Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, when the transfer was made, I am sure there were a lot of things that were included in the amount of money that was transferred. In fact, I would think generally that the federal government transferred the amount of money they were spending on the Arctic 'A' Airports before the transfer, but I have looked into this and I am continuing to look into it.

I found out that the federal practice prior to the transfer was not to pay everybody out for two trips whether they took them or not, but rather to issue certificates or coupons for the employees to purchase travel when they actually travelled. They would have to actually travel in order to be eligible and that was what the amount of money transferred to the Government of the Northwest Territories was based on. It was not just a cheque written to everybody for two trips each year.

We did go through it and as a result of the change in the collective agreement, there was a lack of clarify on this. It went to grievance. It was heard. The chairman of that process made his decision. We are following it. Certainly we want to help the employees. We just ask them to dig up and go back to the agencies and give us some proof that they travelled and we will reimburse them. We cannot just write a cheque for everybody assuming that everybody made two trips every year because that is not the case for any government employees, I do not think, or very many. So we need some proof. I will continue to work with the Member to try to resolve this one. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to further trying to deal with this, but if the answer is the same as has been stated, to come up with more receipts, then we are not going to move anywhere on this. In fact, by putting that stipulation on it, we are telling some of the employees -- and some of these people I know quite well, they are from my constituency -- that because they did not have the dollars, tough luck, too bad. You are out of luck and this government will not honour that initial agreement. I ask the Minister again, will he go back and give these employees what their due entitlement was of the day? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I have gone back. I have spent a lot of hours on this one. I believe we have given the employees everything they are entitled to, for which they have shown us some proof that they travelled. I am confident that what we have done is within the decision on the grievance that was put forward. It is within the terms of the agreement, the collective agreement. If there is anything more I can do, I am willing to do it, but I cannot go outside of a collective agreement. I cannot go beyond what the grievance process awarded. I have to be fair to all employees. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question now to the Minister is: in being fair to these employees because these employees were in that transfer agreement, what do they rate? If the Premier said every employee should have the right to be defended by Ministers, but in fact we are telling these employees "You do not quite cut it in this case. Show your paperwork and then we will do something for you." Where do they rate in the agreement? We have talked in great length about how valued these employees are. Will you show them their value by reinstating this entitlement? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly respect and appreciate this group of employees. I respect and appreciate all of our employees in the Government of the Northwest Territories, but I have to say that we have a collective agreement. The collective agreement is the agreement that provides the rights for all employees and ensures that all employees are treated equally and fairly. If there ever is a dispute or disagreement on the interpretation of a section, then we go to the grievance process. We have to rely on that process to give us direction. In this case, we are following it and we will continue to follow it. I want to be fair to these employees. I want to be fair to all employees. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this afternoon is for the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board and concerns the recent tentative collective agreement that was signed with the Union of Northern Workers. The deal calls for an increment of 3.8 percent in the first year and 2.5 percent in the second year, plus increments in various benefits, Mr. Speaker.

I am pleased that the talks had a positive outcome. I will look forward to a good, smooth ratification process. I hope that this is going to be the prelude of continuing improvement in the relationship that our government has with our workers.

I wanted to ask the Minister, how does our government now stand in relation to salary and benefit levels with our government and public sector workers in Canada? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I will have to take that question as notice. There is a lot of detailed information to compare us to all the other jurisdictions. I do not have it with me. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty. Before we go into that, I would just like to remind Members that we have a full slate of questions today. I have asked you to maintain your rules of brevity and get to the point to the question to allow everybody an opportunity to ask questions. Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can only speak to the portion of the funding that the board receives with respect to health and social services and, as Mr. Lafferty is aware, this is the first year that a number of the health boards have operated with a deficit. So this is a new issue we are facing. It is not just with the Dogrib Community Services Board, but with three other boards as well.

The Dogrib Community Services Board did have an operating deficit this year. However, they had an accumulated surplus from last year and now that the financial information has been compiled, the department will be working with the board to ensure that they have sufficient financial resources to carry out the programs and services in their area.

They will be looking at areas that may not be within the control of the board, such as forced growth and expenditures related to inflation. They will be looking at a number of areas. So, yes, in answer to the Member's question, the department will work with the board to ensure that they are adequately funded through the budgeting process. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not certain what it would take to create that assurance because the types of facilities that are located in different communities vary. If we took it on a straight money spent on a per capita basis, it would probably not be a fair assessment. There are many things that affect the costs of delivery services in communities, such as their remoteness from things such as hospitals.

All I can say is that we can look at the funding that is available to the Dogrib region in relation to other regions, but it would take a fair amount of analysis to determine it if was on par. I have no reason to doubt that the Dogrib communities are being treated fairly in terms of the way that our funding is allocated. We could look further into offering verification of this for the Member.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.