(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday was the day of voting for Canadians. My colleagues in Nunavut would like to express their congratulations to Prime Minister Chretien, also Ethel Blondin-Andrew and Nancy Karetak-Lindell, who were elected on behalf of the Liberal Party. I stand today to congratulate those voters. (Translation ends)

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Enuaraq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, the CRTC recently ruled that NorthwesTel must develop a plan to allow other long distance carriers to the come to the north. Unlike most places in Canada, we only have one phone company in the north and that is NorthwesTel. This should be good news. People in the north are often separated from family and friends by long distances. We cannot drive to the next town. Unfortunately, it is very expensive to use long distance telephone calls to keep in touch. As an MLA, I am very aware of this. I use the phone a lot to talk to my communities and my bills are very high.

I hope this decision by the CRTC will help northerners reduce long distance phone rates. Some other companies may want to come north to compete with NorthwesTel. Even if they do not, there will always be the possibility of competition. This will ensure that NorthwesTel is always trying to provide the best service at the lowest price. Mr. Speaker, we will have to wait and see how the decision will affect local telephone costs. However, for those of us who use long distance calling a lot or who would like to, this is good news. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about legal training. Mr. Speaker, today our jails are full and in those jails there is abuse and things happening that we are not able to control. This is a weakness of our current legal system. At the same time, the GNWT is promoting community justice which empowers communities. It recognizes traditional methods of justice of the aboriginal people. However, community justice by itself is not an answer. Those who end up in the legal system must still interface between the courts and community justice. What we need are trained northerners who can help this system. We now have dedicated individuals who are trying to work in this system, we have court workers, we have JPs and we have other court officers but they have limited formal legal training.

It is not fair to them or to the people that they are working with. We need northerners with real legal training, the type of training that is now going to happen in Nunavut which is a result of the $40 million that they are receiving to implement Nunavut. We need something similar in the west. I am proposing that we start a certificate and a diploma program at Aurora College, which would build on the success of other programs. By this I am talking about a one year academic preparation to help those people who have been out of school for awhile to prepare them for school. Also, the program could be transferable to a university so that people could go to law school once they have finished or after they work for awhile.

The result of this, we would have court workers who could have a minimum of one year academic legal training and communities with legally trained people to promote and to propel community justice. We could also have JPs with actual legal training that extends beyond workshops and that type of thing. We would also have northern born lawyers and northern born judges as the end result. That is one of my goals for this Assembly, to work towards controlling our own destiny. But we need to find partnerships to create this program. To that end, I have spoken to the Minister of Justice and he has agreed to look into it. Later this month I will be attending an aboriginal justice conference in Inuvik, at which time I will be promoting this concept. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to congratulate Ethel on her election last night. I would especially like to congratulate a lady from my home town, Nancy Karetak Lindell on her successful election. We are all very proud of her. I am sure that she will do very well. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker (Translation) I will be speaking in my language today. There was a Canada wide election yesterday. Ethel Blondin-Andrew was elected for the western Arctic and I am thankful for that. Ethel is from Tulita. She understands the language of the Dene people. She has been in Parliament for quite a few years so she knows how to represent the people from the western Arctic.

There are a lot of difficult things that are in store for us. We will be working on self-government. There are the land claims that still have to be dealt with and also self-government. There are still a lot of these important issues that we have to work on. The election is over. We have somebody in place that we have elected. If we start working together on the right track right from the beginning, we would benefit a lot from it. In 1979 I was elected Chief. What people had said at the time was that there should be some people to represent the native people in the Legislative Assembly and also in Parliament. Today, it seems that their wishes have come true. I would like to say how thankful I am and I would like to congratulate Ethel on her election yesterday. Thank you. (Translation ends)

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mrs. Groenewegen on January 30, 1997, on the repatriation of northerners from southern institutions.

Thank you. Returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great honour and pleasure today to recognize our MP for the Western Arctic who was re-elected last night, Ethel Blondin-Andrew and her husband, Leon.

-- Applause

Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Rabesca.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Grade 7, 8 and 9 classes as well as their teachers, supervisors and bus drivers from Chief Jimmy Bruneau School. They have come to Yellowknife to tour this building as well as interesting sites in Yellowknife. It is always a pleasure to have younger constituents visit this fabulous facility to get an idea as to how this government works. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the Yellowknives Dene First Nation translating students. Their instructor is Mary Rose Sundberg and their students are Stella Johnson, Lena Drygeese, Berna Martin, Julia Lynn, Celine Charlo, Adeline Crapeau and Doreen Liske, who is not here and also Mary Pepper, an instructor who is not here. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, (Translation) today, Nick Sibbeston is sitting in the Gallery. He used to be an MLA and also a government leader. I would like to welcome him to the Assembly. (Translation ends)

-- Applause

Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to also recognize some students from School Draw, open custody, and their teacher, Jean Robertson and supervisor, Cathy Shick. The students

are from all over the Northwest Territories. Welcome to the Assembly.

-- Applause

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Henry.