Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not sure that it would be tremendously appropriate to institute a program across the Northwest Territories that saw that sort of approach. It may be needed in some communities and not in others. That is why the local community has the control to place priorities where they see fit. A community may decide that the school community counsellor needs to get more actively involved in finding out why certain kids are not at school today and to follow up with the parents that very day and if they wish to put their resources into that area, then they can; but we do not have any additional resources to put into the program right now. It is up to the local community to say, this is our priority. Therefore, we are going to put our resources in this area to get the kids to come to school and we are going to take them out of this area in order to accomplish that. In other communities there may be other priorities that they need to spend their money on. Another community; for instance, may say we do not have non-attenders here. We can afford to switch more resources into dealing with special needs kids. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Final minute for you, Mr. O'Brien. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. During the Ministerial Forum on Student Financial Assistance, student support to which the Member refers was highlighted as one that was lacking. People across the north said we needed to find some way to better support students. The department is working to develop a program, which will see much improved support to students, beginning before students leave the Northwest Territories, with contact through the regional offices and followup once students are on campus down south. We have a number of locations down south where we have NWT Student Associations. We have managed to work with the private sector at places like the University of Alberta where a significant number of northern students attend to put in place a resident counsellor available on campus in the city to work with NWT residents. It is very difficult for us to identify one university because we have students all across Canada, depending in what area their interest lies and what university they see as best serving that interest. It would be very difficult for us to identify one over another. Right now, we probably have more students going to the University of Alberta than any other university in southern Canada, but I expect that students from the Keewatin will have typical ties to Manitoba, students from the Baffin will probably be more often headed to Ottawa or Montreal. When you divide it up, it is difficult to say we are going to select one college, because you would increase the costs significantly for some students and make it more difficult for them to get home at Christmas or in the summertime.

I think the Member is right. We have to find a better way to support students. That was identified to us very clearly in the ministerial forum and it is something that the department is committed to starting from the moment students apply. In other words, we identify students who will be heading out and have our regional offices work with them before they leave and follow up after they are on campus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Recognizing the allotted time for Mr. O'Brien is over, and he also indicated that was his final question, I will recognize the next person on the list. We have Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Picco and Mr. Ootes. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just prior to returning to the Legislature this time, I was approached by a number of my constituents with respect to a long standing tradition in the community of Hay River and that is the provision of religious instruction in the schools. On February 23, 1998, a letter was received by the divisional education councils and district education authorities from the Minister. The first sentence reads, recently a concern has been raised that some schools may be providing religious instruction. This is in contravention to the Education Act. Mr. Chairman, the people of Hay River felt that this tradition had been addressed when the new Act was being drafted. At that time, a local survey was taken which indicated a very strong, majority response for the provision of this instruction in the school. During the discussions, previous to today, and today the Minister has repeatedly said that it is up to the local community to choose their priorities. A motion was passed by the community education council at one point which said, "I move that the Hay River area community education council support the status quo of offering religion in the schools." That was moved and seconded and carried at the community level. My question on behalf of my constituents to the Minister is, this concern that was raised in this subsequent letter that went out to all directors, councils, superintendents, and district education authorities, how is this compatible with freedom of local education authorities to implement areas in education which are part of their tradition? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Education Act was drawn up as it is in respect of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Local freedom to act is always constrained by the Canadian Constitution and the Charter. That is really the bottom line here. The Member asks how this is consistent with local control. There are sometimes limits to local control that are set out by higher authorities. In this case the federal government has chosen to institute a higher authority. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Is there not a component of religious or spiritual education in other curriculum which has been developed and offered through our schools in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There may be references in some curriculum to religious or spiritual matters. Within the schools, there is nothing that says that you cannot refer to religious or spiritual matters, but you cannot teach any specific religion.

Thank you. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in response to the first part of the Member's question, there is nothing to barr the teaching of religion in school. However, it just must be outside the hours of instruction as specified in the act. As for the second part of her question, I doubt that a letter of consent from a parent would be considered grounds to contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada. I am not a lawyer or judge but I would suspect it would be found to be insufficient reason to contravene the Charter. Mr. Chairman, I would hope that we would not find a situation where people who are involved in teaching young students would be in a situation where they would be contravening the laws of the land. One of the things we teach people is to respect the laws of the land and I would hope that we would not get into the situation the Member refers to where we would have a school where they would not be respecting the laws. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With all due respect, I would like to ask the Minister, did anyone in Hay River raise a concern about religious instruction in schools? I mean, we talk about community empowerment, we talk about the local authorities, did anyone in Hay River raise this concern?

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. No. No one raised the concern. In fact, it was myself who noticed while visiting one of the schools, that the schedule showed a religion class during school hours. As Minister responsible for an act of this government, I felt it my duty to act upon it.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. I will just ask the Minister's comments on this. In a letter received from a previous Minister of Education, Mr. Nerysoo, in response to this very question, Mr. Nerysoo pointed out that the act enabled district education authorities to conduct local programs such as a local program of religious instruction, in a particular faith. Such a program must be, according to the Charter, outside of the regular school program, but if the school day is determined locally, it could be within regular school hours. Does the Minister have a comment in response to this assurance that was received by a former Minister of Education and if the local education authority has the right to set the school day. Let us say religious education is taught at 2:30 on Monday afternoons, could the school day be arranged to technically end at 2:30 p.m. on a Monday, so that this program could be incorporated into the children's school day and comply with bus pickup times, et cetera. Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.