Good morning. Orders of the day, item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Mr. Pudluk, your point of order.

Point Of Privilege

Point of privilege, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wonder if this very important document will be translated, especially into the Inuktitut language?

Speaker's Ruling

The reason, Mr. Pudluk, why the statement wasn't translated is so that Mr. Kakfwi could make an emergency statement. The translation is now available. Mr. Pudluk.

Mr. Speaker, my apologies. As I made my point of privilege, the translation did come in. Thank you.

Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pudluk. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present the annual report of the WCB for the period ending December 31, 1994, in accordance with section 100 of the Financial Management Act.

The financial and statutory responsibilities of the WCB are threefold:

1. It must guarantee that compensation and the pensions awarded to injured workers of their dependants are paid in accordance with entitlement.

2. It must assess employers sufficiently and fairly to meet these obligations.

3. It should maintain stability and achieve a balance, providing benefits to injured workers, while keeping assessment costs to employers as low as possible.

These responsibilities are met by establishing and maintaining adequate reserves.

I am pleased to report, Mr. Speaker, that the financial position of the Workers' Compensation Board improved in 1994. This has allowed the board to restore its reserves to desirable levels.

The future liability reserve ensures that the board is able to pay the total entitlement of its claims. This capability is often referred to as "fully funded."

I am pleased to confirm that again in 1994, the NWT WCB is fully funded. I should add that this is an enviable position to be in compared to the fiscal situation of other boards across Canada.

Mr. Speaker, there are several reasons for the board's positive results:

1. Increased hiring by employers operating in the north resulted in assessment revenue exceeding projections.

2. Thanks to a lower than anticipated consumer price index, supplementary pension increases in 1994 were less than expected.

3. In cooperation with employers, more emphasis was put in training on the job, graduated return to work and alternative job placements.

4. Third-party actions concluded by the board in 1994 recovered additional monies.

Although much of this report focuses on fiscal responsibility, I must emphasize that financial stability is not the only measure of success at the NWT Workers' Compensation Board.

In 1994, the WCB undertook a number of significant initiatives to improve the level of services provided to its clients:

- Implementation of an early intervention claims management model, which will ensure early assessment and diagnosis for injured workers and a quicker return to the workplace;

- A memorandum of understanding with the Department of Renewable Resources to ensure that harvesters injured in the course of their traditional employment receive fair compensation;

- A more "common-sense" approach to rehabilitation services, resulting in greater emphasis on-the-job training, graduated return to work and alternative work programs;

- A Special Needs Committee created to address the special requirements of injured workers and pensions with significant disabilities;

- A comprehensive review and restructuring of the industrial classification system resulted in fewer subclasses and a more equitable system;

- A new multi-industry classification, which allows employers engaged in more than one industry to reduce assessment costs by applying for separate classification;

- The safety incentive rate reduction program which, when it takes effect in 1996, will impose penalties on unsafe businesses within each subclass; and,

- The development of new programs and increased training by the WCB's safety education unit.

Mr. Speaker, the 1994 Annual Report that I will table today confirms that the Workers' Compensation Board continues to operate in an effective and responsible manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Todd. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in this House to voice the thoughts and views of my Inuit elders on the bowhead whale. Muktuk from the bowhead whale is a delicacy to the Inuit people, especially our elders who have sampled its flavour in times long past, and, Mr. Speaker, as has been well reported, in more recent times.

I struggle to express the concept of the delicacy of this fine food to people of other ethnic origins. Mr. Speaker, perhaps haggis, truffles or roast pheasant may bring to mind a comparative exotic flavour of a food my people hold in such high regard.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, between 1820 and 1830, approximately 750 whaling ships journeyed to our Arctic waters and harvested over 8,000 bowhead whales. The Baffin Island bowhead whales were hunted by Dutch whalers in the 18th century. Based on available records for 1719 and 1911, the records say that a minimum of 28,000 bowhead whales were taken from the Baffin Bay stock. This overharvesting not only lead to the shortage of this vital food supply, but also prevented generations of Inuit people from knowing the delicious flavour of bowhead muktuk.

Mr. Speaker, on many occasions, Inuit elders have tried to convey to the younger generation the excitement, the joy and the satisfaction of a successful traditional bowhead hunt and the sharing of muktuk with the entire community. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, this experience can now only be shared legally through the storytelling of our elders and the imagination of the listener.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent from my colleagues to continue.

