personnel, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I cannot recall all of the communities. I will take the question as notice. The department is working on them right now. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the Minister responsible for the Science Institute. Several sessions ago, the Premier announced that the Northwest Territories Science Institute headquarters was to be decentralized from Yellowknife to Inuvik and Igloolik. Subsequently, the Minister responsible for the Science Institute, and also responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, announced a review is under way investigating the feasibility of amalgamating the Science Institute with Arctic College. My question to the Minister is what is the status of the review of the amalgamation of the Science Institute with Arctic College?

Thank you. Minister responsible for the Science Institute of the NWT, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The process, when I undertook the responsibility as Minister, was to review the decision that had been made, which was the idea of the amalgamation of Arctic College and the Science Institute. That decision has been supported by Cabinet. It will be part of the college system. We will establish a head office for the western institute in Inuvik and an eastern institute office in Iqaluit. There will be no continuation of a board separately, rather it will be part of the Arctic College. The amalgamation is expected to be completed by July 1, 1994.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am quite curious about the process outlined by the Minister of Personnel for the second round of housing sales. As I understand it, Madam Speaker, all employees were given a second chance to purchase, by a recent circular, and they have until this week to express an interest, where upon an invitation to purchase will be sent to the employees by DPW. My question to the Minister of Personnel is, whose statement refers to a detailed community assessment to assess surplus, is the community assessment process going to take place after the process of the current round of purchases, offers and invitations? Or, is it going to take place before those offers and purchases are finalized? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Personnel, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It will occur after the finalization of offers to the staff. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

With greatest respect to the Minister, Madam Speaker, if the purpose of the community assessment is to determine whether there is a surplus of staff housing in a community -- in other words, whether there are some surplus houses that can be safely disposed of without jeopardizing the government's program delivery capability -- wouldn't a correct time to do a community assessment be before you sell off the houses, rather than after you have already made offers and acceptances? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Personnel, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Where there is the most concern in a shortage of staff housing is in level III communities. We hardly have any staff who are interested in purchasing their units. It is different for level I and level II communities. But in level III communities, we are not showing much interest in purchasing houses. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Since invitations were made to all employees living in level I, II and III communities as to whether they wished to purchase in the second round of invitations, were there any community assessments done before these two rounds of purchases were conducted? Or, is the one referred to in the Minister's statement going to be the first comprehensive community assessment done? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Personnel, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The 16 units that have been located in the communities, are the result of the assessment that has been made. That will not changed, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, yesterday I directed a question to the Minister of Justice with regard to special constables, in his home community, being selected for three weeks of special training. I also have a copy of the RCMP commissioner's directional statement that was made with regard to this year's aboriginal participation. This report was translated into 40 different languages and 15 aboriginal dialects. But one of the biggest initiatives is with regard to a national aboriginal youth justice conference that will be held this year in Winnipeg. Are youth organizations are being consulted with regard to this conference?

Thank you. Minister of Justice, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to Mr. Kakfwi, who is responsible for constitutional development and Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Rights. The Ottawa office has existed since the early 1970s, beginning with simply putting someone there who was a senior person and they weren't quite sure what to do with the person. Later on, it devolved in such a way that the person was a well known Liberal who had good Liberal connections and spoke French. After that, there was a change because now we are into constitutional issues. So we had lawyers who were hired to look after our constitutional business. What is the function right now? What is the Ottawa office doing right now, since constitutional development is on hold? Do we still have these lawyers working in that office?

Thank you. Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

From that response then, even though constitutional stuff is essentially dead, we still have constitutional people dealing with quasi-constitutional issues. I would like to ask the Minister how many people are involved, either through permanent positions or through contracts, in working on these issues which still need to be worked on?

Thank you. Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Whitford.

Thank you. Minister responsible for WCB, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, with the recent resignation of Mr. Bourque there is one vacancy which I intend to fill, hopefully before the end of this session. We are also looking at some reappointments and some new appointments that are coming forth, so, hopefully later next week, we should be in a position to make an announcement to the House which we hope will get its support. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I would like to direct my question again to the Minister of Justice with regard to training. I understand that they are currently going to be providing 44 young aboriginal people with this special two year development course to enable them to meet RCMP entrance requirements for basic recruitment training. I would like to ask the Minister whether or not the Minister has identified anybody in the north that might get into this program for training?

Thank you. Minister of Justice, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Social Services. In the last three years, there has been much reorganization and restructuring of departments. I understand that the department of Social Services has also done some restructuring of its own, and through this restructuring and reorganization, roles and responsibilities of regional superintendents have changed. Can the Minister confirm whether or not the roles and responsibilities of regional superintendents have been enhanced?

Thank you. Minister responsible for Social Services, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The reorganization of Social Services at headquarters is complete. Regional reorganizations are expected to be completed by the end of March. I am not aware at this point in time whether the superintendents' roles will be changed. If they are, it is going to be enhanced responsibility to the regions. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier, since the federal infrastructure program was referred to in the Minister of Finance's budget address, which Minister is responsible, within our government, for the relations to do with the federal infrastructure program? Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, the Minister responsible is the Honourable John Pollard.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

You can tell me if this is in order, but I then would like to pose a question to Mr. Pollard about that program.

Since it is to a different Minister and I do not see other Members wanting oral questions, you may proceed with Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like ask Mr. Pollard, since this is now an enhanced program and is going to have NWT-wide application, just how would a community in the Northwest Territories go about accessing federal cost-share for a municipal capital work? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister responsible for Finance, Health and infrastructure funding, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have not reached total agreement with the federal government yet on the application process, nor the criteria. That's because their proposal to us was not acceptable. I think

I said in the budget speech that Premier Cournoyea wrote to the Prime Minister and we've recently heard in the last ten days that they are willing to make some arrangements with us that would fit the local landscape better and enhance the program with some more dollars. What we are suggesting, Madam Speaker, to the federal government is that it would be done through the offices of Mr. Nerysoo under the same kinds of arrangements as the workers' training program that we had, the $6 million program that we had there through his department, and that the criteria would change. Whereas the other one was geared towards training people, this would be geared towards a capital project that would improve infrastructure in a community.

If we are successful in convincing the federal government that that is the way to go, and the mechanism in place, there won't be a lot of overhead. The majority of the dollars will get to the communities and to the people out there, and we'll see some infrastructure work done in communities. Not on a grand scale, I realize how expensive it is to do work in these communities, but we will get some things done and some people employed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I appreciate that information. Madam Speaker, I also understand that the

program is still in the developing stages. But I would like to ask the Minister, to the extent he can answer this, as I understand it, the program in southern Canada requires a matching contribution from a municipality or a provincial government. Since many of our municipalities don't have much revenue-raising capacity because of their small size or because of the undeveloped economy, will the Minister be looking at a more flexible approach in the Northwest Territories to allowing communities to participate in this opportunity? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, we're certainly aware of the fiscal capacities, or incapacity at times, of the smaller communities. They don't have a tax-base and they don't have the ability to raise revenues. So, yes, we will try and put in a program that is flexible and recognizes their problems. Hopefully, we will be able to announce that program, certainly by the end of this session, Madam Speaker. Thank you.