Thank you, Mr. Ningark. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Dent.

Ministers' statements. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise the Members that the Honourable Kelvin Ng will be absent from the House today and Wednesday to attend the Council on Social Policy Renewal as well as meetings of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Social Services in Toronto. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Enuaraq.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon, Members. I wish well to my family back home in Clyde River. Mr. Speaker, I will speak about an issue that I have talked about earlier. It is with regards to Clyde River. The population in Clyde River continues to increase, and up to today, they do not have a hockey arena. I have brought this issue up before to the appropriate Minister. I was requesting a hockey arena be established in Clyde River. Today, I will be asking a question under question period. I will be directing my question to the Minister of MACA, Municipal and Community Affairs, with regards to this arena. I will be asking the honourable Minister with regards as to what they have done for my request. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.(Translation ends)

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to comment on a report that I heard on CBC radio last evening. It was on a comment made by Mr. Todd, the Minister of Finance, regarding the budget. Mr. Todd stated that he did not see much opposition to the budget because, and I quote, "because Members had a hand in it". This statement is accurate, Mr. Speaker, but I would like to explain it a little further, as I am sure that the Minister of Finance would have done if he had a little more time.

Each of the departments sponsored by their Minister brings forward the budget for presentation of their department to the Ordinary Members' committees. A few weeks later, the same Minister with his officials will bring back a draft budget. At both of those times, Ordinary Members do have input into that document. The document is prepared, so mostly the committees are responding to what to has been presented by the departments and the Minister. I am not suggesting that Ordinary Members did not have a hand in the budget, nor am I suggesting that this budget may have a lot of opposition in the House, I think that there will be some areas as we are working through that will be contentious, but I think it is fair to say that if the Minister felt that all Ordinary Members had a hand in it, it is like me inferring that I am draining Great Slave Lake because I took a bucket of water out of it last year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Order. Mr. Ootes. Your point of order, Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member, Mr. Ootes, for Yellowknife Centre, is deliberately misleading this House and the public with his previous statement that we, as a government hire the bulk of our senior management from the south. I would ask him to withdraw that statement. Thank you.

Thank you. On the point of order of the Premier. The Premier does not have a point of order. He does have a point of debate, but I do not think that Mr. Ootes' intention was to mislead the House. I would like Mr. Ootes to conclude his statement, if there is no other point of order. Mr. Ootes.

The Member for Yellowknife Centre is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we

have any nays? There are no nays. You have unanimous consent.

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

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have had a long history of mining in our country. In most parts the mining companies have cleaned their sites, leaving little or no harmful products behind. I do, however, know of one mining site, a short distance from Rae, that has taken over three decades to get cleaned. This mine is the Rae Rock Mine. In the late 1950s and early 1960s this mine operated. Of course in those days there was little known about the contaminates and effect they have on people and wildlife that go near. Since the closure of this mine, there have been many residents that have passed on due to cancer, which some say is a direct result of these people working at the uranium mine at Rae Rock.

Studies were made, but no clear identifier showed that this was the case. Over the years, my people have lobbied strong and hard to get the company or the government to clean the site and finally, within the last couple of years this mine site has been cleaned. This of course is good, however, how many people and wildlife have died over the years as a result of tailing ponds being unprotected, which allowed animals to drink from there.

Now today we have another mine that may be on the verge of closing, that being the Colomac Mine operated by Royal Oak. My concern, as well as a number of my constituents, is that if this mine closes what will become of the tailings ponds. How can we assure my people that no harm will come from hunting caribou that have travelled past this site and have eaten and watered from this area?

