Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Good morning. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' Statements. Mrs. Thompson.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to share with Members some of our more recent empowerment successes. In Mr. Krutko's riding of Mackenzie Delta, the Aklavik Aboriginal Committee has taken on the transfer of the government liaison function. With the assistance of a seconded government staff member, the Aklavik Aboriginal Committee is developing plans for further community control of programs.

Tulita, Norman Wells, Deline and the K'asho Got'ine Council in Fort Good Hope are four of the 15 communities which have taken on responsibility for the economic development function. As illustrated by the many economic development transfers, the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi, continues to be a strong supporter of increased community control over community decision-making.

In the Keewatin, all seven hamlets are working towards taking on ownership and responsibility for airport operations on April 1, 1997. This will be the first complete transfer of a program to all community governments within one region and will enable these community governments to share the costs for common specialized services. My colleague, the Honourable Jim Antoine and staff from the Department of Transportation, are working closely with Keewatin municipalities to conclude the transfer agreements.

As well, a number of Keewatin communities have expressed interest in the transfer of Public Works and Services and Housing Corporation functions. Completion of these transfers would see the integration of ownership, maintenance and management functions under the community government.

Under the direction of the Honourable Goo Arlooktoo, the consolidation of maintenance functions, through some 54 program transfers at the community level, are progressing well with the combined support of staff from Public Works and Services and the NWT Housing Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, these are only a few of the community empowerment successes. Many more communities are pursuing community empowerment opportunities. Soon I will share with Members a more detailed progress report on the community empowerment transfers completed to date. In the end, Mr. Speaker, we are giving communities what they have been asking for. We are giving responsibility of programs, services and infrastructure at the community level to communities, so they have community control to make decisions and manage their own affairs.

I look at these opportunities as a positive challenge for us all. While we work together to find solutions to outstanding empowerment issues, we must continue to work in partnership with communities to ensure community empowerment is successful. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you. Ministers' statements. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Jim Antoine will be late arriving into the House today as he is attending the official opening of the Fort Liard Community Hall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Morin. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Enuaraq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and good morning to my colleagues. I have every reason to smile this morning. I have my tooth back. Mr. Speaker, many times in this House we talk about youth. Unfortunately, we are often speaking about the problems that face them, things like alcohol and drug abuse, teen suicide, peer pressure and lack of jobs. It is easy to focus on youth with problems. I would like to remind everyone there are a lot of good, young people out there doing good things in their communities. In Broughton Island, there is a group of young people who are making a difference. They are the Youth Committee. They do many positive things

together, promoting healthy and productive life choices. They give each other support to make the right choices in their lives.

Mr. Speaker, last October, they travelled here to Yellowknife to meet with me and have new experiences. This winter they continue doing good things in the community. For example, they organized hunting trips. The food from these trips was then shared with elders and other people in the community. Mr. Speaker, with young people like those on the Youth Committee in Broughton Island, I know the future of Nunavut will be good in hands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Krutko.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of discussion about affirmative action in the GNWT hiring practices during the life of this Assembly. We are awaiting the results of the affirmative action review carried out by the government in 1995. I think we are wasting our time and energies on this policy. Despite efforts over the past 11 years, we are not much further ahead than we were in 1985, the year the Native Employment Policy was put into effect. About 30 percent of GNWT staff, at that time, were aboriginal. The latest figure, at 36 percent, shows very little improvement. Certainly nowhere close to the government's 50 percent goal.

Mr. Speaker, I believe we all want a public service that is competent and, if possible, reflective of the population it serves. The first goal of a hiring policy should be competency because the taxpayers deserve the best value for their money. Industry succeeds when it hires the brightest and best people. We should expect no less from our government. In a perfect world, our public service would be both competent and representative of the population it serves. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, we do not live in a perfect world.

Why has the affirmative action policy not worked? I believe it has not worked, nor will it ever work, as long as 60 percent in our target group have less than the grade 10 education required for entry level to most government jobs. Even now, aboriginal people are over-represented in government among those who have Grade 10 education required for government jobs.

Mr. Speaker, the only way we can increase aboriginal employment beyond the current 36 percent, and maintain competency within the public service, is to increase education levels among aboriginal people. This is not going to happen overnight. Let us be realistic. I believe the affirmative action policy is doing little to help aboriginal people meet the government's minimum hiring requirements. The problem is not that the hiring system works against aboriginal people, but rather the government, and previous ones, has assumed that aboriginal people, who have successfully worked off the land for generations, are motivated to take government jobs and assumed they will be instantly successful in making the transition to an office, administrative environment. These jobs require different skills and many aboriginal people are still gaining the skills necessary to be successful in the office environment.

