I have another question asked by Mr. Koe on March 1st with respect to WCB rates for construction companies.

Employers are classified on the basis of the industry in which they operate, rather than the occupations of their employees. The administrative staff in every company supporting the main industry are charged the same rate as all other employees.

It is worth noting, however, that the construction rate decreased from $10.25 per $100 of assessable payroll in 1994, to $9.25 per $100 in 1995.

Mr. Speaker, if I may, I have another question from Mr. Koe with respect to WCB rates for taxi drivers and staff.

Again, employers are classified on the basis of the industry in which they operate, rather than the occupations of their employees. Dispatchers support the taxi industry and are charged the same rate as taxi drivers.

Prior to 1995, taxi drivers were charged a flat rate of $365 per car. Claims costs arising from the taxi industry were charged to subclass 53, and the assessment is ground transportation. The board of directors asked that a review be undertaken to determine if taxi operations were paying their own way.

From 1990 to 1994, the revenue collected from the taxi industry was $69,184 compared to $435,964 spent on claims. It was apparent that taxi operations played a major role in the rate of subclass 53 rising from $3.25 per $100 in 1990, to $6.25 per $100 in 1994. The board of directors made the decision to charge taxis and dispatchers the same rate as all other employers in subclass 53. This decision resulted in a rate increase of $1.75 per $100 assessable payroll for all employers in subclass 53. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Patterson on February 28, 1995: the impact of federal staff cuts on the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the federal budget on February 27, 1995 announced significant reductions to the size of the federal public service over the next three years. In response to Members' enquiries regarding the effects of these cuts on federal employment in the Northwest Territories, I will be tabling later today a summary of the personnel reductions which have been confirmed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Continue, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mrs. Marie-Jewell on February 23rd of the Premier. It concerns the percentage of $1 million power cost carried by other communities.

Mr. Speaker, the low water rider to collect $1 million from communities outside of the Yellowknife Snare system is not being billed out on a percentage basis.

Rather, it is assessed as a flat rate charge of 0.6 cents per kilowatt hour to all customers outside of the system.

Customers within the Yellowknife system will be paying an additional $3.3 million in low-water rider costs. Depending on their classification, customers will pay between 1.2 and 2.5 cents extra per kilowatt hour.

Under the Public Utilities Board decision 13-94, collection will continue until November 30, 1995, or until the required amounts are collected, whichever is earlier.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize people from Fort Simpson; Mr. Ernest Cazon and Mrs. Rita Cazon. Mr. Ernest Cazon is the subchief of the Liidli Koe First Nations in Fort Simpson. Mahsi.

---Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Whitford.

Thank you. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the honourable Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, to follow up on my Member's statement that I made earlier, I know the honourable Minister is a proponent of making life easier for all people of the NWT, as he has spoken to me about on many occasions both in private and sometimes in public. I also know that sometimes the honourable Ministers do not always know what is going on under their noses. Sometimes they are kept in the dark by their sidekicks or subordinates, Mr. Speaker.

According to my Member's statement, I know there is going to be a maintenance training program for airport maintainers in Baker Lake, which is to be on March 29, 1995. I would like to ask the honourable Minister if he is prepared to have an interpreter for a gentleman from Gjoa Haven who wants to take part in that training program in Baker Lake. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the gentleman from Gjoa Haven is attending the training centre in Baker Lake and requires translation services because he's unilingual, then I'm sure arrangements will be made. If they're not made, I'll ensure they are made. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the honourable Minister for that positive response to my question. Will the Minister direct his staff to communicate with the hamlet council of Gjoa Haven to find out if the gentleman is attending, as I was told this morning? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I would be only too happy to do that. I would like to point out that the reason the Cabinet decided to put the training centre in Baker Lake was to do exactly that: to accommodate both bilingual and unilingual northerners in this important program. So I will communicate to the department post-haste the concerns that they take whatever actions are necessary to accommodate this gentleman from Gjoa Haven. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I walk to work every day I pass by the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. I was involved with this project at it's very beginning. I spent many hours at the Prince of Wales Heritage Centre archives. I've learned this week that the librarian position is being eliminated. I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment how this will affect the service to myself and many other researchers who come from other parts of the country who have enjoyed this very good service in the past.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There will be no reduction in services. I believe the deputy minster should be here as part of the budget review, because he can answer some of those more technical questions. There will be no reduction in the services, but what will happen is there will be a reassignment of responsibilities to other staff in the museum.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

I will leave my detailed questions for later. There are still some policy issues with the Minister, Mr. Speaker. Recently, Mr. William Mills, who is the librarian of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England -- this is the library of close to 6,000 northern books, many of them very rare and very valuable. Although he has visited libraries with large collections of northern books in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Calgary, he found ours in Yellowknife to be the best in this country. That is the reputation that our northern library has. Since the library will no longer have a librarian, I would like to ask the Minister if there is no one who is trained to look after it, what are the future plans for this world-class library?