Thank you. Members' statements, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Members' statements, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take a moment to welcome back my fellow Members to your capital city.

Mr. Speaker, I have stated both in this House and to my constituents that cuts this government makes must be done fairly. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to elaborate on this. I was very upset to hear of the cuts to the seniors' fuel subsidy program. Seniors who are not on income support will no longer be eligible for this subsidy. It is unfair that those who have sacrificed to pay for their homes now have to pay more by losing this subsidy. Seniors are telling me that the ones that had been responsible and have taken precautions to provide for their future are the ones getting hit.

This government has also targeted in the last round of cuts, those who own their own homes by eliminating $1 million from the homeowners' property tax rebate program which meant a homeowner could claim back up to $300 on their property taxes. The vast majority of this cut in programming was absorbed by three communities. It is those that have paid already who end up bearing the burden. This is not fair. Everyone has to take the responsibility to contribute whether they are at the top or at the bottom of the scale.

The message has to be delivered that everyone contributed to our debt so everyone has to pay. We are giving a message that if you pay your taxes and make provisions for your retirement, we will target you. So if you do not look after yourself, that is okay. This government will take care of you with no responsibility or obligation. Mr. Speaker, that is wrong.

Employee cuts in the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation regional office send the same wrong message. Eight jobs were eliminated in the North Slave regional office. No other regional offices are seeing these types of job cuts. The offices in Yellowknife, we are told, are more efficient so they get the job cuts. Mr.

Speaker, this is wrong. We are penalizing them for being efficient. This is not fair. All regional offices have to also get the message. The message could be communicated by depleting some of their resources, but, instead, they are left relatively untouched.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement.

The Member for Yellowknife South is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Continue your statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been in this office for 11 months now and have consistently argued that necessary cuts in government programs and spending have to not only be fair, but be seen to be fair. The cuts to the seniors' fuel subsidy program and to the jobs such as the NWT Housing Corporation's regional office do not meet that standard. Why can we not promote the novel idea that all residents and all communities have to play their part in solving our financial difficulties?

My constituents, Mr. Speaker, are more than willing to play their part in assisting this government to solve their financial problems as long as it is done fairly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Henry. Members' statements. Mr. Rabesca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome all my colleagues back for the next few weeks of hard work. We have had a bit of a break from the House over the last few months however our work is never done. With the number of activities that took place in most regions this summer I am sure most of us did not get much of a rest. It was however comforting to be with friends and family.

During this session we will be dealing with many issues that are effecting us and our constituents. We must be diligent and in some cases imaginative to ensure our people are receiving the best that we can offer.

Some areas of concern I have included, community empowerment. I would like to make sure that when transfers take place, there are enough resources to provide the services effectively, not give the transfer group less and be expected to do more.

Finding a way to control bootleggers in our communities is another issue that I think needs to be addressed. It seems most accidents and crimes are committed by individuals under the influence of alcohol and in most cases this is probably brought by the local bootlegger in the community. If we want our communities to prosper we must find ways to remove this burden. As you know, Rae-Edzo residents passed a plebiscite recently, restricting the amount of alcohol allowed by a person per month. This was brought into effect on September 15, 1996 and it is still rather early to tell how it will work, but I feel if given the support by the RCMP, the Department of Justice, as well as the various organizations in Rae-Edzo this will be the first step in ridding our community of this problem.

I know there are many issues that we will be discussing over the next while and I also hope our discussion will be meaningful and productive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Rabesca. Members' statements. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to welcome everybody back to Yellowknife. My statement today is in the area of the social envelope. The social envelope, as we all know, includes the Departments of Education, Culture and Employment, Health and Social Services, Justice, and Housing.

Mr. Speaker, every year, forced growth eats up a lot of our dollars. Last year, we had to reduce the social envelope's budget by almost $40 million. What we mean by forced growth is the cost that we cannot control because of a high birth rate which relates to higher health and education costs and those related areas. This year will be no exception. We will have huge forced growth in and around $30 million to $40 million. This means that unless there is an increase in the social programs area, there will have to be more cuts. Cuts that are tougher than the ones that were made last year. We have been told that the cuts that were made were the easy ones.

Last year, the majority of the Members agreed that each department's budget would be maintained at the same percentage of their overall budget as the previous year. That meant that if Education, Culture and Employment had 15 percent of the overall budget in 1995/96, Education, Culture and Employment had to have 15 percent of the budget in 1996/97.

Mr. Speaker, we also agreed that we would not balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it. Unfortunately, because by this we were frozen at the same percentages, tough decisions had to be made in the social programs area.

Rents were increased for seniors in personal care facilities. The fossil fuel subsidy was entirely deleted for some seniors, with no consideration for higher costs of living in certain areas.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Social assistance was also lowered or income support as it is now called. We also decreased grants to organizations such as the Mental Health Association. We lowered the funds to the health boards, education boards and alcohol and drug rehabilitation centres. These are just examples.

The Minister of Education now indicates that our student/teacher ratio is now the highest in Canada. If cuts continue, we surely will be the highest in Canada. We also have the worst high school graduation rate in Canada. Now we are told that we have to close rehabilitation centres and hospitals while we have the worst rate of alcoholism and suicide.

Mr. Speaker, this government has a responsibility for the education and safety of our citizens. We cannot afford more cuts in these areas. This government must allow the budgets of the departments in the social envelope to increase in relation to other departments. I am not talking about keeping people on social assistance. I am talking about increasing the budget in the area of education and training so we can get people off of income support or social assistance. I am talking about helping our elders so that they can live independently, in dignity. I am talking about things like making sure the health of our citizens is a priority, not an afterthought to balancing the budget.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Krutko.

Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, and welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors from the gallery. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors from the gallery. Mr Erasmus.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Rosemary Cairns. Rosemary has run our elections with an iron hand, and she is a member of my constituency from Yellowknife North. She has also just come back from Bosnia to help there. I would also like to recognize Alderman Vi Beck. I would also like to recognize Doreen Baptiste, who is here from Saskatchewan. I met her when I was attending school there in Saskatoon. Also, my lovely wife Leonie, sitting with Doreen.

---Applause