It is my hope that we do not have to wait another 30 years for any and all dangerous goods to be cleaned from this site. The clean up must take place, as part of the parcel of this mine shut down and our government must monitor and ensure that this takes place. At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister responsible regarding this important issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will give my budget address later today. At this time, I want to talk of strategies. Mr. Speaker, a goal without a strategy is just a slogan. On April 1, 1999, do we want to become known as a slogan driven government? All the buzz words of slogan driven agendas are there. We have a common agenda, a common plan. My children, and your children, and the one that creeps up in every discussion, with the board collective in the house at the end of the day. The point here, Mr. Speaker, is our revenue has been reduced, and we seem to be void of other areas of revenue generation outside the doom and gloom of new taxes or tax increases. We have not addressed new social housing issues, or a comprehensive job strategy.

But in fairness, it has been a rough 15 months. Mr. Speaker, the mandate of the 13th Assembly has been fraught with less federal funding, looming division, a forced growth rate in the social envelope that is driving the majority of our expenditures. It is not a time, Mr. Speaker, to begin to sit down as an Assembly and ask the residents, the constituency of the Northwest Territories, where the focus for the last 700-odd days of this government are headed before division.

We will have to evaluate the down sizing, reductions, and lay offs, the program cuts, and elimination of jobs and services. The full impact on the pace and direction of our community empowerment and our hiring policies. Then, and only then, can we plan for a course of action leading up to April 1 division and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to raising these and other issues during the main estimate debates of the particular departments in the committee of the whole over the next few weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement is on the recent appointments of southerners to high profile jobs, and in particular, on the recent job offer for assistant deputy minister to head the community empowerment initiative.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Mr. Miltenberger said he was appalled that a southerner had been offered this position. I, too, am appalled. I am appalled, shocked, dismayed, and ashamed. Yes, ashamed. Ashamed to be part of a government that would make a job offer of assistant deputy minister in charge of community empowerment to a southern person with no northern experience whatsoever.

Mr. Speaker, no doubt the person is a good worker, he has a good resume, and all the rest of that, but in this past year alone, we have laid off over 200 people in Yellowknife, and somewhere in the vicinity of 400 in the Northwest Territories. The Premier and the Finance Minister have indicated that we still have an affirmative action policy, but the Minister of MACA does not want to indicate that our department follows this mythical policy. This indicates to me that this mythical policy does not seem to apply to Cabinet. A Cabinet that is supposed to lead by example. What kind of example is Cabinet setting when, in the last year, they have hired three out of five high profile positions, they have hired people from the south. Mr. Speaker, the community people are already sceptical about community empowerment. I would have thought that they would have found a friendly, honest, respected face. No, we get a southerner with no northern experience to lead the charge on community empowerment. What will the community leaders think, when this person comes to consult with them, when he does not even know what Treaty 8 is, or the South Slave Region?

-- Applause

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. You have unanimous consent, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does this government still have an affirmative action policy? If we do, does this affirmative action policy apply to cabinet? Apparently not. The Minister of MACA would not answer yesterday when I asked if MACA follows the policy. Now, for this assistant deputy minister position, it should not have even been advertised in the south, never mind hire a southerner. Talk about kicking a person while he is down. You hire a

southerner, and they have absolutely no northern experience whatsoever. I would suggest that if the interviewers were not happy with the northern applicants, they should have re-advertised the position. This has been done many times. I would like to know why this was not done in this instance. Mr. Speaker, in the words of a well known, beloved, benevolent benefactor, who is all things for all people in all areas of the NWT, why, why, why?

The only word that comes to mind is arrogance, Mr. Speaker. Yes, arrogance, and I cannot understand the arrogance of this cabinet, and I cannot condone it. The job offer for this assistant deputy minister position should never have been made, and I am asking the Minister to revoke it. Thank you.