The Member for Aivilik is seeking unanimous to conclude her statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Mrs. Thompson, could you conclude your statement?

I have witnessed, Mr. Speaker, over the years, my father, now in his 70s, relay to visitors and students on many occasions the story of a bowhead whale hunt, complete with actions and an ethnic whaler's bowhead harpoon.

As nature takes its course in the Arctic, Mr. Speaker, many Inuit have witnessed the ageless relationship between predator and prey; of killer whales and polar bears feasting on bowhead whales. The retelling of these experiences have left our elders longing with envy, and wishing to reclaim their place in the natural order of life in which they too are hunters.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the fine people of Igloolik for sharing the recent bowhead muktuk with most of the elders in Nunavut. Mr. Speaker, this was a profoundly emotional moment in which many elders, fortunate enough to again taste the finest of traditional foods, remembered their parents and their relatives who had passed on before them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing the voice of the Inuit elders to speak through me today in this House.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Thompson. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Throughout the Northwest Territories, one of the major economic developments over the last 30 years has been the development of the cooperative movement. Much of the credit goes to the federal government who saw that this made sense in the kind of jurisdiction that we have.

When I was a young boy, Mr. Speaker, everybody shopped at the co-op in our village. It was locally owned, all the employees were local, all the dividends went to local people, all the staff and management and everything was local, and people had a great attachment to it.

It's been a terrible battle for the co-op to get itself established in the Northwest Territories despite the sense that it made, simply because there was another huge corporation that had been here for 350 years: the Hudson Bay Company, who fought like fury to stop it from getting a foothold. Many of the people who worked for that company remember the battles they had with local co-op people who were trying to provide competition with this monolithic force, which was at that time based in London and Europe.

Mr. Speaker, now that the Hudson Bay Company really doesn't operate in the Northwest Territories, we should not have opposition any more to this kind of development. I believe that our government should recognize what it has done, it's achievements and importance to northern people and we should find in our hearts enough sympathy and understanding to provide the kind of support that this operation needs if it is going to survive into the future.

I shall be asking the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism some questions about this later. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Two weeks ago, I asked a question in this House about the origin of the sealskin products passed out by the Minister of Renewable Resources during his department's O and M budget presentation last March. In his opening comments on the Renewable Resources budget on March 3, 1995, the Minister stated, and I quote from page 1064 of the unedited Hansard:

"In the eastern Arctic, we have been working hard to promote the sealing and fishing industry. This past year, in cooperation with Economic Development and Tourism, we researched consumer interest in seal and sealskin products. In 1995-96, we are working with the Broughton Island tannery and residents on the pilot project to produce and market these examples of high quality products. Mr. Chairman, if I may, I would like to pass out some samples of products that are being produced. Mr. Chairman, we are providing seal pelts to the tannery through the fur pricing program." This all sounds very promising, Mr. Speaker, but I am concerned that it does not seem to be consistent with what the Minister was telling me in response to my question of two weeks ago. He indicated he was aware that the sealskin products were merely prototypes made by a southern company as a demonstration of the kinds of products that could be made in the NWT. However, the prototypes have Minnguq Sewing Group labels on them, despite the fact that Minnguq was not aware of their existence.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that the Minister assures us that there is active promotion of sealskin products and even a pilot project involving the Broughton Island tannery, the information I have indicates this is not the case. I have heard that there are plans being made to initiate a production line of products under the Minnguq name but the Broughton Island tannery, which is in dire need of work, is not a part of the picture.

Mr. Speaker, it doesn't make any sense to me that this government spends considerable amounts of money on the fur incentive program and other renewable resource...Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue by Member's statement.

The Member for Baffin Central is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and my colleagues. As I was saying, Mr. Speaker, it doesn't make any sense to me that this government spends considerable amounts of money on the fur incentive program and other renewable resource and economic development programs and, yet, when an opportunity comes along, our northern processors are left out in the cold. More must be done, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that this government and agents of this government continue to pursue economic development initiatives within the Northwest Territories, we should continue to market our products nationally and internationally, but they must be made in the north by northerners and all the benefits must flow to northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the last day, I thought I would talk a bit about the need for increased cooperation amongst the elected leaders of the Northwest Territories. I think the misunderstanding we recently had between the aboriginal leaders and our Legislative Assembly brings home a plight, at least to me, that we probably have to rethink how we approach some of these things.

