Thank you, Mr. Nerysoo. Good morning. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. Mr. Speaker, the Premier will be absent from the House today to attend the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards in Vancouver. Mr. Todd will also be absent from the House today to attend a meeting in Ottawa with the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy on the future administration of community futures and business development centres programs.

I will be absent from the House Monday, April 3rd, and Tuesday, April 4th to attend a meeting with the Honourable Paul Martin in Ottawa to discuss the formula financing agreement and federal transfer payment reductions that were announced in the federal budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to announce that the settlement corporation of Fort Good Hope will become a charter community on April 1, 1995 and will be known as K'asho Got'ine. Fort Good Hope is the third community to become a charter community under the Charter Communities Act. The words "K'asho Got'ine," Mr. Speaker, is North Slavey for "Big Willow People."

Mr. Speaker, many individuals from the community were involved in achieving charter community status for Fort Good Hope. I particularly wish to commend Chief Isidore Manuel, along with members of his council, and Mr. Everett Kakfwi for their dedication and hard work in leading the community to achieve this goal.

The community charter developed by the settlement council and approved by the residents of the community is very progressive. The community charter allows council to enact a variety of by-laws provided for within the Charter Communities Act; however, a provision has been provided that permits council to seek the approval of the band assembly prior to voting on any motion or making any by-law. Mr. Speaker, this is truly an example of public participation in local government decision-making and an example of the flexibility for community government provided for under the Charter Communities Act.

I am pleased, Mr. Speaker, to advise the Members of this House that the community charter of Fort Good Hope also adopts the provision of zero tolerance of violence against people. The charter requires that community council members conduct themselves in accordance with the zero tolerance declaration or risk being removed from council. Again, this provision is very progressive of the community.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs continues to offer assistance to community councils who wish to explore the options available for becoming a charter community. As a further example of the department's support to interested communities, I am pleased to announce that the residents of Deline recently approved amendments to their community charter. These amendments allow for the number of appointed members to increase from four to five; change the name of "The Council" to the "Deline Dene Council;" and recognize that the band is known as the "Deline Dene Band."

Mr. Speaker, as Members will note, this department continues to place a priority on assisting in the political development of community governments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Dent.

The caribou king.

---Laughter

The Member for Yellowknife Frame Lake is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Dent.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week in Inuvik there was a major event which involved a lot of companies, corporations and government agencies. This event is one that has become an annual event in Inuvik and in the surrounding communities and it is a career fair day. Companies set up booths and invite students from high schools, senior students of elementary schools and colleges. It is also open to the public. Every year, they seem to get bigger and better and this year was no exception.

The career fair day was held in the Inuvialuit building in downtown Inuvik and they took up most of the space available on the main floor. There were companies, corporations and government agencies from both federal and territorial levels. They all had very professionally designed and developed booths and provided a lot of information. Parts of these displays were then moved on to Tuktoyaktuk, Aklavik and Fort McPherson.

I would just like to thank all of the organizers and people who participated in career fair days because it gives our students an opportunity to look at jobs that are available and the types of training and development they need to be able to obtain and achieve these jobs. I would like to thank, again, the people involved and the students for attending these career fair days. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Koe. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sometimes I think it's important that we, kabloonas, also talk about our language and culture, what's left of it. Today being Friday, I would like to talk a little about acronyms and it may take me a little more than my allotted time, I should warn Members. But, now that you're in the chair, Mr. Speaker, we have a little more time on Fridays than we would otherwise have.

Acronyms, these little devices are peculiar to my first language, which is English. As far as I know, they aren't employed by the aboriginal people of the Northwest Territories. Once again, the aboriginal people have achieved simplicity and elegance in refusing to use acronyms in place of confusion and incoherence. But for the sake of those who are blessed by not having English as their first language, I will explain what an acronym is. An acronym is made up of the first letters of words which make up an expression. I first came across the use of acronyms as a young boy when people started calling me DP instead of Dennis Patterson.

