Thank you, Mr. Barnabas. Good morning. (Translation) To begin with, I would like to thank the members representing the people of Nahendeh and the Sahtu for joining me in supplying Pages for the Assembly this week. I would also like to thank the Pages for the great job they did in assisting us in our duties. I hope they enjoyed their time in the capital, had a positive experience and learned something about how our territorial government is run.

On another topic, I would like to thank members and staff of the Legislature for joining me in yesterday afternoon's barbecue. Javaroma should also be thanked for doing a great job of catering this event. It was nice to take some time to get together away from our work environment and enjoy the beautiful weather, good food and excellent company. (Translation ends) Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in a front page article earlier this month in the Yellowknifer written by Mr. Jeff Colburne, a reporter for News North, the headline said, So long Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer. Hello Dave, Larry, Natalie and Ed. Mr. Speaker, a picture below the article showed a television set with Chris, Larry and Ed stating we could be stars in another universe. Mr. Speaker, sometimes I feel like I am in another universe, right here in the Legislative Assembly. The gist of the article was to find northerners who could match the characters on the hit TV show Seinfeld. Our own Member, Groenewegen, thought she had a perfect match for that very debonair, suave, intelligent and much loved character, Kramer. She said it was yours truly.

--Applause/Laughter

Mr. Speaker, it has been said that I resemble TV stars and movie actors before. I have been mistaken for Jack Tripper, also known as John Ritter. I have been compared to Frank Sinatra with my wonderful approach to vocal phrasing. This morning, Mr. Miltenberger saw me looking at the mirror and said, not to worry you look very handsome and movie star like. I thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, some of the comments in the article about me were questionable like having a steam cleaner following me around all day in the Ledge. Well, as I just explained, Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising that a steam cleaner would follow me around seeing how everyone and everything wants to be closer to me. Mr. Speaker, the article, of course, was in jest and that is the spirit I took it in. As a political figure, you have to take all compliments and disparaging remarks in stride. I, Mr. Speaker, will try to keep my sense of fair play and humour and will be available for autographs after the sitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Members' statements. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Rabesca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I have the privilege to congratulate and participate in the graduating ceremonies for 11 students from Rae-Edzo. I would also like to congratulate all graduates from across the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, these young people have worked hard over the past 12 years to get to this point in their lives. Now they are prepared to go out into the world to secure a job or to go on to further their education. This is a great moment in their lives. They will have to make many decisions over the next while. What do I want to do for the rest of my life? Where will I go to college, who will help me get what I want?

Mr. Speaker, we have all gone this road before, but for these young people this will be their first time out. Today, Mr. Speaker, these young people have more opportunities available to them than any other graduating class has ever had. The diamond industry is now offering many new and interesting types of jobs. New technologies are also providing interesting career choices. The world is waiting. Make the right moves. Furthering your education can be your most important decision. I would now like to read the names of the eleven graduates for Rae-Edzo: Clayton Bishop, Joanne Champlain, Pam Lafferty, Jeffery Mantla, Lianne Mantla, Alice Naedzo, Tiffany Wedawin, Priscilla Wetrade, Leona Rabesca, Phoebe Ann Wetrade and Alice Zoe-Chocolate. These young people should be proud of their accomplishments, as I know their families, community, region and myself are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. I have been requested to recognize some students in the gallery. The grade seven French immersion class from William MacDonald School and their teacher, Guy Paradis. Welcome to the Assembly. Members' statements. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night, I attended a graduation ceremony at Ecole St. Joseph School Gym. It was for approximately 100 grade six students from Weledeh Catholic School and Ecole St. Joseph School who have been taking a Special Drug Awareness Program offered at their schools by the RCMP. Mr. Speaker, this was not just about saying no as we so often have heard. This program was actually 17 hours of lessons which focused on learning about the effects of drugs, the consequences of taking them, ways to say no, building self-esteem, saying yes to positive alternatives and how to take a stand. Mr. Speaker, the program has been financially sponsored by the RCMP, the local Elk's Lodge, First Air, the Royal Bank and the Yellowknife Catholic Schools. It is in response to challenges today when there are so much peer pressure and new challenges facing the youth and the fact that we need to provide them with alternatives and to provide them with support. Mr. Speaker, I ask all the Members here to join me in congratulating the students as they have successfully completed their program. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Barnabas.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last year, myself and my colleague, Mr. Enuaraq, had time to visit Rae and Rae-Edzo. Along the way we had to zig zag potholes on the road. My colleague had to hold onto the dashboard because it was so rough, and not because of my driving. He was sweating like hell. We had time to visit James Rabesca, MLA for Rae and Joe Rabesca, Mayor of Rae, after that we had to chat as to how to avoid the potholes along the way. We took our time going back to Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. This is just about our third year in office and we are still in trial and errors. I would like to caution the Members about unparliamentary words used in this Chamber. Members' statements. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the Pages who are here with us this week. I just want to say, first of all, I represent six communities, the most communities of all of the MLAs in the Legislative Assembly. I was allowed to bring only three, so I brought three Pages from my three communities. However, there will be opportunities in the future, I hope, to bring other Pages to this House. First of all, I want to say that along with the other Pages from the other communities, I have had the opportunity to have with us today, Caralee Jumbo from Trout Lake and Carla Norwegian from Jean Marie River, John Paul Tanka from Nahanni Butte. Mr. Speaker, along with the other Pages from other communities, they have had a good experience here, with us. At first, when they came here, they were very shy and not sure of what they were getting themselves into. Over the days, we all could see they have gained in self-confidence, and they have gained in experience. They have done a good job here for us this week. The other day, I asked three young people from my constituency what they think about this Legislative Assembly and if they could see themselves doing this kind of work. Easily, they said that sure, we could do this kind of work eventually. It is a good sign, Mr. Speaker, that there are going to be other people following us in this line of work and they have no problem in saying that they could do this kind of work. It is a good opportunity for young people to come in here from other communities. It is a good program. I would like to thank all the Pages, especially, the three from my constituency and the Legislative Assembly for allowing this opportunity. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Evaloarjuk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not reading from written material, but I would just like to say today in my Member's statement that the Baffin leaders will be having a summit July 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th for all of the mayors and other leaders in the Baffin and Keewatin region. Perhaps, if the Ministers have been invited, maybe even the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs would like to attend the meeting. Any other Ministers who would like to attend the meeting to speak to the leadership could perhaps attend. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

--Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past several weeks and in this House during the last sitting, I had asked the Minister of Health, Mr. Ng, questions concerning the Hepatitis C negotiations and finding an agreement reached by the territorial and the provincial Health Ministers with the federal government on compensation for the Hepatitis C sufferers. However, Mr. Speaker, over the past couple of weeks, we have learned that there have been problems with that original initial agreement that was reached. I wonder if our Health Minister could update us on the status of the NWT position on the health care compensation for Hepatitis C sufferers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in respect to the original agreement that covered the individuals impacted between January, 1986 and June, 1990, that agreement between the federal government and all jurisdictions remains intact. As some Members may have seen through media reports, the Government of Ontario and the Government of Quebec have pledged additional dollars to compensate individuals who were outside of that window period. There was a meeting of Ministers of Health subsequent to that, which did not open up the package per se. What was agreed upon was that some working groups made up of officials from jurisdictions would sit down to try to work out some of the options that could be looked at and report back to the Ministers in approximately, I believe, three weeks from now. Mr. Speaker, thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister earlier mentioned, some of the provincial jurisdictions have, indeed, tried to add extra monies to the pot for the Hepatitis C victims. What is the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories in regard to the original agreement and to any extra compensation that would be available for the Hepatitis C suffers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, along with other jurisdictions, the Northwest Territories supports the original agreement that was made in respect to any additional potential compensation that is going to be developed in conjunction with the working group in identifying what some of those options may be before we would formalize a position. However, the Northwest Territories on a national scale is a small part of the whole Hepatitis C issue. Although, we do have individuals who are impacted, our objective is to try to reach a national consensus that we can provide to all individuals who are impacted, Mr. Speaker, thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that. The Minister mentioned earlier that the Northwest Territorial jurisdiction on a national scene is a small player or the impact is less with our sufferers. We still have people who are impacted by the Hepatitis C situation through no fault of their own, Mr. Speaker. I wonder how many individuals are we talking about in the Northwest Territories and what type of financial compensation or financial qualifications that will occur for the territorial government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories has approximately 14 individuals, I understand, who are impacted in that window period. Financial compensation per se has not been clearly defined yet, in that there is a global allocation that has been identified and agreed upon, but the details of how the payments will be made, and in what forum is going to depend a lot on the working groups that are sitting down now making the outline of the details of that financial package that may be offered to these individuals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Northwest Territories represented at the working groups who are looking at the compensation packages for Hepatitis C? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not know if we have an actual representative on it, but certainly we are privy to the information that comes forward, but I will check into that and advise the Member. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd. Two questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I have said on a number of occasions that, at least in our opinion, there is absolutely no down risk, if you want, to any of the UNW members now employees. My understanding is that there will be a 2 percent increase in 1998-99 to the base salary. There will be an additional 2 percent increase to the employees in 1999-2000 to the base salary.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Mr. Todd.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I will double check with my Deputy Minister, Mr. Voytilla, but my understanding of it in the notes I have is there is a 2 percent increase to the base in 1998-99 and a 2 percent increase in the base in 1999-2000, but just to get real clarity on this, because as I said the other day there was a fairly long complicated response, I will get clarity from my deputy at the break and have an opportunity to talk to my colleague. I believe it is to the base salary and there should be no changes. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This project is also a priority of my department. I think there has been a misunderstanding with the community. We have not deferred this project. It is still our priority. It is up to the community if they want to go ahead with it. The community may have thought that it has been deferred, but it has not. It is

