Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can appreciate the Minister of Education has only been in the portfolio a short while. I would like to ask him this question regarding student financial assistance.

While he has only been the Minister for a short while, I am sure we can agree that he was on the Government Operations Committee for much a longer time. I am going to ask the Minister to recollect a little bit here.

Last year, the Department of Education presented the Government Operations Committee with two proposals for student financial assistance revision.

They were known internally as Plan A and Plan B. I think everybody in this room is aware of Plan A and Plan B, so, we can stop pretending we do not know about them. I believe Mr. Ootes was a Member of the committee, which vehemently recommended the government look at and adopt Plan A as the most equitable solution. Can he confirm or deny that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My recollection is either the Member is referring to the Resource Management Committee, which later became the Resource Management and Infrastructure Committee.

I was not an alternate, if I recall correctly, on the Government Operations Committee. This matter was dealt with in depth by the Social Envelope Committee. As I said, I have given you the history of this. It did receive a lot of consultation publicly. I believe the previous Minister of Education started by doing a report.

From that, he established the Minister's Forum on Student Financial Assistance. Following that, there were public consultations with a number of groups. Following that, it came to the Standing Committee on the Social Envelope. Following that, it went to the Government Operations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, this particular program and the model that has been put forward is the one that has been looked at as the most acceptable by the people who have had input; the most acceptable by the most people.

It provides some key areas of concern. It provides more money for students. It invests in the future of youth of the North. It encourages student success. There are many benefits that are being passed on for students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. I believe at the end of your term you were on the Government Operations Committee when the committees were consolidated. I believe this came through Government Operations. I would just like you to confirm or deny whether or not you have knowledge of what was known as Plan A and Plan B? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. I would caution Members to focus their attention on this Assembly. I am not sure whether we should be going to see what people did in the other Assemblies. But I will allow the Minister to respond to the question. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In all honesty, I cannot recollect if I was there at the time of this. I remember that we had a situation where...I am sorry, I cannot recollect. If I recall correctly, we continued for a period of time with the infrastructure resource management and the social envelope. Then I believe we continued with government operations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Members, if you could direct your questions to questions, and not head in the direction of a tribunal. I sense there is some direction towards grilling a Minister. I think if we would keep it to questions, we may get some answers. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Point taken. The Minister has told us that through consultations, this was the most equitable solution we could find. I am wondering if the Minister can just let us know if there has been any discussion in the department about other solutions that might be more equitable? Or if this is the only thing that has been brought forward to his knowledge? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The review process indicated this was the most advantageous, and the most acceptable redesign proposal for the Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just some clarification; was that most equitable or most politically satiable? I missed it, sorry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

I think that it is the plan that is most beneficial for the Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member for his comments, because it saves me from saying them.

-- Laughter

It is a fact of life that people will be concerned about the structure of the highway they are driving when they are driving it. So it does not matter where you are in the 2,000 kilometres, people are concerned about the section they are driving.

The department recognizes this, and makes every effort to try and spread our resources over the whole 2,000 kilometres as the traffic requires. If there is heavier traffic, we obviously have to put more funds towards repairing or maintaining that section of highway.

The Member is right. He has a section of highway that is not hard topped, the same as the section of highway south of Fort Simpson is not hard topped. It is also not hard topped in the Fort Liard area.

Mr. Speaker, heavy truck traffic, no matter where it is, takes a toll on the road. You can see the results of heavy truck traffic in the Fort Liard area as well. This puts a strain on our budget. In return, we ask this House to give us sufficient funds to maintain those highways. I can assure the Member his section of highway could get just as much attention as another section, depending on the traffic. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that answer. I have been involved in the resource committee, where we have had some drastic cuts in the last number of years to the Department of Transportation budget.

I think one thing this government has not really felt the impact of is the effects of the environment. We are having problems getting our winter roads in because we are having changes in the temperature. We are having problems moving goods and services.

Due to that problem, this government has to keep in mind we are accountable to all residents in the Northwest Territories, especially when dealing with the problems we are seeing with the winter road construction this year. The time limits are getting smaller and smaller. In some cases, the season is becoming a cost barrier to this government.

I would like to ask the Minister what this government is doing to develop strategies to extend the length of time we could use our winter roads and other highways?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is trying to address, to some degree, the change in climates, which is having a major effect, like the Member stated, on the length of the window the winter road is open. In particular, the one from Wrigley north.

What the department's strategy is at this point in time is in our capital, we try and place bridges on those small rivers that are giving us problems. Every year, we put $700,000 towards improving these river crossings. That is the strategy at this point in time, to come forward with plans to put in place bridges on all river crossings that are giving us problems with winter roads.

As well, Mr. Speaker, the department is hoping that everybody here realizes that the only way we are going to get more money for the infrastructure programs is if we can reduce our social costs. The Premier said, in the last few days, that we have to address our social problems, which then allows this department to have more money towards improving our infrastructure, highway infrastructure, in particular. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.