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

The Member for Yellowknife South is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we have any nays? Mr. Henry, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and thank you, Members. These jobs require different skills and many aboriginal people are still gaining these skills necessary to be successful in the office environment. Instead of trying to set goals that lead to frustration and a perception of failure, let us celebrate the advances aboriginal people have made. Let us encourage them to get an education and acquire the skills necessary to be successful in government jobs and in that environment. Policies such as affirmative action cheapen the value of jobs earned on merit. Jobs earned on merit provide a sense of pride and independence.

Mr. Speaker, the Affirmative Action Policy puts aboriginal people down. It tells them they are not good enough to compete without government protection. This is totally wrong. Mr. Speaker, I believe we should scrap the Affirmative Action Policy. As northern people become more educated, they will be ready and able to compete for the jobs available. We will have a workforce representative of the general population as people gain more skills. The Affirmative Action Policy has proven it will not help us get there faster. This government, nor any other, can have on its books a policy that is as divisive and destructive as the Affirmative Action Policy has been and still is. It will continue to divide northerners as long as it remains in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by giving an overview of the evaluation of ERS services at Iqaluit Airport. Mr. Speaker, I have continually sought commitments from this government that, at the very least, this government commit to providing proper training to

the volunteer fire department in Iqaluit, to fight and respond to airport incidents and the fire department be provided with the proper equipment for these responses. Our study concludes the findings of the Avery Cooper report which may not be entirely accurate or complete for the following reasons.

Reaction of Airline Users:

The reality is air carriers may indeed have a problem with the removal of the current style of ERS, depending upon the nature and operability of alternate fire/safety arrangements made available in the future.

Airline representatives indicate that a significant change in the status of ERS services are worrisome because they will likely be a lessening in quality or speed of response -- amounting to an effective reduction in safety. Definitive statements from airline management on the evolving safety situation at Iqaluit, however, will be contingent upon complete knowledge of the specifics of alternative arrangements that might be made to cover the ERS function.

Reaction of the Military:

The military, on the other hand, consider Category 5 ERS protection available at Iqaluit as their current preferred minimum threshold for CF-18 training purposes. At FOL locations where this is not provided on an ongoing basis, they have had three options in the past: Fly in their own Category 5 foam-truck-tanker and crews prior to exercises, such as in Rankin Inlet, work with a former armed forces-owned pre-positioned truck on a co-operative basis with the local civilian airport authority, like they are doing in Inuvik, or make the decision to operate without fire ERS protection. That is only within the authority of the Winnipeg Command structure.

Later today, Mr. Speaker, I will be tabling the report from the consultant that I hired out of my constituency budget to overview and review the Avery Cooper report. I will also be asking questions to the appropriate Ministers in this House, including Mr. Todd and some of his colleagues, on providing the safety training and also the equipment. My point, Mr. Speaker, is that there is no way you can expect the department to react to instances at the airport if they do not have the proper equipment or the training. They cannot fight a fire with a water bottle. You need a foam truck at the airport. I think this is an area of safety and concern and this government has to look at it and it is necessary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Picco. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Kakfwi. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is not for my honourable colleague, the communist colleague over there who speaks Russian, Mr. Todd, as I just read in the Hansard. It is for the other good Minister we have over there. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister, Ms. Thompson, responsible for EMO, inform this House if there are monies available to help assist, train and provide equipment upgrades for the Iqaluit Volunteer Fire Department, so they can respond to emergencies at the Iqaluit airport when the ERS is phased out on the 31st of March, 1997? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In June of 1994, a three year training program was approved along with funding for the first year of 1995-96, so there is a program for training fire fighters at the community level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I realize there is training for the local fire fighters but that is stick fire fighting, which is houses, wooden structures, so on. In this case, the training I am asking for is specific, specialized training to be delivered for the airport fire fighters who have to respond to crashes and burns of airplanes, which is a separate and different type of fire than at the residential level. Can the Minister inform me if that type of training is available?

Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand what the Member is saying. We will assess the department's fire fighting training and we will deal with the problems in Iqaluit within the department and see how we can help them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.