---Laughter

I thought that was quite flattering and it was being used fondly, until I found out that DP is actually often an uncomplimentary term for a displaced person.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that so far, I haven't had very much influence. At a recent meeting of the Nunavut Caucus with the Nunavut Implementation Commission...

Mr. Patterson, your time is up. Mr. Patterson.

I seek consent to continue, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I attended a recent meeting of the Nunavut Caucus with the Nunavut Implementation Commission and the executive of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and there were also officials of the Division Review Committee and the Special Joint Committee on Division present. Or maybe I should say at the meeting with the NIC, NTI, the DRC and the SJCD.

---Laughter

That meeting was held in YK in the LA, by the way. I learned at that meeting of a completely new acronym which has been devised by the capable bureaucrats who are assisting the NIC in planning Nunavut. This one had me completely flummoxed. I had to stop and ask what this term meant. As far as I can see, this is a completely new acronym invented by the Nunavut planners. I must, therefore, announce that my impression is that rather than banning acronyms, Nunavut is likely to inflict more of them upon us.

I will tell you about this new acronym. Just as everyone has become familiar with what a PY is -- I think you all know that a PY is actually an acronym for a person year -- they can be half people too, or as we learned the other day in the...

(Microphone turned off)

---Laughter

Yes. Half people are just as important as full-time people. As we learned in Mr. Arngna'naaq's Renewable Resource supp the other day, PYs can even be quarter PYs.

---Laughter

I think this one could be subjected to abuse or misunderstanding. In case you think I am joking about the dangers of acronyms, I want to tell you a little story before I conclude.

One of the perils of using acronyms is they can have unintended consequences. You have to be very careful, for example, in choosing a name for an organization because the acronym may contain an unpleasant surprise.

I have been pressing Mr. Nerysoo for months about giving college east and college west new names and I am very delighted that he has resolved the question recently with some very inspiring new names. But now I want to warn the Minister that he is faced with finding a name for the Inuvik campus of the new Aurora College. He was musing the other day that perhaps it might be appropriate to name that campus after a person who has made a great contribution to education in the region. I just want to warn him that he should be very careful in selecting this name because when I was on Cabinet way back when, and when I was Minister of Education way back when, we decided to create a college out of the adult vocational training centre in Fort Smith, or the AVTC, as it was fondly known. So we decided the college needed a new name and we thought the democratic way of having it would be to have a name-the-college contest and let the students and the good people of Fort Smith decide the name.

So, Mr. Speaker, Cabinet was about to approve the contest winner for the new college at Fort Smith and make it official, when suddenly someone said wait a minute, what about the acronym. I want to warn Mr. Nerysoo, before he finalizes the new name for the Inuvik campus, especially if he is going to name it after a person, ask that question. What about the acronym? The name we almost gave to the Fort Smith college, Mr. Speaker, was Stewart Hodgson Institute of Technology. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter

---Applause

Thank you, Mr Patterson. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about a mining possibility in my constituency. Mr. Speaker, the Cadillac Mine site has existed in the mountains west of Fort Simpson for quite a number of years. In the past, attempts to develop this mine site have not been successful. This mine site sits along a river called Prairie Creek which runs into the south Nahanni River. That is the world-renowned Nahanni National Park, which is an international reserve. A Vancouver-based company called San Andreas Resources Corporation is conducting a pre-feasibility study on the old mine site, Mr. Speaker. Factors of the study are zinc, lead and silver. This is about 100 kilometres north of Nahanni Butte.

Upon favourable results of this study, a full feasibility study will be undertaken and should be completed by this spring. Accordingly to company personnel, economics of the project continue to appear very positive. Representatives of San Andreas Resources met with the public in Fort Simpson and in the Deh Cho communities during the week of January 25th of this year. The purpose of the meeting was to bring everyone up to date on the developments and proposed activities of this mine site.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of San Andreas Resources as they have been working along with the local and regional economy, so that appropriate measures are ensured and their operation has little impact on the environment. Also, applaud their efforts in maintaining a link with the communities in the region.

