Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you have just mentioned, today is the official launch of the Tools for Success campaign by Education, Culture and Employment.

Tools for Success is designed to encourage junior and senior high school students to consider careers in skilled trades. The campaign is also aimed at people who are considering a change of career. The message of Tools for Success is simple. The best tool for success in an apprenticeship or trades career is a high school education that includes math and science.

There is a high demand for skilled tradespeople and workers in the Northwest Territories. We can help meet this demand by promoting careers in the trades to junior and high school students. However, we must make sure that the students who wish to enter careers in apprenticeship and trades have the right tools - that is, a good math and science education.

The Tools for Success materials have been sent to every school and every regional career centre in the Northwest Territories. Career centres have been provided with information kits as well as other promotional items which can be used as prizes for science fairs, math competitions and scholastic achievements.

To celebrate the launch of this campaign, I would like to invite the Members of the Legislative Assembly to join Richard Edjericon, Chairperson of the Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification Board, and our invited guests for a reception in the Great Hall at the break. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to speak briefly about the issue of NTPC and how it is a continued concern in the community of Fort Smith. When public hearings were held, presentations were made by myself, the mayor, council and Stand Alone Energies by Mr. Dennis Bevington. Initially, there was resignation to the fact that there would be combined NTPC and that arrangements would be made to try to minimize what the people of Fort Smith saw as a downside to that.

Now that the issue is still at the table and being discussed, the concern is still there and I am getting it from all corners of my constituency. There is concern about the issue of cross-subsidising. My understanding is that 60 percent of the revenue of NTPC is generated out of Yellowknife and south of the lake with a population of about 24,000 and two mines. Yet, none of those 24,000 people have access to this subsidy. The government will say that it is not NTPC that distributes a dividend. It is the government. However, the government owns NTPC and to me, it is a subtle distinction that the people of the west, I know in my constituency, do not appreciate or understand.

There is a concern that in Fort Smith for example, we pay about $600,000 per year as a headquarters' subsidy to run the operations in Hay River. While in Yellowknife, under a different utility they pay about $300,000, even though they have about 12 times the population. It is a disparity that, people once again, do not understand. I believe, I understand the people in Inuvik pay even more than Fort Smith in terms of headquarters' subsidy. There is a concern that the rate increase projected by NTPC, in fact, if you look at it closely, could be challenged. The five percent they talk about is very debatable, given the fact that NTPC did not really suffer any of the cuts during the last two years of deficit reduction and that they have a very healthy administrative structure at the headquarters' level. In fact, like any good corporation they could absorb any sort of downsizing and not have to transfer a rate increase onto the people of the Western Territory. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, this issue is of concern. Fort Smith, the riding of Thebacha, is a home of a hydro electric development. We are part of the Western Territory and I am getting very clear messages that this is of concern to them and I thought it incumbent of me to bring these to the House. I will be asking the Minister questions about this during question period. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Monday of this week, I received a call from Ter Hamer, a local business man and a sports supporter, regarding some vandalism that

happened at the Wade Hamer Mini-Golf facility over the weekend. The Wade Hamer Mini-Golf facility is run primarily by volunteers and it is to raise money for the Wade Hamer Hockey School. It is a school which is one of the major ones in the Northwest Territories and it is open to the youth at very minimal costs to families. The damage to the mini-golf facility means that there may not be sufficient funds in the future to run the hockey school. It is disheartening to see that volunteers, dedicated to community work, seem to receive so little gratitude from some youth in our community.

The vandalism is not an isolated event, Mr. Speaker, just over the last week in Yellowknife, there have been a number of incidents; vehicles parked along the Ingraham Trail had their tires slashed. In another case cars were damaged. Throughout the city windows were smashed on vehicles. Last summer, the city of Yellowknife held a number of meetings regarding violence in the downtown core area and several citizens mentioned the need for a greater responsibility to be placed on the parents and family of youth who commit crimes. I would like to see this government work with communities to assist in providing legal and administrative tools that allow communities to assume a greater role in administering justice matters. Recently, the Federal Minister of Justice, Anne McLellan proposed a new strategy for dealing with young offenders. The strategy focuses on presentation alternatives, sentencing and harsher sentences for repeat young offenders. A community-based sentencing that emphasizes the offender's responsibility for harm done appears to be a useful approach for crimes to property such as those experienced at the Wade Hamer Mini-Golf facility.

I trust that the Minister responsible for Justice will take note of my constituent's concerns and that he will inform us about the possibility of making changes to existing young offender sentencing and means for increased community participation in the administration of justice for non-violent crimes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today about the Inuvik Transition House Society. The Inuvik House officially reopened in 1994, their clients come from the communities of Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, Tuktoyaktuk, Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk, Fort Good Hope, Deline, Tulita and Colville Lake. On occasion, the Inuvik Transition House has clients from Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Hay River when their shelters are full.

The shelter has been underfunded since it was reopened. It is an eight-bed shelter that is a regional facility. In order to remain in operation, it requires a minimum of $201,000 per year. The funding that it currently receives is $180,000 per year. The shelter currently employees four full-time employees, these positions are: the executive director, program coordinator, evening caregiver and night security. They also have a half-time child care advocate and four casuals who work eight-hour shifts on the weekends. The shelter workers are front line and most are in high stress positions, for which they receive low wages and no benefits.

The shelter assists the clients with immediate needs and also gives referrals to many agencies such as the Family Counselling Centre, the health and social services mental health worker and social workers, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Inuvik Hospital, income support workers. The majority of the clients who access the shelter are women from abusive relationships and family violence situations. A majority of these women come to the shelter with their children. The clients can stay up to a maximum of six weeks. At times there are clients who stay up to eight weeks in order to find housing in Inuvik.

Mr. Speaker, the women and children who come to the shelter are in crisis situations and need the Inuvik Transition House to remain open. The shelter needs an additional $21,000 in core funding per year to stay in operation. It would be in the best interest of the people to keep this shelter with its important programs and services open, this year and every year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I rise today, I would like to pay tribute to a well known and respected elderly couple from my constituency, Mr. Freddie Greenland and his wife, Bella. This couple has been blessed with ten girls who were raised and educated for their high school years in the north. This coming Saturday, May 30, 1998, the family will be celebrating the graduation of their youngest daughter, Sharla and their first granddaughter, Kimberly, both in Whitehorse, Yukon. Mr. Speaker, the Greenland girls were educated in various provinces and territories and a few cities such as Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Fort Smith and Whitehorse, also in the TEP program that was delivered in Aklavik. They were educated in fields such as social work, teaching in special needs, adult education, nursing and native business management.

Mr. Greenland was educated at George Brown College in Toronto. This is quite an achievement on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Greenland, and they both deserve a round of applause and recognition from our government for a job well done as parents and good role models to their children and grandchildren. I would also like to offer my congratulations to Mrs. Annie Kay on obtaining her Bachelor's degree of Education on Monday at the University of Saskatchewan. I also would like to congratulate her parents, William and Mary Teya of Fort McPherson, who I am sure, are proud of Annie's accomplishments which took a lot of hard work and dedication. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause