Thank you, Mr. Ningark. Good afternoon. Orders of the day, Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Members' statements. Mr. Arlooktoo.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure and pride to inform Members that a long overdue issue will be finally dealt with this month in Cape Dorset. On March 14, 1997, I will be travelling to Cape Dorset along with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Sam Gargan, and the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, Her Honour Helen Maksagak, to pay special tribute to the great artists from Cape Dorset who designed and build the Mace.

Mr. Speaker, the project began in Cape Dorset on July 15, 1955, under the supervision of the well-known artist, Mr. James Houston. There were a total of nine Inuit artists involved in the project and they completed the task in just 21 days. The Governor General then presented it in Ottawa to the Legislative Assembly in 1956.

Mr. Speaker, four of the original artists are still living today. Oshawetuk Ipeelie, Lutka Qiatsuk, Kovianaktuliak Parr, Ashevak Ezekiel. Unfortunately, the remaining artists have passed away. They were: Peter Pitseolak, Nungoshuitok, Qavaroak Tunnillie, Moses Tauki and Kovianatuliak Ottokie.

At a special community gathering on Saturday, March 15th, we will be making special presentations to the carvers themselves or a direct descendant who has been chosen by the family to receive the presentation.

In addition, we will also pay a special tribute to Mrs. Oodlooreak Manning, who donated her prized copper kettle to be modified into the crown when the native copper originally planned for use proved too brittle. Her kettle was eventually replaced by the Governor General.

Mr. Speaker, the original Mace is too valuable a treasure to risk in a journey over 1,000 kilometres to Cape Dorset. However, we will bring the exact replica, which is the one brought into this House each time we start sitting. I am sure that the carvers, their families, and the people of Cape Dorset will get great pleasure from seeing this exact replica of their artistry.

I would ask all Members to join me in congratulating and thanking the people of Cape Dorset for this outstanding contribution to the legacy of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

-- Applause

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

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

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some sad news to share with you. Last night, in Igloolik, a person had passed away. This person is a 50 year old person and she has done a lot as a community leader. As well, she has been a member of the Anglican Church. She passed away last night. I would like to send my condolences to the family and we will be with you in our prayers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

Thank you, Mr. Evaloarjuk. Members' statements. Mr. Enuaraq.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon, Members. Today I want to talk about contracting within the Nunavut communities. In the Nunavut communities, under Article 24 of the Nunavut Final Agreement, it states that anyone who is an aboriginal person can apply to have a contract under certain companies or under a certain contract or bid for a contract. In this case, the people of Nunavut can bid for contracts. Today I want to talk about Inuit from my riding, how a construction company in one of my communities has been requesting to do a contract to build an adult education unit in Clyde River. They have been given help from the hamlet of Clyde River and, as well, I have given my assistance as their Member of the Legislative Assembly. I have given them my support. During question period, I will be asking a question to the Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, the honourable Minister Goo Arlooktoo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends.)

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Krutko.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you may recall, last week during our sitting I asked the honourable Minister responsible for the Department of RWED why there was increased hunting traffic on the winter road that goes to Colomac mines. I believe the Minister did not truly understand what I was asking. My reasoning behind this statement is the fact that today in the morning news, I heard our Grand Chief, Joe Rabesca, talking about the amount of caribou meat that has been left behind by various hunters. Mr. Speaker, as I stated previously, my region was hoping to work closely with the department to ensure there was adequate monitoring taking place. If hunters left meat behind, these individuals should be charged. Unfortunately, it seems that this has not happened.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated previously, the Dogrib Rae Band hired one of its own members to provide monitoring, as the Department of RWED is short staff in Rae-Edzo and could not perform an adequate job. There was also mention that the department's office in Yellowknife would occasionally assist the Rae Band Councils in monitoring. Mr. Speaker, it seems to me the department is not living up to the mandate by not enforcing their rules on hunting wildlife. I do not see why a hunter would go out to hunt caribou and take only a small portion of the animal. This is a total waste of a valuable resource and people should respect the resources. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, an incident came to my attention during the latter part of February, concerning a couple from Arviat who lost their first born baby during the RSV outbreak last year. This couple is looking forward to the birth of their second child. However, the baby will have to be born in Winnipeg as it has potential medical problems. Due to the recent cutbacks for non-medical escorts, the father wrote me, worried that he would not be able or allowed to escort his wife to the hospital and be there to support her during the child's surgery that will be required at a later date. Mr. Speaker, I wrote to the Keewatin Health Board and a copy of my letter went to Minister Ng. I am pleased to report that the health board did agree to allow the father to travel with the wife and stay there for the birth of the child. Mr. Speaker, we certainly appreciate the efforts of the Minister and his department and also the board in allowing this escort. Unfortunately, there are other situations that we are faced with other people in the community, elders where they are not allowed or do not meet the criteria in order to travel with their family members. Mr. Speaker, I will be addressing this issue further with the Minister during question period.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a little calendar in the lobby of the Assembly counting down the days before division. Mr. Speaker, every Member of this House wants division to proceed smoothly and on course. When the agreement was signed finally giving a date for division, it seemed like a long time off. Now as the days quickly go by, Nunavut and the new western territory are becoming closer to reality. Mr. Speaker, there will and have been bumps on the road proceeding to and after division. The fiscal framework, infrastructure, jobs and the actual makeup of the new governments themselves are causing much concern and debate. Constitution issues, as well as the appointment of the interim commissioner, are high on this agenda. In Nunavut, the appointment of the interim commissioner will be part of the final piece of the puzzle. The federal delay of this

appointment has caused much concern as the timeline towards Nunavut gets shorter. Mr. Speaker, every day we hear that the appointment is imminent. I would again ask this government in very strong language to communicate again with our partner, the federal government, to press on them to have the appointment made as expediently and expeditiously as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is about daytime headlights. Mr. Speaker, last year this Assembly passed a headlights bill, which made it mandatory to have headlights on at all times on our highways. During the winter, not much was said because we have so much darkness. Now that we are getting more light every day and some police officials are starting to enforce the law, there are some people starting to complain. I just wanted to remind everyone why it is important to have headlights on during the day. Studies show that having headlights on reduces accidents. A Saskatchewan study showed 24 percent less accidents concerning pedestrians where daytime running lights were made mandatory. This means that one out of four accidents with pedestrians were averted. Similarly in Saskatchewan from 1982 to 1989, two vehicle crashes in the daytime were reduced by 28 percent after they introduced daytime running lights. In Finland, the use of daytime running lights in rural areas reduced daytime collisions by 27 percent. In Sweden, the use of daytime running lights reduced daytime collisions by 11 percent.

Mr. Speaker, if a vehicle has its lights on, it is easier to notice that vehicle in your side vision. It is particularly helpful for children and elderly people when they are trying to cross the streets. Currently, they have problems discerning how far away vehicles are and having headlights on helps them to tell if it is safe to cross or not. At this time of the year, cool temperatures bring blinding sunlight and increases your chances of seeing a vehicle coming at you in the sunlight if that vehicle has its lights on. Mr. Speaker, I know that it can be an effort for those who do not have automatic lights, but I also believe that it is worth it if it helps even one person from having an accident. Thank you.

-- Applause

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

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on access roads, especially for the smaller communities. It is very important to have access roads in the smaller communities, especially for the visitors, for hunting purposes, for tourists and also to go hunting and get to your boats and your vehicles. As a government, we have been cutting back. There have been cutbacks on the access roads as well. Later on this afternoon, I will be asking the Minister responsible for Transportation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends.)