Mr. Speaker, in the past, all too often in exploration, extraction of the products by southern firms has been done without significant benefits to local residents and in total ignorance of our environment, in some cases. When I think of those times, Mr. Speaker, I think the philosophy that southern companies are exercising now and have adopted in their dealings here in the north should be the basis or standard for any and all activity proposed by all outside firms. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Whitford, your time is up.

The Member for Yellowknife South is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Conclude your statement, Mr. Whitford.

Thank you, Mr. Whitford. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will talk about something that isn't too "Friday." Today is the 31st of the month and tomorrow is the beginning of the new rental scale implementation. As we all know, it was to be April 1st and that is tomorrow. This is something that people are sort of dreading. Although tomorrow will be Saturday, it is going to put a lot of pressure on a lot of our people with this new rent scale.

Mr. Speaker, in my constituency, there are a lot of people. They are small communities, 28 of them will have rental hikes, 14 will stay the same and five will decrease. However, there are very few people in the community who will see decreased rent, and some rent will stay the same. But, as a small community, the majority of the tenants will see rental increases. This is unfortunate and I'm sure this will put a lot of strain on them.

Mr. Speaker, there was a question put forth by one of the MLAs from the east about evictions; I'm sure this is something that we will see and it's a reality that we will have to face. So, during question period, I will pursue this matter about the rental scale that is being implemented tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Dent.

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated in my Member's statement, my question is to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. He responded to Dennis Patterson's question, as I understood it, that there would be no evictions without further investigation. For instance, if they have more than one person making an income in a family and an elder living in the house, how would they go about reviewing as to who in the house is not paying. Because he said that there would be no evictions at all if just one of the people in the house would be evicted, what about for that one person who is not paying? How would you deal with that person individually? Will they be evicted? Or, could you further clarify as to what you would do with this one person? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Housing, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The new rent scale is based on a certain amount of trust of the tenants to be reasonable and responsible in paying their rent. For example, in a unit if any individual is not paying their rent, the local housing authority would consult with that person and try to set up -- if they fell behind in their rent -- a repayment schedule with that individual. And than if all else fails, the very last resort would be an eviction notice would go to that person. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tenders are about to go out for major capital projects in the Northwest Territories and I would like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Services, what is the status of the review of the business incentive policy that has been undertaken by his department? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for Public Works and Service, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the fall of last year, we had Cabinet approval for a draft -- and I must emphasize "draft" -- business incentive policy. We also submitted that to the Standing Committee on Finance in order for this to go to a consultation process. I believe that we are still getting letters. As a matter of fact, today, going through my files, we have received letters from business people in the north that want their concerns addressed when we finish rewriting this policy.

Once the policy and the first round of consultation is done, then we will rewrite it as best we can. Then we are going to go back to the business community to see what they think of it and hopefully this will be in place this year. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is my concern, Mr. Speaker, that we are about to tender well over $100 million worth of capital projects in the Northwest Territories. Will the BIP be modified, improved, strengthened in time to be applied in the awarding of tenders for the coming construction season? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, last fall, in the Legislative Assembly, raised many concerns about southerners or outsiders coming into the communities working when northern businesses had reflected in their tenders that they would hire local people. Very few, but some turned around and hired southern people and brought them in. We didn't have a hammer or a penalty in place that was large enough to stop this from happening. We have already made changes to the tender documents so that if a northern

contractor puts in his tender document that he is going to spend $100,000 in Iqaluit on local labour, he had better spend it, because if he doesn't he will be subject to penalties. For example, we can lift the contract from him or we can remove his business incentive policy and remove the contract as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to hear that the Minister has put in those kind of measures, even in advance of a revised BIP. I would like to ask the Minister, since the days and months of this government are now numbered, whether it is the Minister's determination to have in place a new and improved business incentive policy during the life of this government. Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It was my intention to do that when I started this process, the review of the business incentive policy, and it is still my intention to try to get it done. Thank you.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, now that it appears that we will be having a final session of this Assembly in June of this year, can I ask the Minister, can we expect to have, for that session, tabled a new business incentive policy. Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it is my intention to have it done in the life of this government. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Speaker, on November 1, 1994 when I asked the Minister about the government parking spaces, the Minister made a commitment to this House that he will be raising the cost for government parking spaces in Yellowknife to market rates. When I asked the Minister again this week, what rates were being charged for these spots, his answer was that the government was only charging an amount equal to the government's cost for electrical, lot maintenance and lot lease. This rate is still significantly lower than the market rate. Can the Minister explain why his department has decided to provide -- after he made this commitment to charge market rates -- parking spots for government employees at a much lower rate than the current market rate? Thank you.

Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The information that I received is that for parking spaces in Yellowknife as well as other communities, they are based on the user-pay policy. That is what it costs the government and that is what employees pay. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, this still does not answer the question I asked him back on November 1, 1994. He committed to this House that he would look at raising the rates up to market rates, since it was unfair competition to the private sector. I wonder if he is going to uphold his commitment so that it will be fair competition in the private sector.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know what I said. I'll look in Hansard and get back to the Member. I don't know if I said all that he just said. Once I read Hansard, I will answer your question, Mr. Allooloo. Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, is he taking the question as notice or what is he doing?

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once I read the Hansard, I can answer the question better to see if what he said is what I said. Thank you.

---Laughter

So, Mr. Morin, are you taking the question as notice?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No.

---Laughter

Supplementary, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister has tried very hard so that this big government doesn't compete with the small private sector that sometimes he has a hard time staying alive. We heard on the news this week that the Centre Square Mall is having a difficult time staying alive. There's parking involved in that too. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, since he has tried very hard to make government services compatible with market rates -- for instance, housing tenants are paying market rates -- is he going to direct his department, like he said he would, to raise the parking costs according to Yellowknife's market rates? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have Hansard from the fall in front of me and I don't know whether I said I would look into it. What I will do is look at Hansard, look at the commitment I made to the Member, discuss it with my department and get back to the Member. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Allooloo.

(Microphone turned off)

I'm sorry, Mr. Allooloo, but that was your final supplementary. Item 6, oral questions, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on December 1, 1993 the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions tabled a report on Arctic College. Subsequently, on March 10, 1994 the Department of Education, Culture and Employment tabled their response to that report. I would like to follow up on some of the issues raised in the ABC's report on Arctic College with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

One of the recommendations was that the Minister table in the Legislative Assembly a draft strategic plan for each of the proposed colleges prior to the introduction of legislation to establish a new college system. Subsequently, we've adopted legislation creating two new colleges. I would like to ask the Minister, what is the status of the development of the strategic plans for the two new colleges?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because there was a division of the Arctic College into two different colleges, there was a need for the colleges as they are now named, Nunavut Arctic College and Aurora College, to review the document that had been proposed and to submit a strategy for each separate college. The department has received the draft strategies. We have not responded and are reviewing the documentation to respond to the strategy after which we will be meeting with the boards, collectively. The meeting should take place, I believe, in mid-April so we can go over the strategies and, from there, we'll have two documents to present for public consideration.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

One of the concerns raised by the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions had to do with the responsibilities of the Minister, as outlined in the act, to determine the policy respecting the operations, programs and priorities of the college. The recommendation of the committee was that the formal process for the delegation of responsibilities from the Minister to the new boards be prepared and tabled in the Legislative Assembly for discussion. My supplementary to the Minister is when is he proposing to table this formal process outlining the delegation of responsibilities?

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't want to undermine the concerns the honourable Member has raised about the reporting process but one has to recognize that it was only on the 1st of January that we established the two colleges and requested them to come back with a new strategy reflecting their separate institution status. It has taken some time for them to develop their draft reports because they now have different responsibilities. Once there is clear indication of the direction they want to go, we will then review the assignments and determine the authorities those boards will have. Part of that comes from legislation but another part comes from directives of the Minister. We need some time to review the documentation before we lay out the directives for each board of directors.

Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

I appreciate the dilemma the Minister is in because these are recent changes, the colleges have just been separated and the new boards are now functional. But the Minister is still responsible for both college systems and I'm trying to determine the status of the strategic plan because included in the strategic plan are the operational plans and included in that, obviously, are the budgets. My supplementary is on what basis, then, has the Minister been approving the operations of the colleges. We are now coming to the end of a fiscal year and the colleges have to start gearing up for their fall programs. I'm wondering what information and what basis the Minister is using to make decisions so that colleges can prepare for their fall programs.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you. It's a good question but I believe I've answered it a number of times for Mr. Patterson already.

(Microphone turned off)

Yes, I have, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact is there is a formula proposed by the department which reflects the division of the resources based on the programs presently being offered in the various campuses and colleges. The programs now being offered will be based on those programs and the location of those programs. That is part of the debate that Mr. Patterson tried to raise in the House regarding the division of PYs and programs. Those things are not going to be determined until we get the strategy but hopefully we can respond to the delivery issues that Mr. Patterson has raised in this House on a number of occasions, including the priorities that each board has identified and each of the leadership has identified as required in each particular college area.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Thank you. Another of the recommendations of the committee was that the college develop a formal process for obtaining the input of community education councils on local programming and planning. I don't think we can emphasize enough the need for community input into our programs and services. I would like to ask the Minister what's happening in terms of trying to achieve this recommendation made by the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Mr. Speaker, that's really the responsibility and the task of Arctic College themselves. We're not involved in the day-to-day operational issues. I can advise the honourable Member that in one particular region, in the case of the Mackenzie Delta/Beaufort area, there is a case of a collective group of people getting together to review the whole matter of training educational programs. In the case of the Nunavut leadership meetings, prior to that there was a collective group of people who were involved in the divisional boards of education. NTI, NITC, I believe, got together to begin the process of addressing the educational training needs in those particular respective areas.

These are larger bodies that are getting together and in some instances there is a collective group of individuals who get together on a regular basis. It's my hope that once we get all the career centres established, that part of the responsibility will be a collective gathering of individuals who are involved in education and training so we lay some groundwork and framework for the kinds of training programs that would be offered by Arctic College.

The other component that's important here is whether or not we are delivering the programs in our schools so they meet the challenges for the labour market that's in their particular region or in their community. So I think that's an important part of our planning process.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I made a Member's statement some time ago, "Implementation of Social Housing Rental Scale." I still have concerns in this area because I have been hearing a number of concerns from my constituents as well as from the Cape Dorset Hamlet Council and Broughton Island Housing Association board raising their concerns. This government has been working very hard in the last three years to try and eliminate violence and family problems, yet as the hamlet of Cape Dorset put it together, this rental scale has the potential of creating more of the direct social problems, such as suicide and family violence. The way the rental scale is structured is being looked at as a subtle attack on family structure. I would like to ask the Minister, in the development of the proposed new rental scale for social housing, has the Minister of the Housing Corporation considered the potential problems that will certainly be created within the households as a result of sharing of rental responsibilities?

Minister of Housing, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I said earlier, one of the principles of the new rent scale is trust of tenants and the trust that they'll uphold their responsibility to pay rent. Hopefully this shouldn't create a problem because all tenants will be responsible and pay rent according to the dollars they make. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have indicated in my Member's statement, most of the Nunavut communities outside of the bigger centre communities like Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet, there are no private housing markets in these communities that could be an alternative to solving some of the problems. Mr. Speaker, a two-year period is not a long enough time for the high-income earners to prepare and try to get their homes in place.

Mr. Speaker, I'm not talking about the problem of collection of rent; I'm talking about the outcome of the family members having to pay rent if they are working in one household. In the communities that I know, the reason a lot of the families are living together is because there is a shortage of housing. I am very baffled, Mr. Speaker, that the Housing Corporation has not been able to meet the needs of the housing requirement, yet this kind of rental scale is being implemented. Has the Minister considered the potential problems that will certainly be created within households as a result of sharing of rental responsibilities?

