Thank you, Minister of Finance. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the fragile nature of our tourism industry, especially here with the new addition of Japanese tourists, has the Minister looked at this previously? Or would this be something he would endeavour to do in the future? Has the Minister taken a look at our hotel prices to see how we compare to other regions?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I have not done a comparison. I would compare quality of room, size of room, price of room and so on. I would expect that, just from my own experience, our hotels and rates in some cases are less expensive than others. Vancouver probably compares very poorly with us. They have very high rates, as do some of the very large cities. Other places might be quite a bit less.

We have, and we always do as a government, watch what the hotel rates are. I could tell you that our hotels are probably higher than you would find on average across Alberta or Saskatchewan, or somewhere else. I do not understand the point of the question, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe the Minister can just answer this one, yes or no. If I think I hear what he is saying, he is saying we are going to implement a five percent hotel tax, then we are going to do a strategy, and then we are going to look around and see where we compare as far as with hotel prices in the rest of the country. I am wondering if that is what I heard today? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, if the Member is doing things in that order, the answer is no, that is not what I said.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education. It is in regard to the graduation statistics that we are getting, comparing aboriginal communities with large urban centres. There is real lack of numbers when it comes to students graduating in the aboriginal communities.

One of the concerns I have is we see these economic potentials coming. For the aboriginal people to get ahead socially and economically, they have to have an education. I would like to ask the Minister, knowing there are problems within the system, has he considered looking at doing a study to see where these problem areas are in the aboriginal communities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the concerns has always been graduation rates in communities. With the extension of up to grade 12 in the communities, it offers an opportunity for students to stay in their home communities to take education. That is starting to increase enrolments within the school system. We are noticing that, and yet there is not a drop in enrolments in the larger centres, which seems to indicate that students are either coming back into school or certainly remaining in school.

Having community-based grade 10 to 12 does offer more opportunities for individuals to graduate and proceed through the school system. I think it is one of the keys to ensuring that we do get more people from the communities to graduate out of our system. There is always the question of how successful are we in the communities. I think that is always an area of concern and needs attention on an ongoing basis. The stability of teachers within the community is always an area of concern. Teacher turnover has an effect on that, although our teacher turnover seems to have stabilized a bit, other than certain pockets throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad there is high school being delivered in the small communities. The point I am trying to make, Mr. Speaker, is that I believe there is a real problem in our high schools in our communities because of the lack of a curriculum, the lack of materials, and the lack of the resources needed to ensure those programs are there. The question is not directed to the Premier, Mr. Speaker, it is directed to the Minister of Education.

-- Interjection

Order, please, order. The Member has the right to ask a question, and he is asking question, but would you cut the preamble a bit, Mr. Krutko? Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me what they are doing to ensure we have adequate resources in our high schools in the small communities? What are they doing to ensure we have a curriculum, the materials and the resources to ensure the students receive the same type of programs and services in our small communities as they do in the larger centres?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the areas that we have been working on is distance education. It was piloted this past half year and it was deemed to be very successful. It was on northern studies and it was delivered out of Norman Wells. Students in various locations took this distance education course. I believe Aklavik was one, but I cannot recall for sure. It was well received and very enthusiastically embraced. It is an opportunity to provide more programming.

I signed a memorandum of agreement with the Calgary School Board to deliver and have access to 30 more programs that can be delivered by distance education. That will be possible this fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds all well and good, but the problem is that we are not seeing the statistics with the graduation rates in the communities. In Aklavik, I have not seen a graduate for a number years. That is the problem I am trying to get at.

Is the Minister willing to go out to do a feasibility study to find out where these problem areas lie, and why there is such a lack of people graduating in our schools? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is always concern about the quality of education. That is no doubt a question that we always address. I met with the chairs of the DECs and with the directors of the DECs several months ago for two days. The subject of discussion was the results out of our school system. Whatever levels we are at, we are going to have to address those kinds of questions. So it is of concern. We are addressing it in the best way by working through the DEC to see where problem areas may lie and then addressing them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Final supplementary Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if his department has talked to students that have left their communities? I will use Aklavik again as an example. The only students that have been able to graduate had to go to school in Whitehorse.

I introduced a young lady here yesterday in the House. She has to go to school in Yellowknife. Have you done a study to see how many students have left the communities to get their high school diplomas in the larger centres? Thank you.