Any misunderstanding that has happened is definitely not the fault of any individual Minister or of this government. I think our government can be quite proud of the fact that we have better relationships with aboriginal organizations than any government in the country.

However, times are changing quickly. The reality is that the regional land claims have given constitutional status to many of the aboriginal organizations. The division legislation has given legislative status to organizations such as NIC and self-government discussions have raised expectations and, at some point, many aboriginal organizations will be lost in the Constitution of Canada. That is a reality.

Another reality is that public government in the Northwest Territories has a legislative base. It has a very strong elected mandate and it is supported by a large number of people in the Northwest Territories and it isn't going away.

The third reality is we have a strong history in the Northwest Territories of community governments, mayors and chiefs, and our communities are well respected and are taking on new responsibilities. So unless we come up with some new structures in our government, we are inevitably going to head towards clashes. I think we will see that more and more unless we look at changing the way we do business here in the Legislative Assembly. The present system is too rigid to deal with these new realities. There is no doubt in my mind that there is going to be a lot of frustration in self-government negotiations, a lot of misunderstandings, as well as frustration in the division negotiations. Unless we find mechanisms where people can work out these problems, we are going to end up fighting amongst ourselves. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think now, when Mr. Pollard and the government are putting together the transition document, is the time to think about some of these things. If we don't do them, the results could be quite disastrous.

Next time, we should look at institutionalizing regular meetings of Cabinet with aboriginal/municipal leaders. There have to be regular opportunities for aboriginal/municipal leaders to meet with the Legislative Assembly and with committees of the Legislative Assembly. The next government should follow the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance, to have a separate intergovernmental affairs secretariat and aboriginal affairs secretariat, and we should look at setting up some bureaucratic structure that includes bureaucrats from aboriginal organizations that meet on a regular basis.

Unless there is a free flow of information some formalized mechanisms to work out problems and strategize, inevitably we will be turning on ourselves. I think the future of the Northwest Territories will depend on increased cooperation and problem solving amongst all the elected leaders of the Northwest Territories. It is my own feeling that we are not going to have the luxury to be able to fight amongst ourselves. There is too much at stake. At the end of the day, either we hang together or we are going to be hung separately one by one. Thank you very much.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, or as my eastern colleagues would say, qujannamiik, uqaqtii.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, you see, I have learned something in this House in the last four years.

---Laughter

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, I will be speaking in my language. It seems that today will be the last day we will be meeting. So if all goes well, we should be finished our meeting today. We are representing the people who have elected us into office. Our term is just about over. I hope we have worked well for people who have elected us. I would like to thank you for being the Speaker. In your term of being an elected official with the territorial government, you have learned the system of the territorial government, so I feel you have done the job well.

Four years ago, when we asked the Minister...I hope I work well with the people who are elected as Ministers. At the time, she said yes. Today I would like to thank the Premier. In the four years that I have been an MLA, I hope I have worked well for my constituency. I would also like to thank the Ministers who I have worked with. I would like to say thank you to her for working well with the Minister. When I questioned the Ministers and also asked for things, I feel I worked well with them. I would also like to thank the Ministers from the past. There are many things that we still have to work for in the future, whoever is in government after us.

Mr. Speaker, my time has run out, so if it is okay with everyone, I would like to continue my speech.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Antoine. The MLA for Nahendeh is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Conclude your statement, Mr. Antoine.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been four years since we were elected. I have learned quite a bit from my four years as an MLA, how the system operates. I feel I've done okay in the four years that I've been an MLA.

We are representing our constituency and we to have to keep in mind: who are we sitting here for and what are we here for? These things should be thought out and remembered. That is the only way I feel things will turn out well for us in the future.

The Ministers have a hard job too, but they sometimes have to remember that their constituents are the people who have elected them and where they are from. Whether they're white people, Dene or Inuit, they should remember where they are from. They have to inform their constituents well. (Translation ends)

...four years. I have thanked the Government Leader, the Ministers and my colleagues, the Members of the Legislative Assembly, for support in the things that I wanted to do in my constituency over the last four years. I would also like to thank

the Legislative Assembly staff; Mr. David Hamilton and his staff.

Hear! Hear!