up to the community what they want to do with it. We have approved it. It is ready to go and the department will be there for the community when they want us to proceed with the project. We just need direction from the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the AGM in Hay River, the department will be meeting with the mayor of Fort McPherson and we will be giving him some information. At this time, this is our priority, and we will do everything we can to help the Member because he has been working very hard on this initiative and also give the information out to the community the best we can. It is also our priority. I do not have the documentation that he is talking about, but we will proceed with this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we will get the answers to his questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Enuaraq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question will be directed to the Minister of Transportation, the honourable Mr. Antoine. Mr. Speaker, it has been some time now that the residents of Pangnirtung have been asking to have their airport runway relocated. I understand the federal officials from Ottawa and from the Department of Transportation were in Pangnirtung not too long ago. I was wondering if the Minister could update this House on the relocation of the runway in Pangnirtung? Thank you.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we did have a tour of some of the Baffin communities in the winter time with members representative of the federal government, Transport Canada. We did visit the honourable Member's community of Pangnirtung to see if we could get some partnership arrangements going with the federal government to look at some of these airports which require attention. This is one of them. Mr. Speaker, this government does not have the financial capacity at this time, to do the major relocation of the community airport in Pangnirtung. We need to make some sort of arrangement. If we could get commitments from the federal government, Transport Canada, then it would be easier to do it. However, following the visit with the officials of Transport Canada, there has been no movement at all on their part. Apparently, there were some personnel changes within that department and it seems as a result of that the process that we had agreed upon has been slowed down. I will get back to the Member on exactly where this whole process is at as soon as I can. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in about six weeks, the Nunavut leaders are scheduled to meet in Nunavut. It will be a very important meeting to update people and Members of this House and all the organizations involved in the creation of Nunavut with the progress to date. My question is for the Deputy Premier, Mr. Arlooktoo. There was concern at the last meeting that it was a closed door meeting and the public was not allowed. Has any thought been made to opening the meeting this time around to the public, like previous meetings? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Premier, Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the last meeting, we did have several working sessions in the beginning that only the working parties were involved in. We did open the meeting in the end to inform the public on what the discussions had been and to allow the public and media to ask questions. At this point in time, we have not

discussed the issue on whether we would follow the same process or not. We are planning to have a conference call in the next few days between myself, the Minister of DIAND and the NTI president on such issues as location, chairmanship, et cetera, I can certainly bring up the issue. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Earlier, three or four months, I was involved in some discussions concerning the planned Nunavut celebrations and represented the Deputy Premier at a meeting. I am wondering has the Deputy Premier been involved in any discussions as the Deputy Premier of the Northwest Territories government concerning the Nunavut celebrations and what aspect, financial contribution and other contributions that the territorial government will be making toward these important celebrations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Premier, Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First, I do appreciate the fact that the Member agreed to represent me. I could not attend the meeting that I was invited to for the Nunavut celebrations. Other than some correspondence I have received from Mr. Amagoalik on the emblem and on the flag, I have not been intimately involved in the discussions about the celebration. I, along with Mr. Todd, have focused our attention on actual government functions, programs, capacity, the contracting out functions of the real groundwork of division and have basically left the issue of celebrations and that part of the program to the committee which was selected to do the job.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will this government be providing logistic and other help to the organizers of the Nunavut celebrations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been quite involved in all other aspects of the planning for division, the major conferences that have occurred on Social Development, Justice and the Abilities Conference that have just happened. We have made our staff and expertise available. In some cases, we have provided some funding to help to defray the costs. Here again, with the arrangements for the celebrations, we do have our staff and some of our experts involved, and yes, indeed, we are and will remain involved. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of RWED. About three weeks ago, I presented a position paper to the federal Standing Committee on Fisheries in Iqaluit concerning fishery quotas for Nunavut and in particular the Baffin region. There has been quite a concern that, indeed, the federal government is still involved in a court case with NTI concerning the allocation for Fisheries and the quotas of such belonging to the straddling stocks and the adjacency of fisheries quotas in Nunavut. Could the Minister for RWED update us as to this government's position with his correspondence with Mr. Anderson concerning this issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Renewable Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. I realize the Member for Iqaluit made reference to a court challenge on this, and I advise the Minister to be careful in the way he responds to this question. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

