I commend the community of Fort Smith for developing many access programs, like ramps into buildings, or other access methods. I look at other communities and they don't have access programs for disabled people to get into buildings. I will say that Fort Smith has done very, very well in that regard and that's primarily due to the support and advocacy of Mrs. Sutherland who, many times, works tirelessly on behalf of disabled people. So, I commend her for that.

Mr. Speaker, I believe this just about concludes some of my reply. I wanted to indicate that I was disappointed that the town boundary issue was not addressed, but I think the community will continue to work on this. However, we are very grateful that the Minister of MACA has addressed water and sewer policies to a great extent. I want to state to the Minister of Education that I would appreciate his continued support for the western Arctic leadership program. I really believe they should be given an extended mandate to allow for the creation of revenue initiatives. I think they should be given the support of the department, because there are some very capable people there.

I want to also indicate a concern about the deficit of the South Slave divisional board. I encourage the Minister of Education to continually guide and help the South Slave divisional board because I believe they have a very good board now. They are very committed people who are trying to address this deficit.

Every time lately when Mr. Nerysoo comes to my riding, I ask him if he has any more money to give us, but the answer has not been an eager "yes." We certainly hope he can find more money.

Mr. Speaker, I want to indicate that over the past year, I've had a study done by one of the consultants in our community. Tamar Vandenberghe, who is with Borealis Consulting, has done a very, very good job on a study of person years of government positions located in Fort Smith. Many times over the past few years, I've heard the comment that many of our PYs are going to Hay River. I don't know if Hay River has recognized that, but I have noticed that a couple of PYs have gone to Hay River. I certainly hope it's not Mr. Pollard's doing, and I believe it's not Mr. Pollard's doing. But I would like to mention that he should be a little more cautious of the amount of PYs going into Hay River. They can go into Hay River, as long as they don't come from Fort Smith.

---Laughter

I wanted to say that, as a result of this study, the only positions going to Hay River are from the South Slave divisional board and I think it's critically important that the education centre remain in Fort Smith. I think we have the reputation of ensuring there is a high quality of education, and there is support from the community. I recognize the importance of the college; I think it's an integral and important part of our community. They've helped Fort Smith along and I know that Fort Smith welcomes students every year into the community and attempts to make their stay as good as possible. I know that many of the people in Fort Smith are happy when college students come back. You can see an increase in the attendance at bingos and at community functions, whether they are dances or whatever. I think the community and college students make every effort to make their stay a lot more pleasant.

I just want to quickly go over this study. I will start with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. In 1993, Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation had nine person years; in 1994, they had nine person years; and, in 1995, they had nine person years. However, even though no new cuts or positions have taken place in the past two years, in 1991, six person years were lost. I asked for a study only from 1993 on, so it's not reflected. I think that if the Minister is going to be looking at new ways to use this excess power, they might just find a method to address some of these lost PYs.

Also with regard to the Power Corporation, I think they still have to make some kind of effort to get aboriginal people working in that area.

Mr. Speaker, the other area is the Fort Smith Health Centre. The Fort Smith Health Centre has been able to enjoy no cuts to new positions. However, they have indicated that even though they have had no cuts, they have had more responsibilities, and with more responsibilities, they've just been able to do more work. I commend them for that.

With regard to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, there have been no cuts and no new positions have been established. They have nine positions in Fort Smith: a sergeant; a corporal; six constables; and, one clerk. It's anticipated they may receive half a PY clerk position in the future.

Even though they have enjoyed no cuts, let me tell you, I know that they certainly could be very busy. There is a concern with regard to the abuse of drugs in the community, and I know when Sergeant Barnes was there, he took an active approach in addressing this concern. I want to commend Sergeant Barnes for that. We have now had a new sergeant for the past year, Sergeant Douthwright, and I think he has been trying to make some movement on it, but I don't know how successful he has been over this past year.

But I do want to say that the people of Fort Smith are still very concerned and very disappointed that, even with these positions in Fort Smith, in the evening, if you need the help of the RCMP, you still have to call in to Yellowknife. It's still call forwarded to Yellowknife, and the time frame it takes to explain a situation, especially if it's critical, is frustrating for my constituents. I think it is a service that is critically important that we should try to enhance, especially in this day and age with our technology. I don't think there's a need for such long delays for the service that we should be getting.

Mr. Speaker, with regard to other parts of the federal government, when you look at Environment Canada, we were told, with the head of the water survey of Canada, they had two PYs in Fort Smith to monitor the water, particularly the water of the Slave River, but these two PYs will be transferred to Yellowknife as of March 31, 1996. I think it's shameful that we'll be losing two PYs to Yellowknife, because I know you are probably wondering who is going to monitor the water quality of the Slave River, taking into consideration we still have the pollution coming from the pulp mills and the development in McMurray from the tar sands they have. So there is still a lot of pollution coming down our river. Regarding the transfer of these two PYs to Yellowknife, I am wondering if it's necessary to centralize these positions, and it's unfortunate that Environment Canada doesn't look at phasing these positions or looking at some other method for Yellowknife to help the community of Fort Smith. So I will be working on that particular area.

Mr. Speaker, in Indian and Northern Affairs in the Fort Smith district office, they still have five PYs, Mr. Vandenberghe is the district manager and there have been no changes in that particular office.

The Canada Employment Centre, however, has had a loss of a person year due to downsizing and budget cutbacks. It's unfortunate because the two people, Fran Funk, who is the branch manager, and Mary Bird, are the only ones left in the Canada Employment Centre, who I know are probably busy and probably could use the extra help. I am just wondering if that PY went to Yellowknife, too, I should have had it checked.

That brings me to Transport Canada, Mr. Speaker, and the airport's operation. Since 1993, they have lost two and a half positions. Those were both firefighters, and another seasonal position was lost in 1994 which is an operator maintenance position. These positions were transferred to Yellowknife. That's why it's so critically important to ensure from the Minister of Transportation, since he's taken over the responsibility of Arctic A airports, that these particular positions are not decreased by any additional numbers and that, in fact, they be maintained, if not enhanced, by the Department of Transportation. We do have an Arctic A airport that we in the community are very proud to have, and I think it's important to keep those positions in the community.

Mr. Speaker, with the flight services station, they haven't had any PY cuts over the past couple of years, and I am pleased to advise the House on this, because that's also another important component in the operation of the airport.

Mr. Speaker, with respect to Public Works, they've had three PYs at the federal level, and they haven't had a cut in their PYs. I certainly hope that the federal government looks at maintaining those, because I think the three PYs are needed in the community, particularly when you compare the federal demands of Public Works in comparison to the territorial.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to move that we extend hours of sitting.