Thank you, Mr. Steen. We wish them well and look forward to a report on the conclusion of their run. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a couple of days ago I listened with interest as Mr. Bell questioned the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment about whether the Working Together Program would continue in the next fiscal year.

This program has been a tremendous success, creating hundreds of jobs for young people over the years. Not just creating jobs for students, but also for those who are making the difficult transition from school to employment.

Mr. Speaker, as we have heard over and over, youth have a much higher rate of unemployment than others in the North. Working Together has helped by making it easier for employers to hire inexperienced people, allowing young people to escape the vicious circle that results from not having enough experience to get a job, and no way to get a job without having some experience.

Minister Ootes advised the House that funding for this important and effective program will end on March 31, 2000, scant weeks before students arrive home, hoping to make some money to help them return to school next fall, or recent graduates looking for their first job.

Mr. Speaker, I hope the Minister will remember how important he thought this program was when it was discussed in this House last year. Looking at Hansard for May 10th, 1999, Mr. Ootes, as the Member for Yellowknife Centre, said, and I quote:

"We have been talking about ensuring employment for students for a number of years now. It seems strange to me that we have a special program called Working Together, and only if the budget is passed, do we have that summer student employment program."

He went on to say, and I quote:

"It seems to me that this kind of program should have been planned out well ahead of time. We were well aware that we were going to have an interim budget and I would have thought it would have been in that interim budget."

Mr. Speaker, on reviewing Hansard for February 22, 2000 Mr. Ootes told us that this program will only continue if it is included in the budget. We know, from Mr. Handley's statement, that the budget will not be introduced in the House until June.

Mr. Speaker, that is far too late to help summer students this year. A program this important must be supported. I hope Mr. Ootes will remember the position he took on this program when he was on this side of the House. We must quickly assure young people and employers that the Working Together Program will continue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our fiscal situation impacts how we look at our economic potential. Mr. Speaker, the role of government in this area plays a large role of how the economic potential will be developed.

I know many organizations outside of this government would rather have us play a lesser role. They want to see us move forward, and not tie it up with red tape. There is a need to be proactive in this area, Mr. Speaker. We have to take positive action that results in accomplishments.

It has been said time and time again how government has so much red tape. Have we done anything to clear it up? We have billions of dollars ready to be spent in the Northwest Territories if we can become proactive and move forward on the potential we have sitting in the ground. How are we going to do that?

It takes dollars to be involved. The longer we hold back and not develop on these processes, we will find ourselves in a more difficult position when it comes to developing our own potential.

We know there is talk of an intergovernmental forum, which I think is the right avenue to take. But we need to get on with the process. We need to get to the table and talk out the discussions. I note what Premier Kakfwi has stated on a number of occasions, in the previous Assembly as well as early on in this one; maybe it is time to lock ourselves behind closed doors for two or three days and hammer out a deal.

We know the aboriginal groups are being proactive. They have come out and made motions in the area of sustainable development. We are starting down that process. We need to get a move on it so we can truly find new dollars to put towards effective programs in the Northwest Territories, not just try to move around our ever-shrinking dollar. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring the conversation back into the sports arena for a minute, on the topic of the Arctic Winter Games. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the athletes from Hay River who have been successful in obtaining a spot on Team NWT for the Arctic Winter Games.

I would also like to thank all of the coaches from Hay River who have put in a lot of time with the athletes to get the teams ready. And I would like to thank all of the volunteers who have participated in organizing the regional and territorial trials, which enabled us to have the best of our athletes represent us at the Arctic Winter Games.

I would like to commend the staff at Sport North. Having been involved in the Arctic Winter Games for a number of years as a coach and participant, I have worked closely with the staff at Sport North. They perform all of the organizing for the sports. This year, they seem to have done an exceptional job. I do not know if it is because of the split with Nunavut that they have fewer athletes, but they are doing a wonderful job. I have enjoyed working with them this year.

