Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow up to Mr. Henry's Member's statement and subsequent questions regarding special needs students and the delivery of education services to those students, the timing of his statement and questions are interesting, as just today I received another call from a parent in Hay River who has a son who is experiencing difficulty in the school system but is included in the mainstream, as they call it. The frustration that people experience when you get a child who is getting up into the teen years and is delayed in several areas and all the reports are in hand from various institutions from pathologists and everything else, but there is no one in special needs services available in the school due to lack of funding. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Perhaps he could give me, as an MLA, some advice in how I should respond to such calls from parents. The Minister himself said that children in the north deserve the level of service that is mandated in the Act, and I fully agree with him. But I do not know what to tell parents when they are in this situation. Your mind goes to volunteers. You do not know how to answer. Here is an example of a child who is not receiving an education suited to his special needs and will be growing up and going into society without a proper education. How do I respond to this kind of request?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in that situation, the parent should first of all work directly with the Divisional Education Council through the DEA because the Act is quite explicit. The councils have responsibility for ensuring an educational program for all students in the schools. The department funds the councils to provide those services. If a parent believes that the needs are not being met, they should contact the DEC through their DEA directly to discuss their concerns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a new Member to this House, I have not seen a lot of Ordinary Members to emulate when it comes to the fine art of asking supplementary questions. This will be my final question. I was very impressed with this parent's effort that she made on her own prior to calling me. She listed at least six agencies that she had already called including federal programs, social services, pathways, and the Department of Education, Cultural and Employment. She listed off at least six agencies that she had already written to and had provided a portfolio with information regarding her son's difficulties and felt that this was her last resort. So, I do thank you for the advice to go through the Educational Council and the DEA, but I am sure that you well know that the answer is going to be that the resources are already spread very thin. I know that to add to the funding available in this area would have taken away from some place else. I would be prepared to look at the budget and see where we could put more money into special needs. Does the Minister feel that there are other areas in education spending right now that could be redirected to this ever growing area of special needs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my answer to Mr. Henry, the department feels that the allocation among the formula right now in terms of how funds are decided and divided up to the DECs represents the best balance given the needs that are present in our society. It is something that we review on a regular basis. As I indicated earlier, the amount of funding within the formula which the department sees as allocated to special needs has increased in the past two or three years annually. If we see the need increase, we would continue to do that. What that results in, of course, is a higher pupil/teacher ratio and decreased support for bussing. Those are areas where the department has said there needs to be a rebalancing. I think that from the monies that we have, given the targets that are set for the department in the budget by this Legislature, the allocation reflects the

best mix. However, it is something that we do monitor and if necessary, that mix can be changed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Renewable Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. It is in regard to the status of the Mackenzie Basin Agreement. Would the Minister indicate whether all the signatories have signed off and what the plan is in terms of implementation? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Water Master Agreement was worked on for over ten years. Finally this summer, all the parties moved to sign the agreement, with B.C. and Yukon being the final signatures to put their names to the agreement.

Since then, there has been some work done to look for board members to have those nominated and a small secretariat being established. There has been some work done to get this board set up with a secretariat established. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister anticipate when the board will be functional?

Mr. Speaker, I know that in the claims agreements, it sometimes takes years for boards to become fully functional. In this case we have quite a number of jurisdictions; Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, as well as ourselves and the federal government involved in this. So there is a sincere intent for all parties to come forward with their nominees and representatives as soon as possible.

I would expect on the outside to be able to say with some certainty when a fully functional board would be set-up. I would suspect that most of the parties would suggest that the location of the office of such a board will probably be left to the prerogative of that board when they become fully functional.