Thank you. Oral questions. Mrs. Groenewegen.

The Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Today, the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation advised the House about the provisions of homes for northerners. This government, a number of times, has acknowledged that with the continuation of the high birth rate in communities, it will not be able to continue to provide accommodation and services at the present levels. My question to the Premier is what standards or actions is the government taking to advise and educate residents of the NWT of this fact? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Four or five years ago, when I was the Minister of the Housing Corporation, there was a needs survey done. At that time, we were approximately 3,500 units short. We were predicting that these numbers would climb unless there was action taken. Now today, we find out that we are 4,350 units short. This is driven by the population growth, this is one of the reasons. But, we must also fully understand that the federal government never did live up to its fiduciary responsibility to the aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories. This is also driven directly from when people were relocated off the land into communities. There was never adequate housing for our people in the Northwest Territories. The federal government always fell short on funding of adequate housing for the people of the Northwest Territories. It has fallen so short that it is non-existent now. There is no federal money available for housing of aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories and that is the main reason that we are short 4,350 units of housing today. But let me assure you that the birth rate also has an effect. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand from the Premier's comments that we certainly do have someone to blame. But my question is what is this government doing to educate the residents of the Northwest Territories that we have to do something about our birth rate? That we cannot continue to have the numbers of children we are having because we cannot, as the Premier has advised, provide accommodation for them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not think it is the responsibility of this government to tell people to stop having children, but I do think it is the responsibility to let people know that they will be responsible for the children they do have and that we should work along with the Minister of Health and Social Services and other departments of this government, to let people know what that means when they

bring a child into this world. You will be responsible for that child.

But we also have to make sure that people understand the situation the people in the north are in today. Members have had the opportunity of seeing an environmental scan of the future of the north and what it will be like a few years down the road. We plan, as a government, to aggressively go out and make people aware of the situation and where we are going in the north if nothing is done to either birth rates or funding or just forced growth of government, of what could happen. So we are going to be taking an aggressive role in educating people and making people aware of where the Northwest Territories is going. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Premier is getting to the crux of the matter, that it is the responsibility of the government to provide education to the people that we cannot continue to provide accommodations at these levels and other services. Can the Minister advise me as to what programs and education that the government has initiated in the last couple of years to address that particular concern? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many times in this Legislative Assembly, the Ministers, the Premier, as well as MLAs raise the issue of forced growth, and increased birth rate throughout the Northwest Territories, and what that would mean to our education system. For example, in Mr. O'Brien's riding, it is my understanding for the last two years there were 100 children born each year. Now those children are going to end up in kindergarten in four or five years so it is an ongoing issue that we have to try to address and try to educate people.

Like I have said previously, our government is committed to educating people. Some have said the best incentive for not increasing the birth rate is to create jobs and give people the opportunity to go to work and from that, my understanding is you do end up having less children. Thank you.

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

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