Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statement. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, yesterday many of us welcomed in the gallery women from our ridings here in Yellowknife for a developmental conference. These women are on the front lines of working with child abuse, spousal assault and family breakdowns. Mr. Speaker, this is a very stressful work place at the best of times. Many of these women are working with few resources and our government, because of the fiscal climate, has had a hard time coming up with money to support professional development, training and resources for these workers and shelters.

Mr. Speaker, there are many people who believe these women are somehow responsible at times for accelerated family break-ups. Sometimes, the shelters are seen as foreign institutions. Mr. Speaker, I do not agree with that assessment. Last night, Mr. Erasmus and I visited the women at their open house. It was a short but very informative visit. We talked a little about their jobs and the fiscal situation and funding difficulties. Having been here since the 15th of January and venturing very little from the Legislature to home, we get caught up in government, budgets, cameras and legislation. Last night, after meeting with the ladies, it reminded me again why I ran for an election and what I had hoped to accomplish. I thank them for that.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the women for their kind invitation. I am sure that my colleagues here will join me in wishing them a very constructive session and informative meeting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Picco. Members' statements, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce the official opening of the Arviat Business Training Centre. The training centre is a result of a co-operative partnership entered into by the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Sakku Investments and the hamlet of Arviat. The centre is located in the former office of the Renewable Resources Building. It was purchased by the hamlet and now accommodates a

classroom, office space and will accommodate up to 14 students.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the hamlet of Arviat for its vision and enthusiasm in developing this northern training program that will prove beneficial to all the communities in Nunavut. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. O'Brien. Members' statements. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? No nays. Mr. Krutko, conclude your statement. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is on legal training in the Northwest Territories. Today, the court workers in the NWT do not have proper formal training. Usually the worker is a community person who gets trained through workshops and on-the-job training. This is not fair to the worker, particularly the worker who is alone in a community without a lawyer to consult whenever he or she wants. We require a method whereby all our court workers have a standard minimum training. Additionally, the GNWT is aggressively promoting community justices. Unfortunately, there is an acute shortage of community people with academic legal training. There are very few northern aboriginal lawyers and no aboriginal judges. There are aboriginal JPs but few of them have much legal training. I propose we initiate a one-year certificate and a two-year diploma program for legal assistants. All court workers will be required to take the certificate program. The program would have upgrading for six to 12 months for those who require academic preparation. That is because some of the people in the course may not be high school graduates and those out of school for a long time may require a refresher to get use to being in school again. This method has been used successfully in the community teacher education programs as well as the nursing program run by Aurora College. The program should be associated with our university so that it can be categorized as post-secondary education. This will mean that people could get student financial assistance. Also, people who finish this could be eligible to get directly into law school. The communities currently have training funding available for the next two years through a federal program called Pathways. The program could be funded through a combination of Pathways and GNWT dollars. For instance, student financial assistance could be used for allowances and Department of Education and the communities, through Pathways, could fund running the courses. Because of that, you would accept aboriginal people first, then non-aboriginal peoples if there was room. The result, you would have court workers with a minimum one-year academic legal training, communities with legally trained people to propel the community justice program, aboriginal JPs with legal training leading to aboriginal lawyers and finally, aboriginal judges. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the last 18 months the people of the Northwest Territories have contributed to resolving this government's financial predicament. Employees have had pay and benefits cut, a significant number of people have been laid off and programs and facilities have been reduced and cut. Mr. Speaker, last May, I raised the possibility with the Minister of Finance, regarding giving discount rates at hotels, travel agencies and similar businesses to all residents of the NWT, in recognition of their sacrifices in achieving a balanced budget. Upon presentation of a valid NWT driver's licence or health care card at participating businesses, a person would receive a discount. The discount would be similar to reduced rates offered to GNWT employees, such as reduced rates at travel agencies, hotels and car rental agencies. Using identification cards issued regularly by this government means this program would not result in any additional costs. Presently, our government has standing orders with hotels and car rental agencies, so it would be relatively straightforward to advise these businesses to accept the card at their establishments.

Mr. Speaker, this arrangement would not discourage travel in the north or give an unfair advantage to southern destinations. Northern businesses may also attract more customers by accepting these cards. The discounts would give a well-deserved break to all NWT residents faced with the double burden of the higher cost of living than the rest of Canada and, in tough financial times, this action could potentially save money for the government, since higher volume of hotel and car rental services could mean better rates offered to our government.

Mr. Speaker, this action would provide people of the NWT with a small, but well-deserved break at no expense to the government. I will be asking the Minister of Finance for some comments on this statement later on in question period. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Henry. Members' statements. The honourable Member for the High Arctic, Mr. Barnabas.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to support new businesses, in particular, the small businesses that are in the smaller communities. As they start to establish their own small businesses, they often have no place to turn to and, even if they get their supplies from the north, this continues to be higher because their businesses are smaller than other larger businesses. As well, the government has to give more support to the smaller businesses by way of having funding available to them. Regarding the government offices in communities, they have to do more to help the smaller businesses in those communities that run their own businesses. Regarding contracts, when they bid for certain contracts, because they are running on a smaller scale, they often are not given contracts. I will be asking a question regarding this later on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

Thank you, Mr. Barnabas. Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Rabesca. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Upon reviewing the background information regarding the Housing Corporation's new initiative, Plan 2000, I feel it is only a start in providing affordable housing to those that are in need. However, Mr. Speaker, there are many positive aspects to Plan 2000. I do have some concerns about this program and feel it is necessary to address them. On a positive note, I believe this will be a much better program than is currently in place for those that are able to access this. It will allow this government to use its dollars more wisely and will also free up dollars that are currently targeted for housing to be used elsewhere. Getting the financial institutions involved in the smaller communities has been a need for many years. Until recently, it has been impossible to get a financial institution to venture into this area. There are numerous residents that could afford to purchase a unit but, because no lending institution would consider mortgages in small communities, it is not a reality. This program should provide for this. I believe this program would also encourage families to seek better employment as they will not be penalized for extra income earned as it is with today's rental scales program. This new housing program may allow three or four times as many units to be constructed than is currently done which will increase construction and employment throughout the north. It will also free up other units that will be able to be used for many more residents that currently do not have suitable housing.

Mr. Speaker, the potential benefits will be long-reaching for this government and for the residents in all communities, which is very good for those who will be able to access it and for those who will also be able to move into newly-vacated rental units, where they presently have none. However, I feel that this program does not go far enough to address the area of low income families, single parents or the elderly. It seems that many low income families, single parents and elderly may be destined to live in rental units for the rest of their lives. It appears to me those that have will benefit and those that have not will never progress in their housing situation.

Mr. Rabesca.

Mr. Speaker, may I have unanimous consent to conclude my statement, please?

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Rabesca, you have unanimous consent to conclude your statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We must find solutions for the poorer citizens. I would remind everyone that both our Premier and Finance Minister have stated on a number of occasions that we, as a government will not solve

our deficit problems on the backs of the poor. They deserve to have even stronger efforts on our part. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Rabesca. Members' statements. Item 4, return to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mrs. Groenewegen.