Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I recently received the annual report from the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors. This association was formed in 1983 by a group of citizens concerned about issues facing seniors. Their mission statement is "Building the support of communities for the health of seniors." Mr. Speaker, over the past 17 years, the association has provided a range of good programs and services in support of seniors. They have found sources of funding that help to build much needed facilities such as the Aven senior's home and the Baker Community Centre.

With seniors being the fastest growing segment of the Northwest Territories population, the association's board stresses in this report that a coordinated plan is necessary to address the issues facing seniors across the North.

Mr. Speaker, our government has recognized the need for a Minister responsible for seniors and it has appointed one. However, Mr. Speaker, he has no budget. Depending on which programs or services are required, right now, seniors may have to deal with either the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation or local health and social services boards.

It is time, Mr. Speaker, for this government to develop a long-term plan that is coordinated at the territorial level to address issues facing seniors. The Minister responsible for Seniors should be tasked with bringing different government departments together to ensure that seniors enjoy a one-window approach to services.

Mr. Speaker, the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors and other seniors' organizations across the Northwest Territories cannot achieve their goals by working alone. We owe it to our seniors. We must develop a coordinated approach that provides programs and services for the maximum benefit of all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today is in regard to the fur industry and the importance of it, especially in my riding. The fur industry has built this country to what it is today and we have seen the history of the fur industry as bright. However, we have to realize the importance of the fur industry to our small aboriginal communities, and improving and enhancing that industry like we are improving and enhancing the oil and gas industry or the diamond industry. We are giving loan guarantees in the range of $9.2 million to certain industries to enhance their ability to market the different trades.

We have to do just as well in the fur industry when we talk about enhancing the fur markets, making the fur products, and also enhancing the ability of the trappers themselves to be able to continue to carry out this activity.

Everyone knows that there has been a major impact on the fur industry in regard to the European boycott and the efforts by this government to impose the leg-hold trap on the trapping industry which, to date, is one of the biggest factors for a trapper to continue with traditional trapping methods which are no longer there. Also, the high cost of fuels, gas, transportation and food for people to continue that practice.

We hear a lot of things on the radio lately about the trapping industry and how we can enhance it. We can enhance it as we have in this government where we heard yesterday from the Minister responsible for Education. He has found $12 million to do a study in regard to non-renewable resources. Yet we are seeing dwindling resources in the resource-based economy to assist trappers to go out and harvest their furs. Also, the ability for them to purchase traps to go out and carry out that activity is no longer there.

I think it is essential that this government implement a similar program that we have in regard to other industry, enhancing those industries. However, this government also has to spend the money resources on the trapping industry as we are in other sectors.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development questions on this matter later. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this day I refer to an issue I have been working on since my days in the 13th Assembly. It is regarding the justice facility that has been planned to be constructed in Inuvik, Female Young Offenders Facility, to be specific.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a growing concern in the community of wondering when this will proceed and there have been a number of times that the Minister has committed that this project is still moving ahead. There are continuing concerns where the Department of Justice has raised issues of cost expenditures and the first time it came forward was the cost of the utilidor to the proposed building. The Town of Inuvik, along with the Housing Corporation, worked together to get the proposed utilidor to the property line at no cost to the department.

Now, Mr. Speaker, an issue that has come up is the area that is selected and the cost overruns that it would probably receive. I have a concern with this because the community has once come forward and come to the table and offered what it can. In fact, on the utilidor extension alone, the community of Inuvik, the Town Council of Inuvik, is ready to put forward up to $350,000 to ensure that this project proceeds. Now I know there are concerns when this decision was made back in the 13th Assembly that this was a project that was picked out of somebody else's back yard. I think there has been work going on to try and bring this back to where some people feel it should go.

The facts are very clear, Mr. Speaker. Over 40 percent of the young offenders in that facility are from the Beaufort Delta area. We need the opportunity to deal with our own people with families to have a solid impact in turning some of these young people around before they become a permanent fixture in the justice system. With that, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Justice at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are in the midst of a welcome increase in our economy in the Northwest Territories and the good things that come with it: jobs, investment, long-term hope and stability as we work toward becoming a have Territory. However, along with that, Mr. Speaker, come the negative consequences of a boom economy and the demands it is putting on our already limited infrastructure. This is not news. We knew it was coming and one of the earliest signals we are getting is the pressure on the cost of living. I am particularly concerned about the trend in rental accommodation developing in Yellowknife.

In the last two years, we have seen vacancy rates drop from 11 percent to 2.5 percent. A quick survey of some landlords shows that, at this time, rents are increasing from three percent to in some cases over 20 percent as businesses move to capture fuel costs that are up some 70 percent and take advantage of demand in a market that has not seen rent increases in more than a decade.

Along with the increasing work force, the rental shortage is compounded by the conversion of rental units to condominiums and executive suites.

Mr. Speaker, in Yellowknife, we are facing a serious situation. The impact on low-income families being squeezed out and having fewer and fewer choices is of particular alarm. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Inuvik Boot Lake has similar stories where a one-bedroom apartment is now $1,000 a month, a 25 percent increase in the past year.

