Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, September 9, 1999, I will move that Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to return to item 6, oral questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a question today for the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. In the past, there has been considerable debate take place in the Northwest Territories and in this House, as recorded in Hansard, with respect to the recycling of containers in the Northwest Territories. There are reports that would indicate that based on our per capita, consumption of soft drinks in aluminum cans, that there are approximately six million cans of pop consumed yearly in the Northwest Territories. These cans presently are all going into landfill sites because we do not have any form of deposit system or a way that people will have an incentive to return these to be recycled. I would like to ask the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development why this is the case and why, like other provinces in Canada, nothing has ever been put in place in the Northwest Territories to recycle these products. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no infrastructure in which to get into recycling at a level we would like. As Members know, in the small communities there are huge numbers of bottles, paper, tin cans, pop cans, aluminum cans, discarded vehicles, skidoos and automotive body parts. We have no large scale organized approach to recycling in the North because of the distance, the lack of agents that would seek to gain access to these items that I have listed. We have no program at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is absolutely right. Our communities are filling up with these things. Given the infrastructure that we have and the back-hauling we have, barges and empty trucks coming back right from the Arctic coast all the way back into the South Slave where there is access to roads and rail, being that the infrastructure is all in place and it would be economical to back-haul these items, what would it take to organize a system here in the Northwest Territories to put this in place? It used to be that people could load up their vehicles and take these used products back into Alberta, but at the Alberta depots when they see the NWT licence plate they will not accept these anymore. We are basically forced to waste these products and not be very environmentally conscious because our government has nothing in place for a return and deposit system. What would it take to put something like that in place? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I think that the department can put together a small paper that would address that. It would be a multifaceted project ending with consumers and dealing with people who purchase supplies, the government as well as municipalities, transportation companies would all need to be involved if such an initiative for it to take place. I can provide a paper to the Members that would outline all the different elements that would be necessary to get into such a major recycling project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so the Minister does not see any obstacles in working with business, and working with municipalities, and working with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to put such a plan in place? How long does he think it will take to implement a system like this in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I intended to convey earlier, is a commitment to describe what all the considerations that would have to be taken into account in describing a possible program, all the different elements that must be considered and engaged if we should get into recycling of any significant scale. There is no commitment to get into recycling of this time. We can put together a paper that can lay out for the Member and Members exactly what would be entailed and required if we wanted to seriously consider getting into a major recycling program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the environmental concerns that could be addressed through such a program and given the monetary benefit that there could be to communities, and to individuals in being involved in this, I am still unclear as to where this would originate. Would this come from private industry or would it take

people who are concerned about the environment to lobby this government? What is it going to take? Given all the benefits, I would imagine this government should be the one that would aggressively pursue such a program, but in the absence of that, where could the Minister direct us to, to generate the interest to get this off the ground. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is some information that would be required to answer the question. What I am trying to say is that there are recycling programs in other parts of the world and other parts of the country and there are different types of programs that happen. Some are done by municipalities, some may have been initiated by the private sector, but in all cases it is a multi-party type of initiative that requires government, the private sector, the consumers, as well as people who sell goods, people who transport goods, as well as municipalities that would be required to be interested in supporting parties to such a program. What I have said is, I would try and put this in simple terms in a paper and provide that to Members, so Members can look at it and perhaps include it in their campaign promises in our upcoming election. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. It is regarding housing shortages that we have in our communities. We have cases where families have to live with other family members because there is a shortage of houses available in our communities. Also, families of six or more people living in a small 5-12 housing unit with wood stoves and with honey buckets.

Regarding the community of Tsiigehtchic where a lot of people would like to return back to their home community and once they get there find it awfully frustrating to try and find accommodation so that they can provide for their families. Also, the type of units that are available in a lot of these communities. My question to the Minister is, what is his department doing to improve the housing shortages in our community?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Housing Corporation runs a number of programs that are designed to address the needs of families who are in overcrowded situations as well as low income. The main program we have know is the expanded or extended down payment assistance plan that helps people in coming up with the down payment to purchase their own homes. We also have the Independent Housing Program that is an alternative program for low income families, but as Members are well aware here, we still run into a lot of problems where we cannot meet the needs of a lot of families in the Northwest Territories. We are doing the utmost in trying to meet those needs and address the concerns and future pressures we face from within the Housing Corporation. It has been very difficult to meet those needs in light of the reductions we receive through the federal government when they reduce spending on social housing programs so we have been trying to meet those needs through other programs and the biggest one we have now is the Extended Down Payment Assistance Program. Thank you.