-- Applause

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

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member's statement earlier, I will be asking the Minister of MACA regarding an arena for Clyde River. I would like to ask the Minister, the Honourable Manitok Thompson, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, I would like to ask her what her staff have planned for the arena in Clyde River. Thank you. (Translation ends)

The Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms Thompson.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regarding the arena in Clyde River, it has not changed as planned in 1995 and 1996. We consulted with the community and there have been no changes to this point. In 1997-98, drafting will be done, in 1998, the construction will begin in Clyde River and in 1999, it will be completed. (Translation ends)

Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Baffin, we enjoy the services of a regional librarian. This person supports the four community libraries in the region, along with running the library in Iqaluit. The regional librarian provides a variety of services including training, developing a Nunavut collection, oral services for residents living outside of Iqaluit, and also building up a very useful resource materials of Inuktitut going back several decades. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Careers, confirm that the regional librarian position is proposed to be cut in 1997-98 budget, next year.

The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Dent.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is a major concern in the Baffin region, especially in my community, about the loss of this position. I understand that with the proposal on the table, is that the people now in the Baffin will have to request/borrow books from the NWT head office of the library service in Hay River. That is where the headquarters for the library service is located. Can the Minister confirm that for me?

Mr. Dent.

Oral question. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what does that mean that it is going to be hooked up to the Internet? Does that mean electronic service? What I am saying is, if the book right now is available in Iqaluit, is based in the Iqaluit regional library. It is mailed from Iqaluit to Pond, to Pang, to Dorset. If there is no regional librarian in Iqaluit, does that mean that the library service has to pay to ship the book from Hay River to Iqaluit, or ship it from Hay River to Pond Inlet, at what cost? The principle of the library service, Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories according to the Act is that we would provide a free library service to the people of the Northwest Territories. Who will pay for this, and where is the money coming from?

Mr. Dent.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess there was three answers in those three questions in the one. I will not get into a debate with it. Part of my earlier preamble when I talked about the importance of the work going on by the community librarian, one of those things is to work for the creation of the new territory of Nunavut, which means that the only qualified professional librarian in all of Nunavut is located in Iqaluit. We are laying that person off. Mr. Dent had a great speech about literacy earlier today on the World Wide Web. I wonder, can Mr. Dent tell me who is going develop the collection and maintain the collection of Inuktitut materials, now presently available in the Iqaluit regional library which is maintained by the regional librarian, who is now not going to be there at the end of three months. Who will be doing that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Dent.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Barnabas.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask a question to Honourable Charles Dent (Translation ends) on behalf of our mandate as an Assembly, trying to deal with the legacy of debt that we inherited. We have looked at cutting costs and providing more efficient services. We have also spent time gearing up for division. With this in mind, Mr. Speaker, it is not clear how replacing regional librarians in the east with the support services from the west and technology will be either cost effective or supportive of preparing for division. My question to the Minister, Mr. Speaker, has the Minister done a cost analysis of the additional costs to provide both technological and staff support to both Baffin and Keewatin from Hay River? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Education, Culture, and Employment. Mr. Dent.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Barnabas.

Has he looked at the increased cost in telephones, mailings, travel for training of the new community library staff and increased staff demands? Hay River staff are not familiar with the needs of the culture of the people in these regions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Dent.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Barnabas.

There is an indication that the regional librarians are no longer needed, because part of their function will be taken over by technology. Has the Minister done cost estimate of the hardware and software cost necessary to make this reality? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Dent.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Barnabas. Your final supplementary.

As I mentioned in my initial question, we have been preparing for division. In most departments there is a talk about establishing an eastern presence so that the transition in 1999 will be smoother. The elimination of the regional librarians seems to eliminate the possible presence of the core library staff in Nunavut. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain why he is making these reductions which seem contrary to the approach the government is taking on division? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Dent

Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, earlier this fall I received written notice from Mr. Joe Hanley of the Housing Corporation that the Housing Corporation suboffice in Rankin Inlet would be closed, and positions moved to the regional office in Arviat on March 31, 1997. Subsequent to that notice, I was advised in the Assembly by the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, that the relocation suboffice had been placed on hold pending the outcome of the amalgamation of Housing Corporation, Transportation, Public Works and Services. Mr. Speaker, in light of the decision last week in this Assembly not to proceed with the amalgamation, can the Minister confirm when this transfer will take place? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Mr. Speaker. It is true that we had put any changes on hold for the time being. One of the recommendations that we did agree with government operation was to continue to look for areas where we could improve efficiencies, lower costs, et cetera. That is the area that we need to continually be working on, and it is an area that I am spending some time looking at. We are in the process of doing that, reviewing the way we run these offices. I do plan to make a plan available for Cabinet to review within the next few months.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if I heard the Minister say that he would be reviewing this again, and it would take another few months. Was that his comment?