While developers need to cover their costs and make a fair return on their investment, the trends are cause to examine the situation at various levels of government. Let me make it clear, Mr. Speaker. In saying this, I oppose anything that looks like rent controls. The free rules of supply and demand are firmly established here and I do not believe they should be interfered with. However, I also feel our government has as much responsibility to manage both the good and the bad sides of economic growth. My message, Mr. Speaker, is that our municipal governments, our territorial government, landlords, developers, lenders and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation need to collectively work together to balance our housing situation. We have also got something to gain and lose by how we manage this. I will be asking the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation questions related to this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My comments today are on residential schools. It is very evident now that residential school abuse has had a serious and traumatic impact on the aboriginal people of the Northwest Territories. Many of the social problems affecting Northerners today can be traced to residential school abuse. Granted, not all students that attended residential school suffered abuse. Many of our leaders today attended these schools and are now role models for our communities. There are others who claim that the residential school program is the best thing that could have happened to them at the time.

For many years, society has refused to admit that anything so horrendous could have taken place at the hands of people in religion or in government-run facilities. However, Mr. Speaker, we have to admit that the abuse has taken place at the hostels and residential schools. The abuse came in many forms; physical, mental, sexual or neglect. It all added up to abuse.

Mr. Speaker, these same students were also forbidden to speak their own language. They also no longer had the opportunity to pursue traditional activities. Mr. Speaker, many of these students lost their identity and their sense of self. In short, Mr. Speaker, they became paradoxes in their own land. We cannot ignore the fact that a great deal of abuse that has happened in the North is the result of government failing to protect children while in their care and housed in their facilities. We will probably never be able to right that wrong and we will probably have to live with the consequences for many generations to come.

However, Mr. Speaker, we have to recognize the impact that residential schools have had on the people of the Northwest Territories. We have to provide the support to the victims during the trials and the hearings and encourage this government to provide the programs and services that support the healing and foster safe environments for individuals, families and communities as a result of this big injustice that we are finally able to admit has taken place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Merci, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in this House on previous occasions I have raised the issue of a recruitment and retention plan and the need for the department to focus more on the retention aspect of that program. I rise once again to speak about that issue.

In the last number of months, Mr. Speaker, I have had experience with four different health and social service professionals and their trials and tribulations in terms of training and trying to get funding to go to school. If the way they are being treated is any indication, then we are not doing enough in the area of the retention side of this program.

We do not seem to be willing to make a true commitment to supporting ongoing education. When students apply, the program is so complicated and has so many pots of money, they are forced to go to many different places trying to get money rather than having a convenient, one-window approach. When we do send them away on a practicuum, they are expected to look for other pots of money from outside of government or we will nickel and dime them over issues like travel and meals, which government employees take for granted. When they do get their education, once again we are less than supportive. We insist that they need two to three years experience to be hired. If they do not have that, we offer them a mentorship. Unfortunately, the mentorship is at a wage that is so low and for such an extended period of time, most people cannot afford to do that. After that, we seem to be offering terms or keeping them on tender hooks waiting for a permanent job offer.

We are also I do not believe doing a good enough job working with northern students who have gone south to school. Only as recently as today, I have received a message from one of those students saying she is being swamped with offers to stay down south. She was rejected for assistance last year, and she was going to try one more time this year, but very clearly if the government was not interested, she would not be out of work. If this in fact happens, Mr. Speaker, it would be a failure. It would be unfortunate and it would be to our detriment. I mean not only from the North, but in this case to the people of Fort Smith. Lots of time and money has been spent encouraging people to train, to become educated, to become nurses, and to have them leave for other jurisdictions would be the greatest failure of all. So I hope that the department will in fact take the steps necessary to improve in this area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize a number of Hay Riverites in the academic field. Firstly, Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize a constituent of mine and one who I am sure has made at least one Member sitting across extremely proud. Mr. Speaker, my congratulations go out to Geoffrey Groenewegen on receiving the Minister's award for academic achievement. Geoffrey obtained the highest mark in the Northwest Territories in the 1999-2000 social studies departmental exam.

Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize residents of Hay River for their participation in the Northwest Territories Literacy Council Read for Fifteen campaign. Hay River, Mr. Speaker, recorded 1,203 participants. In comparison, Yellowknife, with five times the population, recorded 880.

Mr. Speaker, I would like at this time to recognize Harry Camsell Elementary School staff in Hay River for a recent technology award they won. They were the only school in the Northwest Territories to win this award. They were one of the 20 grants awarded to the schools across Canada. It made me very proud to have a school from Hay River among this elite group.

Mr. Speaker, the award was bestowed by Industry Canada. It was in recognition of schools demonstrating innovative uses of a technology. Harry Camsell School, in particular teacher Tyler Hawkins, is very progressive in their use of the software programs to promote communications and research skills. Mr. Speaker, Harry Camsell School is part of a very large network of schools involved in educational research. The information communications technology programs currently employed by the school have helped them build team learning within the school. This is vital to the enrichment of our students. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to add that the students, through the use of a database they created, are able to communicate, do research, and link up with students in other parts of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to close by saying that our teachers are to be commended for the valuable work they do on a daily basis. Their ability to guide our children through the information highway will result in unparalleled opportunities for our children in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.