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, I still don't know all the rules that well, but Mr. Hamilton and his staff are very able and they always guide me in areas where I have to work through this maze of rules that govern this Legislative Assembly. So for that, I would like to thank Mr. Hamilton.

Mr. Speaker, I have been talking to my constituents and I will be taking another run at this position on October 16th.

---Applause

I have been telling them that in their requests and in their questioning, and I've been saying that I'm going to run again. Because of the work that has to be done ahead of us...There's a lot of work to be done. I would like to thank all the Members in this House for working with me in the last four years. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Antoine, and good luck. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those of us who are here are all aware that today might be the last day of this session, the last session of the 12th Assembly. I would just like to make a short statement. I know that we have to speak on one particular item when we make Members' statements, but I think I will be making a statement on two items.

First of all, I would like to talk about the environment. We have a great concern about our environment today, and we have to take very good care of our lands in today's world. Early in the 1960s, various companies came to the north for oil and gas exploration projects. At that time, they had to get permission from Indian and Northern Affairs so they could come up north to explore. But today, looking at the northern environment, there are a lot of items that have been left behind by those companies; particularly old, rusty barrels have been lying around all over the northern environment. Although we would like to take good care of our environment and our lands, it's very difficult to try and clean up our environment.

The companies that have been up here have been the ones that have destroyed the natural beauty of our country. Although they have stated that we should be taking good care of the environment around us...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to receive unanimous consent to continue my statement. Thank you.

The Member for High Arctic is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Conclude your statement, Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker and my colleagues. As I stated, we are very concerned about our environment. For instance, Panarctic went up to the High Arctic during the early 1960s. When they first started exploring they were very friendly to the people of the north, but now that they're almost concluding their projects in the High Arctic, they have stated that they would like to bury their equipment. They want to discharge all this old equipment out into the Arctic Ocean. Now they're very uncooperative with the people of my constituency. It seems like they're going against the very rules that DIAND has set out for them.

At the time, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and the company made an agreement that they would look after their own garbage and whatever junk they might have, and they would have to do away with the things that they have left behind, but it seems that they are going against the very agreement they had agreed upon years ago. Now they just seem to be doing away with the toxic waste and equipment for the people of the north to deal with. It's not just Panarctic, there are other companies that have just abandoned their waste. There is a lot of junk lying around in the Arctic, and they won't go back to clean it up. There are all kinds of barrels and heavy equipment that they're leaving behind.

I would like to, for the people who will be running in the future to become Members, encourage them to pursue this issue. Although the Indian and Northern Affairs department is responsible for this, they don't travel to the communities to see just how much junk there may be left behind by the companies.

The federal staff don't even bother to come up here. I know the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has a lot of power to do what they should do to clean up our Arctic waters, but they're not doing anything about this. We don't see any officials coming up north to see just how much damage may have been done to our waters or our lakes. They have no idea how big a problem this is.

I would like to encourage those future MLAs to pursue this. They should work hard to try and work with the federal government so they can clean up our environment, the northern waters and lands as we are very concerned about our environment. I wanted to talk about this issue, particularly.

Secondly, as I stated, I will make two statements on two different items. I would like to thank you all, all the new and veteran Members of the Legislative Assembly. I have worked with you very closely. Although it gets very stressful at times during our meetings, I think we have learned to work well together. I would like to thank the staff members of the Legislative Assembly for having helped us out in the long four years. I wish you the best in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pudluk. As the dean of the Assembly, when you said you were going to make two statements under Members' statements, I was going to make reference to the rules with regard to a Member only making one statement, but the statement that you made on the environment and pollution was part of the issue too, just as baseball and football are part of sports.

---Laughter

So, I don't think you were out of order in this case.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mrs. Marie-Jewell regarding Alberta companies contracted to assist DC-4 fire crews. Foulger Aviation Services and Ken Harvey and Associates were hired to work exclusively with the DC-4 crews and related support Bird Dog aircraft. Air Spray 1967 Limited of Alberta provided supplementary training to one of the Bird Dog pilots only. In the training flights, Air Spray deemed the Bird Dog pilot to be a well-prepared and above-average pilot who would qualify as an entry-level Bird Dog pilot with Air Spray. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Are there further returns? Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Ms Cournoyea, item 4, returns to oral questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, my apologies. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mrs. Marie-Jewell on June 9th regarding the aircraft services used in fighting the Sahtu forest fire.

