Thank you, Mr. Steen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe that we track all the expenses within the department that might be considered the costs of division, so we could in fact provide that information. I don't have it with me today.

But I would like to point out that, by and large, the expenditures that I talked about in my opening comments were preparing or getting ready to prepare people for jobs in Nunavut, and that's as a result of knowing that there will jobs created in the civil service in Nunavut. There isn't any difference between recognizing that those jobs will be there and recognizing that there may be jobs in the mining industry and making sure that we are preparing people for jobs in mining. This one is a difficult one to say that it would be any different than any other expenditure. We see an opportunity for people in the North to get a job in a certain area, so we work to make sure that our employment training is geared towards that end.

The other cost would be, our department has helped coordinate the Inuit employment plans for other departments, but there would not be significant costs there. The other departments would probably have had more costs for their share of preparing those plans than the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you, Madam hair.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Any further general comments, Mr. Steen?

Madam Chair, I have questions. I am not making general comments right now. I have questions for the Minister as to whether or not he could identify the costs in his budget that relate directly to division or to preparations for Nunavut, which this government has been working towards. I believe, Madam Chair, that it's a good program we are doing, and I think it's good that we are working towards preparing for Nunavut, but it's one thing to say you're doing it, but it's another thing to identify the amount of expenditures that you are actually making towards the goal. That is basically what I am trying to get at. Can we identify the amount of money or expenditures that we are making towards accomplishing the goal of preparing for Nunavut in 1999?

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. In this budget, I could not identify that number for Mr. Steen. I can offer to provide Mr. Steen with a listing of the departmental staff time and dollars spent historically on that, because we do track it as it takes place, but in terms of what is in this budget, I can't separate that out, no.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Steen.

Madam Chair, so if someone from the public was to ask me how much we are spending towards preparing for Nunavut in the education budget, I would not be able to answer it because the Minister cannot give me a figure. Do I understand that correctly?

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If somebody were to ask what is in here in terms of the cost for division, I can't answer that question, but I can say that what we have in this budget for Education, Culture and Employment is very, very little in terms of the extra costs for division. For instance, the acting deputy minister, when he was assistant deputy minister last summer, was given the extra duty of being responsible for the schools in Nunavut. Mr. Cleveland, in his position of assistant deputy minister, was given responsibility for schools in the western part of the Territory. We did not identify incremental funding to move Mr. Colbourne's office into Nunavut because we didn't have those incremental funds. There has been very little in incremental funding that has been spent by this department for the creation of Nunavut. What we are doing mostly involves identifying the potential for jobs in the Nunavut region, being in the civil service and making sure that the money we are spending for employment training -- which we would be spending anyway for employment training -- in that region is targeted for making sure that people are trained to work in the civil service because that's where we see the best opportunity for jobs coming up in the near term.

As I said, I could provide to the Member what we have spent in past years as incremental funding, because the department staff have been asked to keep track of their time and expenditures where they relate, on an incremental basis, to the cost of division. I think the Member would find that it has been very limited to date. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I have a community that's involved in the Nunavut area -- Holman Island -and they're listed under the Keewatin education board. I'm wondering what the Minister plans to do about preparing these people for division. At which point in time will they be shown in the western education boards, probably the Inuvik education board? Is there such a plan in place? Have you been meeting with the community or do you plan to meet with the community on that?

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we have not had any indication from the community that they would like to switch in the near future from one board to another. At the present time, we understand that they prefer dealing with the Kitikmeot board. Once the new Education Act is in place, it allows for significantly more local control. In the near future, after that act comes into place, the department will contact the community and discuss where they want to go in the next few years and how they want our assistance to get there. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand that it's a certificate that would allow them to be adult educators in college facilities throughout the Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Mr. Dent.

Could I ask for some clarification on that question, Madam Chair?

Mr. Erasmus.