Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. On December 17th , the Attagoyuk Ilisavik School will open in the community of Pangnirtung. This opening marks the result of an impressive cooperation between the community, staff of the Baffin Divisional Education Council, the Government of the Northwest Territories and several northern contractors.

As this House knows, Mr. Speaker, the school in Pangnirtung was lost in a tragic fire during the winter of 1996. The facility, which was being renovated at the time, was completely gutted. While the loss was devastating, quick thinking in the community resulted in very little disruption to the school program. Displaced students were accommodated in several locations, including Nunavut Arctic College's Community Learning Centre. Schooling continued with strong support from the Baffin Divisional Education Council and other schools throughout the Baffin region.

To speed the reconstruction of the school, the community district education authority decided to use the school design adopted from a similar-sized facility that will soon be completed in Pond Inlet. The Pangnirtung school will accommodate 385 students. It is important to note that it includes a large gymnasium that will provide excellent space for community activities. This enlarged gym was made possible because the Hamlet of Pangnirtung paid for the space in excess of Education, Culture and Employment standards.

The new school has also taken an innovative approach to designing space for career and technology studies. These rooms will be at the front of the school and visible to students and the community.

Capital projects such as this are important to ensure that students across the north have a suitable environment in which to learn. This year, approximately 25 projects are under way to renovate or construct new schools. As well, nine college facilities are under development.

In closing, I would like to thank all those involved in the Pangnirtung school project. Close working relationships and solid commitment have provided, with the resources available, the best possible facility for Pangnirtung residents.

Congratulations to Pangnirtung and the students of Attagoyuk Ilisavik School. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to speak again about NorthwesTel, the second part of my statement that I wanted to speak to on this particular issue.

As I indicated, we had lunch with Mr. Boorman, the President, yesterday and he gave us a broad overview of some of the factors affecting NorthwesTel and its ability to be a viable appropriation. On the other half of that equation, while we have to be sympathetic to a certain extent to NorthwesTel, we have to recognize that the communities, as well, have strong concerns about the level of service and whether it will, in fact, be affordable.

Mr. Speaker, NorthwesTel is aware of that concern, if not from me, from many others that they have heard those concerns from. They recognize and they have been told repeatedly that they have to do a better job in terms of marketing and responding to people and community concerns.

Mr. Boorman indicated the fact that they intend to go out to the communities and start trying to, in fact, address that shortcoming. Mr. Speaker, I think we have to see our relationship with NorthwesTel as something of a partnership that requires a certain amount of goodwill by both parties. That has to be based, of course, on both parties having all the facts and being aware of all the figures to ensure that, in fact, we are not subsidizing a corporation.

CRTC, I think will be, I would hope, looking at those factors when NorthwesTel approaches them on these issues of concern. Mr. Speaker, the people of the north and NorthwesTel have a vested interest in a strong, affordable telecommunication system that links all of our communities together and to the world. I would encourage NorthwesTel as they come to us looking for support to ensure that their corporate house is in order as well and that they are going to be able to address in a reasonable, affordable way, the concerns of the people of the communities of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in my comments concerning Document 246 I challenged each Member who signed that document to provide an explanation of their involvement. Each of them did that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not know whether it is appropriate then to conclude my Member's statement. It was in conclusion to the transactions in the House yesterday. If you do not feel it is appropriate, I am sorry. I did ask permission before I stood to make this speech today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am a little late in delivering this, but it is regarding the National Child Day poster contest that I sponsored in Inuvik for November 20th. In celebration of National Child Day, my office held a poster contest last month. The children were asked to draw a poster on what it is like to be a child growing up in Inuvik. The response was overwhelming and my constituency office received 74 entries. The children drew pictures of traditional activities like jigging for fish and caribou hunting. They also drew pictures of roller blading, playing hockey and being a part of the Brownies, playing soccer in the field and playing baseball, just to mention a few.