Mr. Speaker, depending on the smoke, wind and other conditions, the following resources were used to suppress the forest fire near Fort Norman and Norman Wells: four CL-215s, one DC-4, up to five helicopters, nine caterpillar tractors, nine fire crews and up to 40 extra firefighters. Mr. Speaker, in our opinion, this was the maximum number of resources we could safely deploy on this fire at one time. At one point, when conditions allowed aircraft to fly, we were circling about 3,000 feet above the fire. We watched as the five air tankers dropped a load on the fire every three minutes, helicopters moved men and equipment back and forth, and crews and caterpillars worked on the ground. This is a tremendous amount of activity to coordinate under difficult and dangerous conditions and I supported the decision not to bring in more resources.

Since the forest fire risk was extreme in other parts of the territories, we also needed to keep some resources in these areas. Fire crews were not moved out of those areas and one DC-4 remained in Hay River. As well, we issued a request for two CL-215s under the mutual aid resources sharing agreement. Since Quebec's were not available, Newfoundland agreed to provide the air tankers and they arrived in Fort Smith on June 11th. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mrs. Marie-Jewell on June 21, 1995, regarding the date employees were hired to replace dismissed Bird Dog officers.

Mr. Speaker, only one employee has been hired to replace the dismissed air attack officer and assistant manager of air operations. Mr. Ernie Campeau was hired as a casual air attack officer from June 19, 1995 to August 25, 1995. Mr. Campeau recently retired from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources where he was a regional air coordinator. He has been involved in air attack activities since the 1970s and has also prepared Ontario's air attack manual.

Over the years, he has bird dogged many different tanker types including CL-215s, heavy land-based, Cansos, Avengers and others. Mr. Campeau comes highly recommended by the Ontario government because of his extensive experience. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

---Applause

Welcome to the Assembly. I can see now why Mr. Dent looks pretty good in this House.

---Laughter

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would also like to recognize three seniors sitting in the gallery. I don't know if they are from Yellowknife or not, but welcome to the Assembly.

---Applause

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Dent.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, the meeting is being arranged. It is being set as soon as we can find an appropriate time for Ms. Marleau. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I can answer that in the affirmative. It has been because of the Department of Health and Social Services, from the time the Government of the Northwest Territories has taken over the responsibility of the management of health, that the aboriginal organizations have been informed on a continual basis on what we are doing and what our plans are. They are also informed of any recent information that we receive.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few weeks ago, through a Member's statement, I brought up an issue regarding some formula for infants. For ladies who are single and are bringing up their family or for families that don't have a regular income...Mr. Speaker, I made a Member's statement regarding infant formula and the high cost of having to acquire infant formula. A lot of mothers don't choose to breastfeed. My question is to the Minister of Finance. I apologize for not directing my question to a Minister before hand. However, my question is to the Minister of Finance. Can he give me a response as to what could be done regarding this matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

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

The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been planning a tour of Mr. Zoe's constituency and a number of others right after the end of this session. The tentative plan is to undertake that trip next week, possibly. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. On June 13th, the Minister stated that neither of the two people laid off by the Department of Justice from the legal interpreting program were interpreters. It was the Department of Justice that was responsible for these layoffs. Is the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment aware that one of the people laid off was a certified legal interpreter/translator who speaks Dogrib, who has interpreted regularly for the courts in the last few years and that she was the only terminologist

