Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The past month has been a difficult one for my family with the passing of a couple of patriarchs in our family. First of all was my wife's uncle, Albert Lafferty. The Member for Good Hope mentioned some very kind words yesterday. The other was my uncle, Peter Erasmus, who also passed away late December at the age of 89. Peter was a very independent person. He was still working in his late 70s actually until he had a stroke which severely restricted his movement afterwards.

Peter was born in Wrigley to a family of 12 and grew up in Fort Rae. He did a lot of things in his life, commercial fishing, hunting, trapping, drilling. He looked after mines in his later years as a caretaker, but I know my Dad often tells me of the time when he and his brother Peter went to Norman Wells during the second world war and the Canol pipeline was being built to Whitehorse. Peter was delivering mail for the army there and he was going down the road with his dog team and apparently this army truck went by and they did not see him, ran right over him and he was very, very severely injured, but he survived and did a lot of things afterwards. One of the things that we always remembered about him was that he would never get mad at people and he always had kind words about everybody. He seemed to always to try to find the good things in any situation. He is remembered and loved and missed by his family. Thank you.

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

That is not a point of privilege is it? Thank you, Mr. Steen. Members' statements. Point of privilege, Mr. Ng.

Point of Privilege

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a point of privilege under Rule 20(1) to clarify a misunderstanding that has been created by a recent CBC Radio news report.

Mr. Speaker, upon hearing of this report, I was immediately concerned because I had not conducted any recent interviews with the CBC, nor had I made any direct statements relating to any new programs or initiatives that may have been included in the 1998-99 budget. As well, the budget contains no such funds and we are not planning any kind of campaign.

Upon investigation into the matter, I was informed the basis for this story was an interview I conducted with the CBC's Dave Miller in the first week of November, 1997 - almost three months ago. The focus of the interview was the unique demographics of the Northwest Territories - including population growth and the demand that these demographics place on the resources of the Department of Health and Social Services.

In that interview, in responding to a question on how the GNWT might be able to assist regional health boards who might want to tackle the issue head on with a communication campaign, I responded by referring to the strategic investment fund Cabinet had approved and the department was planning to establish, targeted at positioning health boards to develop health promotion initiatives and programs.

The story on January 16th used these comments and placed them in an improper context. This causes me great concern. I was not in Yellowknife on January 16th, nor was I contacted by the reporter to update or comment on this issue. Mr. Speaker, in my opinion the reporter's actions on this story were irresponsible and consequences of his actions have been far reaching and harmful. I have personally suffered from being misrepresented on the eve of the Finance Minister's Budget Address. The Department of Health and Social Services was caught completely off guard, and officials placed in a position of defending a program that does not exist. Members of this House have been misled about the plans and activities of our government, and the public has been left with the perception we have some solution to the rapid population growth.

As I recall, the original story on which the interview was based was well done. However, the subsequent actions of the reporter have overshadowed that initial work. This is not a wound that will easily heal, but hopefully with this point of privilege, we have set the record straight. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ng. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to welcome to the House a visitor, Mr. Derrek Konrad, the Member of Parliament for Prince Albert. He is also the Reform critic for Aboriginal Affairs and sits as vice-chair for the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. Another point of note is that his riding is also the former riding of Mr. Diefenbaker.

--Applause

Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mrs. Groenewegen.

The Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Antoine. The Deputy Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an issue that was asked about in the Standing Committee on Infrastructure meeting back in November/December. I am aware the Member asked me a question as a Member of that committee. I am not sure if she was present, but I do know that the deputy minister of Public Works and Services went through the detail of the business transaction. As I understood it, the committee was satisfied that everything was above board. What I can do is get the transcripts and information that we passed on at that meeting and provide it to the Member.

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

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the type of detailed information that the Department of Public Works and Services would have, but if my memory serves me correctly, the issue had to do with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of Transportation, whose offices reside in that building, looking at its long-term needs and an extension of a lease as provided for in the contract. Those are the type of details that I can recall, but as I said I will ask the Minister of Public Works to collate that information and pass it on to the Member.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We can certainly do that. As I confirmed earlier, the chronology and the information have already been put together, it has already been provided to a standing committee of the House late last year and we will certainly put it together and provide it to the House.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. Earlier today I made a

statement regarding the trip of the young people who wanted to come to Yellowknife and experience first hand how the government operates at this level, in this House and in the offices within the building. I think we have talked about the future of young people. We want to ensure that once we are divided we will have manpower at respective regions. I think the willingness and enthusiasm of the young people of Taloyoak and the Taloyoak Community Training Program indicates they are willing to work at their community for the benefit of that region. My question to the honourable Minister, will the Minister endeavour to provide some funding for this initiative for the people of Taloyoak? Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not think it would be appropriate if the Department of Finance would provide funding. It does not have actually funding for this kind of venture that my colleague says the people of Taloyoak are wanting to undertake. I will, however, as an influential MLA, assist him in anyway I can with respect to discussions with the airlines and hotels in an effort to reduce the costs of subsidization, et cetera for that group. We are not in a position to fund those kinds of things at this time. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.