Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, after a lot of consultation, it was decided the most acceptable solution was to go with the process of allowing students who go for higher education the ability to carry a 60 percent workload in the first year. Following that, it would be increased to a 75 percent workload. In the event the student failed, the student has the ability to fail the first semester. If there is a second failure, then there is a requirement to repay.

In the event the student wishes to reapply, they can take and complete a period on their own and they would again qualify for a loan. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we heard in an earlier response that it was the previous government that had gone out and consulted with the people in groups, but in fact today we are a new government, the 14th Assembly. There is an opportunity here before this legislation is changed or the regulations, which people will not see, have an opportunity to be amended before the actual program gets changed. Will the Minister look at changing it to adapt to the new Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The bill is before the House for second reading this afternoon. I believe a lot of consultation has been done. The design has taken a lot of people's input, a lot of students' input, and a lot of aboriginal input into consideration. This design is the one that most equitably meets everyone's needs. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Was part of this consultation with the aboriginal groups that are going to be directly affected by this change? Were they notified that in fact the standards were being changed and that their people, the Inuvialuit, the Metis, would, if they failed the program, have a collection agency go after them to put money back into the system? Were they notified of that? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware of that. I am not sure what all of the communications were with the aboriginal groups. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister responsible for Transportation. It is regarding the Member's statement I made today about the dangerous road conditions on Highway No. 3. I would like to ask the Minister what prompted him to announce the policy yesterday? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department was responding to concerns expressed by the public as to the ability to navigate this stretch of highway safely. There were also some suggestions from the public that the large trucks should be slowed down to assure safety.

There were also suggestions put forward by Members in this House. The department is responding to a concern expressed by the public as to safety in navigating this stretch of the road. Mr. Speaker, we concur with the general public that there are some sections of the highway that are badly potholed as a result of the heavy truck traffic.

This is quite noticeable, because the other half of the highway going south is not potholed. This obviously suggests that not only is it a problem for the heavy truck traffic, but it is going to be a problem for lighter trucks as well to navigate the potholes. At this time of the year, it is not easy for the department to repair those potholes because the surface of the highway is frozen.

We have to do whatever we can to reverse the situation. It may be a while before we can repair all of the potholes. This is a temporary measure that we are taking. At this time, we are only tying the timeline of this reduction of speed to the winter road activity. If winter road activity ceases, heavy truck traffic is no longer a problem. If the department is satisfied with the condition of the highway, and if we are permitted, we will lift the reduction of the speed limit.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am really happy to hear the Minister agrees this road is in very poor condition. There is a need for real action here. I am also glad to hear from the Minister that this is a temporary measure. I would like to know what other long-term plans the Minister has to address this condition of the road? This is really not a road. It really is a mud hole. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suppose I am not the only Minister who has agreed this stretch of highway needs reconstruction. As a matter of fact, that is the whole purpose of the program, to improve the condition of the highway so it can handle the increased heavy traffic. I think the department recognized quite a while ago that this road was never designed for the type of traffic it is now experiencing.

We are in the process of reconstructing this highway section. The rate we are going at now, the rate this House allows us to proceed with, is $6 million a year. That is the pace we can go at right now. That is what has been allowed for the department in the past. We hope that is what will be allowed for us in the future. We will not know until the business plans are approved.

In the long-term, we are hoping the federal government will come forward with some federal funding and highway infrastructure money in this year's budget. However, we do not know that with any certainty. We have to wait until the federal budget comes out. It is the plan of the department that if we are able to tie in with federal funding, we would increase the reconstruction program. But at the rate we are going right now, at $6 million a year, we are looking at ten years. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have many Members on this side that have had a briefing on this project, and I am alarmed to hear that in fact, it may even be more than ten years. This is in light of the fact we do not have full production of diamond mines. We only have BHP. We will hopefully have Diavik coming in the very near future. We also have Winspear on line. This little road cannot handle one mine during the winter road season. This road cannot wait for ten years.

I hear over and over again that we have to ask the federal government. I want to know from the Minister, what has he done in the whole time he has been in his office? How many meetings did he have with the federal Minister of Transportation? What is he doing to lobby the federal government for additional money? Is he just waiting for the budget to come out? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. There were three questions in there. What have you done, who have you lobbied, et cetera. The Minister can answer any one of those that he chooses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the time that I have been the Minister of Transportation, I have attended meetings with my provincial counterparts. We have put forward recommendations that the federal government put in place a national highway infrastructure program. This would allow us to accelerate this program so it is possible that we could have this section of highway completed in five years, rather than ten.

That is our hope right now. We have not heard anything negative. We have heard only positive support from the provinces. Actually, we are supporting each other because the provinces have the same problem.

So that is what the plan is right now, to accelerate it. We cannot accelerate it more than what we suggest at this point in time, which would be five years, because, the indicators say there is not enough heavy equipment in the Territories to handle an acceleration program that is faster than that. We would have to import heavy equipment. Contractors would have to import heavy equipment, which would mean less benefits for the local contractors. That is how we look at it.

However, if this House gives us the money to do the job faster, and if they want us to do the job faster, we will do it faster. That is what is controlling us right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for a more positive response on that. I can also say to the Minister that I have a different opinion as to the availability of resources to build a road faster. I am sure if we got the money, we could work around the lack of equipment.

I think that this is a concern not only with Yellowknife Members and constituents, but with the constituents of Rae-Edzo and Fort Providence. We have to involve the aboriginal organizations that are affected in these regions. I want to know if the Minister will make the commitment to bring all of the stakeholders together and make this project a priority on his list of things to do in the next little while? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.