Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary to the same Minister. Is the honourable Minister indicating to the House that she will, in fact, communicate with the airlines that deliver the mail in these jurisdictions? Thank you.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I intend to do that.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the last few weeks we have talked a lot about mining. At the same time we're talking about mining, there seems to be increased interest in oil and gas exploration and activity in the Northwest Territories. My question to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources is, what is the department doing to maximize the potential for the regions of the Northwest Territories to take advantage of the increased interest in oil and gas activity?

Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a difficult time with my hearing and I didn't quite get the end of the question, Mr. Speaker, as my honourable colleagues have said many times, I have selective hearing.

---Laughter

I wonder if the honourable Member could repeat the question, my apologies.

Thank you, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure if hearing aids are covered under our medical coverage, but I think the Minister should enquire.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, there has been increased interest in oil and gas exploration in the Northwest Territories over the past few months. While we spend a lot of time talking about mining, there is a lot of interest in the territories in the area of oil and gas. My question to the Minister is, what is the Minister's department doing to ensure that the different regions of the Northwest Territories can maximize opportunities in the oil and gas field?

Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, my apologies to my honourable colleague in not hearing the question the first time around.

I know that there is some concern. EM&PR is overly preoccupied with the diamond mine, but I want to assure my honourable colleague that that is not the case. We are working closely with the people in the Deh Cho and other areas to provide them with some technical advise with respect to oil and gas. For example, we are working closely with Chief Harry Deneron. So we are paying attention to oil and gas, we are giving them support when they require it and we are giving them technical assistance when required also. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I think it is always wise to look ahead to the future. There might be time when the Northwest Territories oil and gas is marketable. Does the Minister have any plans, along with representatives from the regions, to meet with the oil and gas industry to see what we can do as a government to attract more investment in this area?

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do recognize what my honourable colleague is saying. He addressed the issue in the House earlier this week. Clearly there is a need to be more aggressive in the marketplace and explain to industry that we are open to business under certain conditions.

No, at this time, there were no provisions made on my department's part to move forward with a delegation into Calgary and other areas. However, we did discuss it informally earlier this morning, and my honourable colleague's comments over the last two or three days are well founded and we have to be more aggressive in the oil and gas field as we have been in the diamond and mineral fields. I want to assure my honourable colleague that is what we intend to do in the coming months, but to date we have not done it. Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, during question period, I was questioning the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment with regard to a statement that he made in the House called "partners in education." In the statement he stated that there is a review of the student financial assistance program in the new fiscal year. Further on in his statement, he said that the territorial government will also need to review its funding levels to the colleges as we have reached a point where we must reduce spending and increase efficiency and effectiveness.

This is quite a loaded statement, Mr. Speaker, it could mean all kinds of different things. So, I would like to ask the Minister responsible for this department exactly what he means by saying this government has to reduce funding levels. Further on he said we must reduce spending. What does he mean by that? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In providing the statement, Mr. Speaker, I was informing the honourable Members -- and I think an issue that we are all grappling with at this particular time -- about the amount of financial resources that we have available to us, whether or not it is in this government or whether or not it is in institutions that act on our behalf as our agents.

Mr. Speaker, the honourable Member made a number of statements in this Assembly about the way in which we deliver programs. The honourable Member pointed out a very successful program in his region. For us to continue or pursue the suggestion that the honourable Member made about the idea of a permanent institution to deliver that program, which was the arts program, requires us to rethink the way in which we spend resources in Arctic College. What I was doing was indicating that in order for us to respond to the suggestions being made in this Assembly and the requests that are being made in our regions, we must assess our priorities and we must review our expenditures in the regions in order for us to accommodate the requests that have been made by other regions.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for that response. Could he tell the House what his department is doing to review these funding levels to the colleges at this time? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the situation right now that we are all faced with is with regard to the financial resources that will be available in the future for any of our government's institutions. I point this out not to indicate that this government is not committed to

developing Aurora College or Nunavut Arctic College, but rather there is a need for us to assess the programs and services that we are providing in Aurora College. Also in the campuses that we have established and the programs that we are now offering, there are other components to financing our programs.

I can advise the honourable Member, we have to determine whether or not social assistance can be a proactive program that is used, for instance, for post-secondary education. The aboriginal groups that have signed final agreements for claims have a number of dollars identified for training, education in post-secondary institutions. The question we then have to ask ourselves is how do we get the confidence of these organizations so that they can become partners in the delivery of post-secondary programs.

Some of these organizations -- as in the experience that we have had with the Gwich'in -- have allowed us to be partners in the development of programs and also the aboriginal organizations have provided resources.

The other component is third party funding; programs that we run on behalf of other organizations or other governments. All these are factors on how we deliver programs, Mr. Speaker. They have to be reviewed and we have to provide the information and the advice that is necessary to spend these resources.