The Minister of Health and Social Services

, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is the board that deals with the disposition of funds for alcohol and drug programs within their service area and in this case, the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board. As I had indicated to the Member in our telephone conference with the officials from the Tl'oondih Healing Society, I would try to endeavour to find out where the funds were going in the Inuvik service area and see what kind of proposal have been coming forward from the Tl'oondih Healing Society to the board, as well, to see if there was some kind of process to try and assist them to obtain funding, if they could provide a service for the board to their community. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in those same discussions with the honourable Member present, in Fort McPherson there certainly seems to be a competing interest in another society that is providing some of the community wellness initiatives and services for their constituents. As I had indicated, I have tried to find out the details of what organizations were getting what source of funding from the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board and try to work out a solution that could benefit the community as a whole. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. I would like to, again, remind the Members about asking questions concerning their preamble and repeating their preamble, in their supplementaries. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, not from the Department of Health and Social Services. We have tried intentionally to put all of the funding for delivery of programs, Community Wellness Programs, Alcohol and Drug Programs, Mental Health Programs, Social Services Programs out to the regional boards for distribution in an effort to try to bring some more accountability and responsiveness at the regional level to those program providers. Thank you.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will commit to getting back to the Member as soon as possible, but in our discussions of two days ago, I believe we outlined a process where the Tl'oondih Healing Society was writing a letter requesting certain information from the board. They were going to send a carbon copy ourselves, and we are going to wait for a response from the board before we pursued the next step, Mr. Speaker. I will commit to doing it as soon as possible, but given that we have reached an agreement on the steps, I will have to wait for those steps to take place. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Barnabas.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been almost over a month since the accident occurred in Nanisivik. I have written a letter to the Minister of Transportation as to what the status report is. My question to the Minister of Transportation is, why has the status report on the accident not been given to me, even though I wrote them a letter? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to apologize to the honourable Member if he has not received a response. We have taken this accident very seriously. Safety at the workplace is a very important factor for us in the Department of Transportation. Once again, I would like to apologize to the honourable Member. We will see where this response is within the Department of Transportation and we will get back to him as soon as we can. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

The question is out of order. The Minister cannot confirm or deny a media report. Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, over the past year there has been a fiscal windfall by the federal government in UI premiums. As we know, Mr. Speaker, the cost of doing business in the north is quite high. Some provincial jurisdictions are moving toward asking the federal Minister to decimate that money into the hands of employers and jurisdictions. I am wondering, Mr. Speaker, what the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories is on the surplus on the EI Fund and have any discussions taken place between our Minister and the federal government with regard to this? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been considerable debate by both provincial and territorial colleagues with respect to what some would say is real and some would say perceived huge surpluses in the UIC budget. No consensus has been reached with the federal Minister on what course of action the federal Minister should do and how it impacts upon provincial and territorial jurisdictions. It is still very much in the discussions stages at this time. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess the Minister has confirmed that he has been involved in the discussions. I am wondering, could the Minister inform this House and the people of the Northwest Territories what the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories is on this surplus in the EI Fund? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On issue of this magnitude, Mr. Speaker - and that was the point I was trying to make in my earlier response - we are trying to work through with our territorial colleagues, for example, in the Yukon and some of our provincial allies, and what would be an appropriate position we would take which would meet our needs and some of the provincial needs. At this time, that has not been clearly defined. We are still in discussions and the negotiation stage. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that the finance Minister has a good working relationship with Mr. Paul Martin, the Federal Finance Minister. Will Mr. Todd be bringing this issue up with Mr. Martin in his very soon meeting over the course of the next few weeks? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

That is a very important national issue, as I am sure my colleague knows, and certainly, I would be only too happy to bring them up and share them with Mr. Martin. My only point that I am trying to make is, you need to try and reach a consensus and gather some support on these issues. Therefore, you need to give us some flexibility as we move forward in negotiations. Certainly, it is an important one and we will deal with it expeditiously and report back to the House.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Roland.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Ng.