responsible for collecting, documenting, verifying and distributing legal terms for all the Dene languages and in Cree? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I want to indicate to the honourable Member is what I said before; the work that was being done primarily by these individuals was a matter of terminology development. We have other terminologists who were in the government and we needed to put together a group who dealt with terminology. I did not indicate that these individuals did not interpret, I said their prime responsibility was terminology development. We had a number of other departments involved and we needed to coordinate our approach to terminology development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister also stated, at that time, that the development of legal and medical terminology for Dene languages and in Cree would go back to the language bureau in an effort to consolidate these activities under one department. The Minister must be aware that the language bureau has received a $294,000 cut in funding under the Canada/NWT language agreement in 1995-96, more than a 50 per cent reduction in their funding under vote 4; and that other departments, boards and agencies of the GNWT, as well as other groups, have expressed concern that they cannot obtain services from the language bureau because the interpreters and translators are usually busy with other assignments. The Minister must also be aware that the Task Force on Aboriginal Languages in 1985 recommended that specialized medical and legal interpreter/translator training be developed because the language bureau had not been able to devote adequate time to training and terminology development in these specialized areas. I would like to ask the Minister were the language bureau's Dene interpreter/translators consulted on whether or not they would be able to handle these additional duties which originally rested with them, but which were transferred to the departments of Justice and Health after the task force made its recommendation? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for the information of the Member again, there are departments in which terminologists are located. There has been no indication on my part or the government's to remove the development of terminology for aboriginal languages. The suggestion being made is that, somehow, the responsibility is going to rest with the existing interpreter/translators. But there has to be a working relationship developed between the terminologists and the interpreter/translators. If there is no relationship between the people involved in translating in the communities and another group is developing terminology of which they have no knowledge, then what is the purpose of developing new terminology? It is clear that needs to be done, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. I have a question, again, for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The question is, who will be responsible for the legal and medical terminology development in Cree, since the Language Bureau does not employ any Cree interpreter/translators? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you. It's a new question, but nonetheless, I would like to indicate to the honourable Member that if there's a requirement for an individual, we will address that matter when the request is made.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Supplementary, Mr. Speaker, on the same issue of language transfer. I would like to ask the Minister, why wasn't the responsibility for Inuktitut legal and medical terminology development also transferred back to the Language Bureau if the aim was to consolidate these activities? Thank you.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the honourable Member for the advice. We'll take the suggestion and consider transferring the responsibility. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will direct this question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In my constituency, the community of Sanikiluaq is getting larger and larger. I know the school board has changed their responsibility for that region, and it's very difficult in terms of transportation and communication. There's also a lake in between the school and the community. At this time, I know it's not possible to make arrangements for the planning

of municipal structures for school services for that community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will look into the concern that the honourable Member is raising.

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

Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I have recently received a series of questions from seniors on this matter. There are a number of issues they have raised and want clarification on, but I have not been able to look at all the issues they've identified or to get an analysis of the impact of the changes we are making on seniors. We're presently working on that and I will be in a better situation to answer, once I've made the analysis on the impacts, if there are any. Mr. Speaker, there are some changes that have been made and we will try to address the number of issues the seniors have presented. Therefore, I'm not in a position to answer in detail whether all the issues are legitimate and to what extent there will be impacts on seniors, but I will make a commitment to deal with it as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Whitford.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I've made a commitment to the seniors and I will make a commitment to this House that we will move on the matter as quickly as possible to ensure that when changes are made, communications get out early. I can make that commitment, Mr. Speaker.

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

Minister of Safety and Public Services, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can advise that, in general, labour standards disputes take various lengths of time to resolve. Claims require a certain amount of communication between both the employer and employee, a process which can be more complicated if either or both the employee and employer reside outside of the Northwest Territories. The length of time for investigation and resolution is also determined by their complexity and, therefore, it is difficult to determine whether or not a matter will be resolved in a timely fashion or will take an extended period of time to address and resolve.

Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we will try to resolve that matter, so we can bring to a conclusion, or at least bring about the investigation into the claims in a much more timely fashion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Whitford.

Minister of Safety and Public Services, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can advise the House that on June 16, 1995, the chief safety officer wrote to Mr. Bob Robertson of the Union of Northern Workers to confirm that the refusal to work by air attack officers on Thursday, June 15, 1995, could not be upheld as constituting a legitimate right to refuse in the face of unusual danger. This ruling is on the air attack officers' refusal to attend the orientation session on June 15, 1995 and is separate from the original right to refuse, which is still the subject of an ongoing investigation. A large number of witnesses have been interviewed and more witnesses will be interviewed today. I can advise the Member that the chief safety officer is hopeful that he can conclude the investigation by June 30, 1995. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, on March 30, 1995, the Education Act, which we are currently dealing with in committee of the whole, was tabled in English and French. I understand that it was translated into Inuktitut, although this did take a few weeks which, I understand, was of some concern to the Inuit communities. These versions of the bill were paid for by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister please explain what resources were made available to Dene/Metis communities to do the interpretation or translation of the bill in preparation for the Standing Committee on Legislation consultations, since apparently they received the English and French versions only? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know the details of that, so I will have to take the question as notice. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Whitford.

Minister responsible for forest fire management, Mr. Morin.