Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all realize the problems that we have in the Northwest Territories with drugs and alcohol. I will request the Minister of Health to work with the health board, as well as the Member's community, in the Fort McPherson, Inuvik, Beaufort-Delta area, to see how they can make use of that facility and work together to deliver programs in the region that are needed. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

That is a new question. I will ask the Premier to respond.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Member. We have to try to solve our problems at the community level. We have to work with our community members as leaders to try to solve our social problems. We are committed as a government to do that. I know before there was a travelling program for rehab in our communities. Our young people, who are in our educational system where we have to work, with our leaders in the community, our education societies, our divisional boards of education, as well as our divisional health boards to make sure there is proper programming in the school, so people are aware of problems that exist, and they come up with solutions together to solve these problems at the community level. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

The Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is there were discussions earlier last week, with

What is important for everybody to understand is the WCB is slightly different from everybody else. WCB members are funded by the employers and not by the government. We have to be extremely cognizant of that. Any additional expense, for example, that may come about because of it, has to be paid through the fiscal condition of the WCB or an increase in the rates et cetera.

My understanding at this stage of the game is, there is a desire to look at the possibility of two boards. However, there seems to be some legal, jurisdictional problems associated with that. That was the advice I received earlier last week. There is the desire possibly to expand, not necessarily to put a Nunavut WCB in place, but to expand some of the jobs that are currently in place. For example, the two jobs in Rankin Inlet and two in Iqaluit on the Occupational Health and Safety side of things, not necessarily on the WCB side of things, but on the Safety Officers and Mining Inspectors. There is some desire there to look at moving some of those jobs out east.

The whole thing boils down to, who is going to pay and what the cost is. It is a little early in the process for me to really give my colleague a clear indication of how I think it is going to unfold. I know that significant discussions will be taking place by the officials and by the players and the Interim Commissioner's office and the Western Coalition. It would be fair to say, there is some disagreement as to how we should go about this. Probably, in the next two or three weeks, we will have greater clarity, and I would be prepared to communicate with my colleague by letter on that. I do not have much more to report than that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the fact that we are looking at two separate wings or organizations for east and west, would the Minister see some of these jobs going into the smaller communities like Arviat and Baker Lake? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

I do not want to give my colleague the impression this is going to happen because it is too early in the process. As discussions unfold, I would be prepared to keep him abreast of what is happening. Right now, there are some fairly intense discussions and there are differences of opinion amongst all the players. Until I get a little more clarity at the official's level as to what their desire is, I am not trying to avoid the question, I just do not have the answer because it is still in fairly serious negotiations. What I will say is that contributors to the fund, employers, have to pay the bill. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us who are the parties involved in these discussions and negotiations and, in particular, who are the individuals who are negotiating from the east?

Mr. Todd.

The parties who were negotiating are the same parties negotiating all of the division: the Interim Commissioner's office, the Western Coalition, ourselves in terms of the WCB, the GNWT. These are the players who are sitting down trying to work out an appropriate compromise for Workers' Compensation. Both the Workers' Compensation and the NWT Power Corporation are issues that I red-flagged months and months ago. Somehow, we have to try to come to some consensus as to how we are going to deal with it. Again, I am not trying to avoid the question. At this time, in fairness to my colleague, I cannot give him any real clarity as to how it is going to unfold because it is still very much early in the process in terms of trying to determine an appropriate course of action. We have to take a look at what the legal ramifications are, and we also consistently have to remember who pays at the end of the day. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Barnabas.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently NTI had a meeting in Cambridge Bay and they were discussing the Keewatin pilot project. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a question to the Minister responsible for MACA, who is also responsible for the Keewatin pilot project. NTI recently passed a motion with their opposition at this time to the Keewatin pilot project. Also, Baker Lake pulled out of this proposal. Can the Minister of MACA update us as to the current status of the project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware of the motion that was passed at the NTI/Cambridge Bay meeting. I cannot speak to that. The pilot project is just a proposal and it is still going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.