Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the school financing framework looks at enrolment, the salaries required, the size of the community and it covers issues like administration and school services, instructional staff, operational costs, student transportation, inclusive schooling, consultants, southern placements, so there is a whole host of factors there considered when formulas are worked out for individual divisional education councils. It is a fairly complex formula, is broken out into percentages. Those factors are all considered as well as the costs that the Member indicated. Thank you.

I appreciate the list of facts, but other facts, Mr. Speaker, indicate that there is inadequate funding and I referred earlier to three particular programs and certainly that is born out by the, People, Our Focus for the Future report, the Minister's Forum on Education, the constant comment is inadequate resources. While I appreciate the criteria that the department uses, the reality is that they are not providing adequate funding and we are setting these programs up, it is like any business, if I am going to expand my business and do a new program and the adequate funding is not there, it will fail and this is unfortunately what we are facing here in the territory. We are introducing, and I referred to three new programs, the extension of high school programs in communities. How are we ensuring that adequate funding is being provided to those communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no argument that education would benefit by additional funds. The Member has on his desk the Main Estimates, he heard the comments in the budget speech by the Minister of Finance. It is very clearly laid out what the budget is for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. If the Member could assist and suggest to me where he would think we could take money from out of this budget and get agreement to move it to education, I would be only to happy to look at that. I do not know what his suggestions would be, does he want to look at highways, does he want to cut capital at this point without new revenues, the budget we have is the money we have to operate. I appreciate the Member's concern, we have put in $2 million out of our supplementary reserve into education for investing in people and working together to deal with student employment. I would appreciate, if the Member has specific suggestions, I would be only to happy to entertain them, but at this point I have no other revenue to offer except what has been placed in the Budget Address and in these Main Estimates. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am no magician either of saying, well take it from here or there, but that was not my point. My point is that new programs have been introduced in the past without adequate funding. I think that is the area I am concentrating on is why do we do that. I guess my message to the Minister is, let us not get into a situation of introducing new programs and we do not provide the funding because we know ahead of time that they will fail. I would like to take the Main Estimates the same as the Minister and say, well take it from here or there, but we cannot do that and I appreciate that, but I am not sitting over there introducing the programs. I am sitting over here saying that was wrong. I would like the Minister to address the question of, will he introduce any more new programs without further funding? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated when I first came over here, but before I knew that I was going to be Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, that I am interested in and my focus is going to be consolidation and bringing to a close issues and initiatives that were already underway. There are no plans for any significant new initiatives. As the Member indicated, we are very cognizant of the need to have the revenue to finance the existing system let alone bring in a bunch of new programs when there is no money. So, I can assure the Member that we are going to be very, very careful and temperate and considerate in how we move ahead as a department. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I always like to digest the words that are used. There are no plans for significant new initiatives. Can the, and I am concerned about that, because you know those words later on will be, well we said no significant new initiatives, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister assure me that there would be no new initiatives without adequate funding? As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, we are doomed to failure unless we ensure adequate funding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am somewhat saddened by how cynical and jaded my colleague, Mr. Ootes, has become in such a short period of time having sat beside him for three and a half years, but let me reassure the Member that there are no changes, there are no new programs on the books, anything that we are doing the committees are aware of. The one issue that I am working on with all due haste is the ministerial forum and trying to come up with a way to implement some of those recommendations. I can reassure the Member that there are no new program initiatives that are going to require revenue coming up. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to take exception to the Minister saying how cynical I have become since he left this side of the House. I take exception to that, I am not cynical in my approach, I am analytical and presenting facts before the Minister. That is not cynicism, Mr. Speaker.

That was my point of privilege, that I take exception, Mr. Speaker, to that wording.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week in the House the Minister responsible for Public Works and Services agreed or told us that there was, in fact, an investigation underway within the Department of Public Works and Services and that a law firm from Edmonton had been retained to look into the practices of the department with respect to the results of the conflict of interest inquiry. Mr. Steen, at that time, indicated that he could not commit to releasing the report because there may be matters of personal and confidentiality contained in that report. My question to Mr. Steen is, would he please table the terms of reference under which the firm was engaged? Thank you.