Miss Cassandra Kirk was a first place winner in the poster contest. Cassandra is a six year old student of Mrs. Ross' grade 1 class at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school in Inuvik. Her parents are Rob James Kirk and Valerie Norris-Kirk. She has two sisters, Jacqueline and Kimberly. Cassandra's best friend is Caitlin, one of the newer students in her class.

It took Cassandra two whole days to draw her poster. She drew the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School and its new playground equipment because she likes playing on the new playground. Cassandra enjoys skating, boating, camping and swimming, but her favourite activity is tobogganing. Cassandra drew the sun and the moon to show the summer sunlight and the winter's darkness. When asked what she prefers, Cassandra answered that she enjoys the winter more because she can do her favourite things like skating and tobogganing. She also drew fireworks from the annual Sunrise Festival in January. Cassandra and her family will be moving to Norman Wells in January and she is excited, but she will miss all of her friends in Inuvik. I would like to thank Cassandra and all of the children who entered the poster contest because each of the entries that were received were wonderful as we have many talented young artists in Inuvik. I would like also to thank the teachers at Sir Alexander Mackenzie School and the parents who encouraged their children to enter the poster contest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to bring to Members attention the efforts and accomplishments of St. Patrick High School's program, Students Against Drinking and Driving, a program known as SADD. This program began in November, 1994, and back then they had 12 students as members. Today there are 67 active and dedicated members. Last year the group received an award for the most active SADD chapter in the western region. Since 1994, the St. Patrick High School SADD program has offered Yellowknife youth healthy alternatives in the form of overnighters, open gym nights, drive parties and educational community events. Members have made presentations to the Rotary Club of Yellowknife, Community of Rae-Edzo and Yellowknife City Council. In November they travelled to Norman Wells to give a presentation about the SADD program. They have also been active in activities such as the National Addiction Awareness Week, Arctic Winter Games, the Fire Department demonstrations and Candy Cane check stops. Each year members attend the Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving conference, a national conference held annually in a major Canadian city.

It is important to note that not only do our youth benefit from activities organized by SADD, but the students actively involved in the group develop many leadership skills. St. Patrick's SADD program is also the founder of the 1998 Yellowknife Youth Leadership Awards banquet. They worked together with the Youth Volunteer Corps, Sir John Franklin's SADD program and participants of both high school student councils to organize the leadership awards event. I would like to acknowledge some of the key organizers of the SADD program. Angela Masongsong is the President and teacher advisors, Michelle Thoms and Renee Lamoreux. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you all know, a dramatic climate change is taking place in the north. This climatic change is known as global warming. The most noticeable effect of global warming is earlier breakups and late freeze-ups. In most cases, people tend to welcome the shorter winter period and longer and hotter summers.

There are also some negative aspects to changing weather patterns. In general, both humans and wildlife have to adjust to these changes. Migrating wildlife such as caribou and water fowl, sea mammals and fish must contend with and adjust to these climatic changes in order to complete their migration to and from the breeding grounds. For example, spring migrating caribou may find their routes to the camping grounds cut off by early breakup of rivers. In the fall their routes to the staging areas will be blocked by large bodies of open water. Although caribou are excellent swimmers, they tend to avoid swimming when the temperature hovers around the freezing mark. In particular, in the fall. Another example is spring char runs out of the rivers. Char are known to take advantage of the high water levels during breakup in order to reach the sea. As break-up in the rivers arrives earlier, so do the whales arrive sooner than in previous years. Reduced sea ice coverage in the Beaufort will have it's affect on polar bear movements as well.

Mr. Speaker, I think biologists will be very busy in the next few years if they want to record all of the effects of global warming on northern wildlife. Since 99 percent of the people in my riding depend on wildlife for their livelihood, they too must adjust their hunting cycles and strategies to coincide with the changing weather patterns. For example, reductions in snow coverage on land both in spring and fall have served to limit the use of snowmobiles. Where conditions permit, people have adjusted by employing the use of ATVs for a longer period of time. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.