Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the honourable Minister assure me that he will bring the matter to Cabinet by June? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will assure the Member that we will deal with it by June. Thank you.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Public Works and Services. Mr. Speaker, I was heartened to hear the Minister state in reply to Mr. Ningark that he would be involving Members in possible changes to the POL system in the Northwest Territories. I have written the Minister about this. I understand that a consultant was commissioned by the department to review various options associated with the takeover of MOT POL facilities in lqaluit. I would like to ask the Minister if he would be willing to make that consultant's report available to me. Thank you.

Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like it made available to myself first. So once I get a chance to see it, I will talk to the Member about it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So that means you have to read it.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the honourable Minister of Health and Social Services. About two years ago, I brought the matter before this House regarding the delays in old age pension cheques. Again, this year I brought the matter before the Minister. From the community of Gjoa Haven, I have received correspondence dated March 29, 1995 of the same matter. People are not receiving pension cheques on time, Mr. Speaker. My question is has the honourable Minister communicated with his counterparts regarding the matter? Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Cournoyea.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps the federal government is incapable of meeting the deadline to bring the elders' pension cheques to the elders on time, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, the honourable Minister can communicate with her federal counterparts and offer them the alternative and have this jurisdiction issue the cheques to the residents of the NWT. Thank you.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know if that is possible. It is a federal program offered all across the provincial jurisdictions. There will be a meeting of Health and Social Services Ministers soon and some discussions will be how do you apply the overall standards to the various jurisdictions. This isn't on the agenda, however, I will commit to continue to follow up with the federal government to look at better ways of making sure that the pension cheques arrive on time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier and it is regarding the polar continental shelf project. As Members are aware, the polar continental shelf project has gone on for many years and the federal government, through Natural Resources Canada, provide logistical support to an amazing number of scientific experiments and projects in the Northwest Territories. I think it's probably time for an update from the government on exactly how much money has been spent on this project, what sort of input our government has into the experimental projects that go on and how we're able to access the information that has been collected over the years. If I could ask if the Minister could provide this House with an update on the activity of the polar continental shelf project.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I can do that, but I can't do it on my feet. I understand part of the program. I know very well, particularly in Tuktoyaktuk, that they operated very, very independently from the community, very independently from anyone in the Northwest Territories. However, it was seen as a research centre that was valuable to the Northwest Territories. I will commit to provide an update to this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, it seems that every day there are new revelations about just how the new federal budget will impact on the people of the Northwest Territories. We're getting bits and pieces of information from here and there. I'd like to ask the Premier, does this government have a method of monitoring the impact of federal budget decisions on the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, as I've expressed to the House on several occasions, I expect that the various departments and the Ministers would try to follow through on the specific programs that relate to the function of their department, or attached functions or are complementary to the functions of the department. The Minister of Finance has set up an internal team to try to monitor, under the Department of Finance, just exactly what those cuts will be. As the Member, from his experience, will know, sometimes it's very difficult to get immediate response because it appears the direction is to cut, but then the departments in the federal regime are left to make those cuts. Sometimes they don't know until later where they're going to meet their budget allocations.

So we're trying to very hard to keep track of what is going on within the department and with overall planning in the Department of Finance. That's one of the reasons Mr. Pollard is in Ottawa right now, because he had an indication that the community futures program may be on the block and that if we didn't very quickly make representation; that we stood to lose it. So, it's looked at overall and monitored by the Minister of Finance. However, each program department tries to zero in on what is relative to their job functions. That's the way we're handling it now. When we have indicators that there's a problem, we try to get down to deal with the federal Minister responsible as soon as possible. That's how we're dealing with it right at the moment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.