I feel privileged to have the opportunity to participate in the Arctic Winter Games again this year. I am going to be coaching the Hay River Junior Girls Curling Team. I am privileged to have that opportunity. I would like to issue a challenge to Members on both sides of the House; it is incumbent upon us to have good representation at the Arctic Winter Games. We sit in the House and talk about how good this is for our kids and how important it is to have them involved in the games. I think it is also important for us to be very visible to our athletes at the games, to show we support them and encourage their participation in the sport. Thank you, very much, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, the Honourable Joe Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address questions raised by Mr. Roland in the House concerning the business planning and main estimates process. First, I would like to clarify my previous statement regarding the call letters for the 2000 to 2003 business plan. Deputy ministers were briefed on the schedule and process on February 18, 2000. The actual call letters will be sent to all departments on February 24, 2000.

In response to Mr. Roland's question concerning the final direction for the main estimate process, call letters will be sent by mid-March. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Premier, Mr. Stephen Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a response to a question asked by Ms. Sandy Lee on February 23, 2000, regarding a fuel spill on Highway No. 3.

You asked for the status of the cleanup and the extent of environmental damage related to the RTL tanker truck accident on Highway No. 3 on February 20, 2000. Some of the details in media reports concerning the volume of the spill and the status of cleanup have not been entirely accurate.

Although the quantity of diesel spilled has not been determined, RTL estimates half of the 43,000 litre load was lost. The resulting contamination has been limited to the immediate area of the spill. A small nearby slough is not expected to be impacted. The immediate cleanup activities should be completed by RTL over the next two days. There is a possibility that contamination may have seeped into the ground and, therefore, the company will have to readdress this issue during spring run-off. RWED will continue to monitor the immediate cleanup activities and follow up with site inspections in the spring and summer to determine if further cleanup is required by the company. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

At this time, I would like to recognize the 11 Russian aboriginal leaders in the gallery today, who are here as part of their tour of Canada, sponsored by the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Canada office, to learn from the Canadian aboriginal experience.

During their three weeks in Canada, they have attended a ten-day seminar in Ottawa, met with national aboriginal leaders, federal parliamentarians and senators, visited the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta, the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in of Inuvik and Aklavik, the Metis Nation, and officials of DIAND and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs here in Yellowknife, and are now here to visit our gallery. This is the final step of their three-week journey across Canada. I would like to ask you to welcome them to our gallery. Enjoy your visit.

-- Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the president of the Metis Nation of the Northwest Territories, Mr. George Morin.

-- Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Mr. Arthur Inch, a long time resident of the Northwest Territories, and the father of our committee clerk, Mr. Dave Inch.

-- Applause

Welcome, Mr. Inch. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Welcome, Ms. Thomas. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to recognize the president of the Metis Nation, Mr. George Morin. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment regarding my Member's statement about this young individual who took it upon herself to see what other educational institutions are out there, where she feels she can probably get a better education and some cultural experience by going overseas.

I am speaking of the program that Ms. Candace Smith was able to enter, which is the E.F.S.F. High School Year Abroad Program, which is a program that is delivered worldwide. In this program, students have opportunities to go to school in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, France, the United States, and New Zealand, which Ms. Smith chose.

One of the problems I have seen working with the family was that there are no territorial programs in place to assist people who find themselves accepted into these national programs. I would like to ask the Minister if the department has looked at the Education Act to find a way in which they can consolidate not only federal programs but initiatives such as this, where students from the Northwest Territories go overseas? Has the department looked at the possibility of providing financial assistance on behalf of this government?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I think Mr. Krutko has a point that it is commendable that students look for opportunities in other jurisdictions that perhaps offer very beneficial programs. In this case, it has shown a great deal of initiative by the individual.

The ability of the territorial government to assist in this has been limited by the regulations we have in place, where we provide funding to the nearest destination.

I am not sure if all of the possibilities have been explored, in terms of providing funding for people to go to other jurisdictions outside of the country. I will certainly check that for the Member and get back to him on that.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regarding other groups and agencies, such as the Brighter Futures Program, and funding from the Gwich'in Tribal Council, and charitable organizations such as the Lions Club...I feel it is initiatives like these where we can see some positive outcomes. The experience alone as a government is worth it to see what other institutions are doing around the world in improving the education of the people in the North.

I would like to ask the Minister if he could also look at the possibility of working with organizations to find some charitable society or institution where we can work in partnership to assist people in these types of programs?