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Mr. Speaker. The amalgamation, as I repeated, has been put on hold, but I did say that we agreed with the government operations committee recommendation that we continue to look for efficiencies. We

are doing that. We are also reviewing how the community empowerment initiative will effect the operations of district offices in these communities. So, we will be coming up with answers shortly.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I find the Minister's answer somewhat frustrating. I assume that when I had written confirmation that the positions would be transferred that his department would be true to their word. We were then further told that because of the amalgamation that we would have to wait until the outcome. We now know the outcome. The Minister is now saying that he has maybe changed his mind, and there is a further delay. There was no delay when they transferred five positions out of Baker Lake to Rankin. No delay, without any consultation with myself, nor the community. I would suggest to the Minister that he should look at the documentation that was sent out to myself where he confirmed that the positions would be transferred to Arviat. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Mr. Speaker, we are working in an environment of rapid change of preparing for division, less money for departments and less flexibility in what we can do. I do understand the Member's concern about trying to maintain jobs in his community. However, at this time, I cannot give any comfort in saying that I will not do one thing or another.

Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent. I believe there are two questions there.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Krutko. I have reminded the Members, in my ruling today, that I will allow the preamble to a question and then three additional questions. What I will not allow is Members to continue to make the same preamble every time they ask the same question. I will allow Members to give a preamble to their question and then questions relating to that preamble. Now, can I get some Members' cooperation to that regard, please? Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Dent.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Dent.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Rabesca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today in my Member's statement, I mentioned the possibility of the Colomac Mine closing its operation. With this in mind, I would like to ask the Minister for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, if his department is monitoring the tailings ponds at the Colomac mine?

Mr. Premier, would you like to respond.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take that question as notice. Thank you.

The question is taken as notice. Oral questions. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. In regards to rules, I would like to ask the Member are those comments he made himself, or are those comments made by the media?

A Minister cannot confirm what has been said by the media about the 11 percent, but I do believe it is in the Minister's knowledge, the second part of your question. I will allow it. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think what my honourable colleague is alluding to is the editorial comment that was made on the budget, and I believe some people independent of government may have given their analysis of the budget and the projected cuts that we have placed in there. Any reference to percentages have no bearing on the position of the FMBS. It was probably an independent group of people doing their thing based upon the fact that we brought the budget forward yesterday. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize, and my honourable colleague has raised this on a number of occasions, the need for fairness and equity. In fact, I believe another Member asked it yesterday and others. We are very cognisant of the fact that my honourable colleague from Inuvik is under, understandably, a considerable amount of pressure because of what is taking place in his riding. As others are, myself included. We did provide the layoffs, et cetera. I am prepared to prepare a full analysis, if you want, of where the cuts have taken place both in capital, O & M and in the PYs, to reassure everybody that, as I said in the budget yesterday, we did try to transcend any particular constituency and ensure that there was a sense of fairness and equity.

The reality is that budget rate cuts have come from those who have the most. Regional centres like Rankin Inlet, like Iqaluit, and Inuvik have had to take their fair share of the hits. I understand where my honourable colleague is coming from. I will provide him with the information that will hopefully reassure him that his area of concern is addressed as quickly as I can, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government is on record and has been on record in the past as always supporting northern hire. We have already made a commitment to Members of this Legislative Assembly on the review of the affirmative action policy. I believe that is going to be brought forward during this session, so Members can debate that issue in this House and set the principles for recreating ... the affirmative action policy. Thank you.