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The new rent scale was put into place and when it started off it was because of the federal government telling us that we don't charge proper rents in our communities and they would take back the dollars from us. I'm not talking a very small amount of money, it's millions of dollars.

We have a choice. We either treat all people equally throughout the Northwest Territories...And the Member must realize that in the majority of the communities, there was a change to the rent scale in 1983 and that was done overnight. So in those communities the change is there and there's still a need for housing in those communities, as well. The federal government made it very clear to us, if we were not going to charge equivalent to what southern Canada is charging, they would take back money from us. And that would create a lot more hardship on our people than the rent scale, because we will lose dollars that we don't have and we won't be able to build new stock.

The new rent scale is going to encourage higher-income people to get into home ownership. We have long waiting lists, I know that. We have overcrowding, I know that, in all our communities. But if we continue to sit back and do nothing, that will never change. We have to encourage people to get into home ownership, and then free up houses for low-income people who desperately need them. That's what we're attempting to do. So it's the lesser of two evils, I believe. Thank you.

Supplementary, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm quite well aware of the problems the Minister is facing in terms of CMHC asking for this type of money he was just talking about. I don't think a two-year period is a long enough time to try to get these high-income earners out of public housing, unless the NWT Housing Corporation commits to allocate units within two years to all the high-income earners. My question is, will he do that, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The phase-in period is not two years, it's four years at 30, 30, 30 and 10. That's the phase-in of the new rent scale. The rent scale has gone through the community consultation, regional consultation, the Advisory Committee on Social Housing and there have been a lot of comments and good recommendations from communities, regions and the committee on how to implement the new rent scale. Some people even thought that what we should do for high-income earners over the CNIT was throw them out of public housing, that they shouldn't be in there and they should get their own house. They thought we should do that overnight. We didn't do that. We phased it in more gently. We agreed with people that we wouldn't come down with a sledgehammer and force people out of units. We agreed there were reasons to phase it in so they could access home ownership.

Last year, I know that when we allocated access units in a lot of the communities, I was left with 40 units not allocated that people wouldn't take-up because it didn't pay for them to. Why would I pay $1,000 a month to own a house when I can rent a house from the Housing Corporation for $100 a month. That seemed to be the attitude. Now, let me assure you there is a great interest in the home ownership program. People's attention is there and they are being taken up. The take up is very good. Thank you.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Ms. Mike.

Mr. Speaker, let me make some corrections. The 40 units that weren't allocated was not because there weren't enough applicants. For some reason at the regional level, these applicants weren't approved when they qualified and that has been the history, Mr. Speaker. It was only very recently when the Minister insisted that the units be built in the communities that they were taken up. That is the great encouragement that I see, Mr. Speaker.

There are, I think, other reasonable alternatives which I think would be more effective. Doesn't he agree that in the determination of assessable income for a household, the spouses should be the only couple who are assessed for rent and that other family members who are staying with them not be included because there is no housing available? There is no place for them to go. I think that would be more reasonable if the department and the Minister considered, if both spouses are working, that their income is the only assessable income for increased rent. Doesn't he agree, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's how it is. If both spouses are working, both of their rents will be assessed, including other people working in the house. If there are two others, then their rents will be assessed as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr.

Speaker, I have a question for the Minister for Employment, Mr. Nerysoo. Mr. Speaker, some time ago, I think it was back in early 1991, the Legislative Assembly addressed the issue of minimum wage. I recall it quite vividly because there was a two-tier system that we had put into place, one rate for on-road, off-road and one rate for under 16 and over 16. Since about four years has gone by since the minimum wage has been addressed, I'm wondering whether the Minister of the day has considered reviewing the issue of minimum wage. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the honourable Member. I have been having discussions with regard to that particular matter. I haven't brought it to my Cabinet colleagues for consideration. We have reviewed the minimum wage of the Northwest Territories compared to some other jurisdictions across the country and find that, generally speaking, there are other jurisdictions that are almost comparable to the minimum wage we have. In fact, some of the provinces are reaching the level of minimum wage we have at this time. There are some that are, in fact, higher.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.