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

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

Thank you. Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

The Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Constitution Working Group office has obtained facilitators to be involved in the consultation process. There will be resource people at the meetings to answer all necessary questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The facilitators held a workshop on Friday to go through the package so they become familiar with it. These are technical people who will be going into the communities to explain the package and address the concerns that have arisen regarding the package that was tabled in this House in October. We have moved beyond that particular package. There will be additional information there. The idea of the process is not to sell the package. The idea is to explain the package and the concerns and receive further feedback from the communities. Perhaps they could address the concerns at these meetings as well. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the end of the whole process, once we have gone through the consultation and looked at the feedback we received from communities regarding this package, we tend to revise the package. With the concerns that have developed, we will have a more refined package that will be acceptable to the people of the north. We will then go through the ratification process. We are developing some scenarios on how the ratification process will be done. That will also be presented during the consultation process. This ratification will happen hopefully by the fall. We still have some time to further develop this process. It is important that we have a grasp on what it is we are trying to deal with here when we are asking people to approve a package we are developing. Yes, we will have information on the ratification process during the constitution process. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions, final supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is very important when we are developing this constitution process that everyone that has been involved in this process be kept up-to-date with the latest information. We mentioned in this House earlier in this session that we regard it as a rolling draft. We are developing the draft as we go through the constitution process. It is very important that we keep everybody informed as we go along. Yes, we will be notifying and informing the Western Caucus Members and the Aboriginal Summit leaders as we move through this process. Thank you.

Oral questions, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am also concerned about the incident that took place at Trail Cross. Standard protocol is that we receive an incident report from the contractors detailing the specific incidents that took place. The plan would be to review the incident report with the

contractors, to ensure that proper procedure took place and try to minimize the risk of any similar incidents happening. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have not decided on how the issue will be handled by the department at this stage. I want to see the incident report first, to review it personally, to see if there are additional requirements to pursue it further. I have not spoken to my staff on this matter yet. I have been waiting for the reports to start the process. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems to me, although I am not perfectly sure, there was more than one incident involved. Would the Minister commit to making this a priority issue so nothing further does occur, that this should not happen and the well-being of the children is paramount? Thank you.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I certainly recognize the seriousness of the situation, because of the fact they are wards of the government in those residential treatment centres. I have asked for the report. It is in the process of being drafted now. I do not know exactly where it stands, but I will make the review of the situation a high priority issue. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions, final supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will share as much information to the Member or any Members that are interested within the guidelines I am allowed, considering we have children in care here, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions, Mr. Roland.

The Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Dent.

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

Mr. Dent.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Mr. Dent.

Oral questions, final supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Mr. Dent.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

