Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The renovation of the existing building in the past has proven to be very expensive in the end. The people of Gjoa Haven have been requesting the new centre to be built in that community. Will the honourable Minister seriously look at the possibility of building a new health centre instead of renovating the old one? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated to the honourable Member, I am aware of the concern and the issue within his riding. I will commit to working with the Member and the community to try to reach a satisfactory solution to the problem. Thank you.

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

Thank you. Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the UNW will be sending out their notice to the Members about the arrangements they are going to vote on. Hopefully, we will get a response in the next five or six weeks.

On the NWTTA, we were in discussions with them with respect to their agreement. My understanding is discussions will be resuming later on, in two weeks' time. At that time, hopefully, we will be able to reach a satisfactory agreement so that we can move forward in asking the teachers to ratify whatever bargaining takes place and whatever agreements are reached. So discussions are going to be under way in two weeks.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Finance. Recently, the GNWT has withdrawn their commitment of $400,000 to the Arctic co-ops to assist them in setting up credit unions. Mr. Speaker, this money had to be reallocated because of the sunset clause in the EDA agreement. Has the Minister of Finance identified another source of funds to continue this commitment?

Thank you. Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that question should be addressed to the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. That is where the original funding was coming from under the EDA. I would be unable, at this time, to respond to my colleague in any detailed way. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Brien, do you want to redirect the question?

Mr. Speaker, is it appropriate to redirect the question to the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism?

The Minister is not in the House. Would the Premier like to respond to the question?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take that question as notice and pass it on to the Minister. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Miltenberger.

Facilities

Minister of Justice, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to close them all, if we could, but I guess that isn't a possibility. Given the circumstances of the overcrowding in our correctional institutes and the need for the facilities that we currently operate, there are no definite plans to close any of the facilities in this current fiscal year. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct this question to the Premier. One of this government's principles when issuing contracts is that the contract opportunities should contribute to the goal of creating and maintaining self-sustaining business enterprises. Opportunities for northern residents to benefit from public dollars spent in the North should be maximized. I understand that sole-source contracts are awarded where the government's requirement is considered to be urgent or where only one party could possibly meet the demands of the contractor. The onus is on the government to prove that the above criteria are met when spending public money on sole-source contracts. Can the Premier explain how this government's sole-source contract policy embraces this principle? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sole-source contracts carried out by the Government of the Northwest Territories usually benefit businesses, that I know of, that are in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.