The Minister of Health and Social Service, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the honourable Member knows, staff have sat down with the staff of the Tl'oondih Healing Society to try to work out some arrangements. It has not resulted in any agreement to provide any core funding for the Tl'oondih Healing Society, as I have indicated in this House on numerous occasions in answering the honourable Members in this area. We are moving the funding for residential treatment centres out to the regions and giving the regions and the communities more direct input into how those dollars are allocated and, in that same vein, how those dollars would flow to some of the residential treatment programs that we have in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I cannot give any assurances on the future operations of the Tl'oondih Healing Society. For that matter, in respect to some of our residential treatment centres that this government finances, we have had to withdraw some funding to one of our residential treatment centres because of the fact that there is a vacancy in the occupancy levels of those facilities, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would say that, yes, they would have access to funds through the regional health and social services boards that we will be financing for residential treatment programs, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would take it that the regional boards would take that into consideration. They would take into consideration not just the individual's needs, but that of his or her family as well in trying to design any treatment program that would be appropriate for their needs, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement this morning, I spoke of the father from Arviat seeking to accompany his wife for the birth of their child. Mr. Speaker, I am further reminded of another situation where just recently an elder was medevaced to Winnipeg with no family escort. The elder did not speak English and I am sure that the Minister can realize how difficult and traumatic this could be to one of our seniors travelling a long distance via airplane without any family members with him. Would the Minister consider amending the non-medical escort policy to allow for non-medical escorts for elders only in the Keewatin communities? Thank you.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It must be Health and Social Services day. Mr. Speaker, no, I am not prepared to do that arbitrarily. We recognize that, particularly in the area of medical travel, we are under fiscal pressures because of the fact that we have historically had increased demands on medical travel for treatment. What we have done, as all Members know is, given the accountability and the authority to regional boards to set their own policies recognizing -- and I am glad that the honourable Member in his statement acknowledged that the Keewatin board recognize the sensitivity of the one example of somebody that needed to have an exception to the medical travel policy to allow him to be with his spouse. That is why we have made the decision to give boards that autonomy, so they can recognize those exceptions that might need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis, Mr. Speaker. But it would not be fair to have a blanket coverage of all escorts because of the fact that we do not have the financial resources to meet all the needs, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions were geared towards elders only, primarily elders that did not speak English. I would further ask if the Minister has any idea what the additional cost would be to make an exception to the policy that would enable elders to be accompanied by a family member during medical travel? Thank you.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our priority is to provide medical transportation to patients, the people that require the services, the medical attention to treat their needs. Having said that, we recognize there are some sensitivities when you are dealing with unilingual individuals, particularly our elders. Nobody likes to see them be discomforted or put into situations that are not acceptable because of the fact they are unilingual. So what we try to impress upon boards and their travel personnel is to have not so much a dedicated escort available, but certainly somebody that is bilingual that could accompany the individual from their point of origin to their point of destination so that at least there will be somebody that is bilingual that can be able to assist anybody that may require some assistance, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm whether this non-medical escort policy is a GNWT policy or if it varies from board to board or region to region? Thank you.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as some of our community empowerment initiatives, we are giving boards the autonomy and the authority to set their own policies. Having said that, our funding mechanism does not allow for escort travels in the budget allocations for the dollars for medical travel. If a board were to, for example, decide that they wanted to pay for escorts across the board for individuals, they would not have all the funding from the Department of Health and Social Services to do that. It would impact on their budgets and they would have to make some reductions in a different area to accommodate those needs that they chose as a priority for spending, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is it fair to say and can the Minister confirm that indeed it is totally up to the individual boards to make these decisions on escort matters? Thank you.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes.

Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of FMBS. It concerns leases and the leases of housing units. Mr. Speaker, there is quite a lot of concern in my riding regarding availability of housing. The new policy that has been formulated by this government, Plan 2000, will not address those current needs of social housing units today and the long-term leases of this government in those leases. I wonder if the Minister of FMBS could update this House on the status of the leases? Are we going to renegotiate them? What is going to happen here? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it is a three-part question, if I can answer it that way. I have already said in the House that, in co-operation with my colleague Mr. Arlooktoo, existing leases that we have for staff units that are no longer required, we are prepared to transfer over to the Housing Corporation along with the financial resources for utilization by June, for utilization in the social housing. I think that is the one side of things where we are already fiscally committed to leases that we cannot get out of. I think the second issue in that is what we are going to do with the huge shortfall in social housing? Is the territorial government prepared to, I believe my colleague is saying, purchase or make arrangements for leases for social housing that are under review right now. I believe some of that is already happening in my colleague's riding in Iqaluit and certainly we need to take a look at the political and the economic ramifications of an extension to that program. We are currently reviewing that and hopefully will be able to have a much clearer position by the May and June session. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the review the Minister talked about and hopefully will come forward in the May session, at that time will Mr. Todd be tabling it in the House for discussion, will we be looking at it as a public document? Will we be going back to the stakeholders and other people who are looking for houses and also the people that this government is leasing from? We have to realize that the capitalization of these residential combinations have been paid for and financed out of some of these business people. That is a major error. I wonder when the review is complete, will they be bringing it forward as a document? Will they have it tabled as a document? Will they have it tabled as a discussion within the House?