Thank you, Mr. Allen. Good morning colleagues. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to focus the attention of this House on a very important segment of our population. I am speaking about seniors who live in the Northwest Territories. As you know, this is Seniors Week, a time to recognize and honour our elders.

Mr. Speaker, NWT seniors currently make up about 4 percent of our population. It is expected that by the year 2018, this figure will rise to 12 percent. We can all benefit from the wisdom of our seniors. They have a lot to offer and we must not forget that.

To that end, Mr. Speaker, the government has, through its strategic planning document Towards a Better Tomorrow, made a commitment to seniors and all citizens of the Northwest Territories, for a safe, secure and respectful environment. In addition, this Assembly has outlined as one of its goals to have "elders who are well supported by their communities and able to live independently".

Each of us has a duty to recognize the contributions that seniors have made in building our great land. Through toil and hardship, they persevered in conditions that many of us have never known. Today, seniors play a productive and beneficial role in our society. They are one of our most valuable resources.

Many seniors today still take active responsibility for family life, caring for and guiding the younger generations. We often look to our elders for advice and support, drawing upon their wisdom and their experiences to address our own problems. In short, Mr. Speaker, directly or indirectly, seniors enrich all our lives.

It is our duty, Mr. Speaker, to support and assist seniors in what should be their golden years. We should remember that, whatever our dealings with seniors, we must treat them with the respect to which they are entitled.

Additionally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind all Members that we need to remain true to the principles set out by the federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for Seniors when developing policies and programs that affect seniors. These principles are dignity, independence, participation, fairness and security.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, in honour of Seniors' Week I ask that you and the Members of this House join me in recognizing the value of our seniors here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to stand here and recognize the hard work and effort of four students in my riding, the Mackenzie Delta, in the Chief Julius School in Fort McPherson. The recent graduates of the Chief Julius School have worked hard for this accomplishment and I know that their families and friends are delighted to see the hard work pay off.

My community has supported these young people on their journey towards their dreams and goals that they have set. This is one step, of many steps that they will take, for a brighter future for themselves.

They reach out, looking for goals and accomplishments they may need and also realizing that there are challenges along the way. So with that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Joyce Greenland, Janice Tetlichi, Vernon Elias, and Conrad Blake of the Fort McPherson Chief Julius School, and wish them all the success in the future on their dreams to continue their journey of education. Thank you.

-- Applause

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

Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am pleased to welcome a premier event for the Northwest Territories and Yellowknife. As a result of the efforts of Penny Johnson, president of the Northwest Territories Speed Skating Association, Speedskate Canada, the sport's governing body which represents speedskating in all the provinces and territories, is holding its annual general meeting in Yellowknife from June 22 to June 25 at the Yellowknife Inn. This is the first time, Mr. Speaker, that a national sport organization has held a national AGM in any territory.

I would like to recognize the president of Speedskate Canada, John Cavar, and the director general, Jean Dupre, for bringing this meeting to Yellowknife.

In addition, there are more than 70 participants from across Canada, including speedskating world champions and olympic gold medalists Jeremy Wotherspoon, Catrina Le May Doan and Francois Drolet.

Northwest Territories president Penny Johnson, Karen Polakoff from Inuvik and Karen McGee of Yellowknife, are the Northwest Territories representatives. The Speedskate Canada business meeting will also include workshops on competitions, gender equity and a soccer game involving the Olympic medalists and local speedskaters. At the awards banquet, the keynote speaker is the Northwest Territories' own Olympic champion, Sharon Firth, who distinguished herself in cross-country skiing for many years.

Mr. Speaker, at the last Arctic Winter Games, Northwest Territories speedskaters scooped 14 out of a possible 16 medals for the Northwest Territories. David McCann, of Yellowknife, is currently training in Montreal in an attempt to gain national and international recognition. It should be noted that the coaching in the Northwest Territories is provided entirely by volunteers.

Mr. Speaker, Northwest Territories speedskating programs are active in Fort Liard, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Hay River, Dettah, Ndilo and Yellowknife. That the program is developing so rapidly across the Territory is a testimony to the excellent efforts of the many volunteers and coaches.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories has tremendous opportunities in the area of tourism development, including the meeting and convention trade. A convention of this nature is a tremendous example of our capacity to expand our business and gain further recognition for the Northwest Territories. We are confident they will enjoy, and long remember the Speedskate Canada Conference here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government is responsible for assessing the value of all property in the general taxation area. The general taxation area includes all land in the Northwest Territories, except cities, towns and villages. This responsibility is a legislative activity and the Property Assessment and Taxation Act requires that all property values, both land and improvements, must be updated every ten years.

Property assessment is a process used to assign a value to all property in the Northwest Territories. It is necessary that consistent rules or techniques be used by this government's property assessors to make sure that the values of all similar kinds of properties are consistent and fair.

Land value in the general taxation area is based on land development costs. These development costs include such things as the cost of building new roads or providing services like water, sewer and electricity.

Recently in the Deh Cho region, my constituents have been shocked and have been left feeling helpless by the new assessment values placed on their properties as a result of the 1999 assessment notices.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, they have the option to appeal these assessments and, as we all know here in the North, land development costs are high. However, Mr. Speaker, it is this government's responsibility to find innovative ways to lower these costs. How can it be considered fair and equitable for my constituents to be asked to carry the results of our government's lack of initiative in this area?

I will be asking the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs later today, how it can be considered fair and equitable for his department and this government to expect my constituency to bear the burden of these increased assessment values which, down the road in all likelihood, will result in increased property taxes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in this House this week, we have heard a significant amount of debate and discussion on human resource issues. The need for the government to make a commitment to train Northerners, of the shortcoming to affirmative action, of the fact that the government has demands in industry that they themselves do not appear willing or able to meet, of the fact that we have lapsed hundreds of thousands of dollars with apprenticeship training.

Mr. Speaker, the issue I would like to speak briefly about today is the fact that we own NTPC. We have a corporation with hundreds of employees, and I would like to ask the Minister, or I will ask him later today in question period, whether he will commit that NTPC will come forward with a plan for apprenticeships similar to what BHP Incorporated and Diavik did; BHP Incorporated with a commitment, I believe, up to 13 apprentices, and Diavik, where the commitment is up to 18.

Mr. Speaker, there are a significant number of skill sets where I believe this is possible. There are alignment opportunities, there are power engineers, power plant operators, there are mechanics, just to name some.

I believe that there is a potential for the Crown corporation that the people of the Northwest Territories owns, to demonstrate a commitment to hiring and training Northerners.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is critical that we look at this. It is an opportunity, especially given the fact that the Department of Education which Minister Ootes is also responsible for lapsed $400,000 with apprenticeships, that we are looking for careers for our people in the Northwest Territories, for our students. So I hope, and I will ask this question so the Minister will have some time to think about this and be able to stand up and commit to coming forward with a plan that would clearly outline, how they intend to address this unfortunate gap and demonstrate the commitment of government that we demand of industry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Seniors Week formally comes to a close. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak about some members in my riding of Twin Lakes who have made significant contributions to our community. One of them is a very good friend and colleague of mine, Mr. Edward Lennie, who has made significant contributions to our on-going culture. Mr. Lennie spent a great many of his years promoting and coordinating arctic sports, helping out at old-time dances, and being an all around supporter of our cultural events held in Inuvik from time to time.

Two ladies that can compete with the famed Suzie and Sarah characters in the Yukon in any given situation, are Emma Dick and Sarah Tingmiak. These two fine ladies have been recognized in the past for their tremendous work in helping the people of the Inuvik and Mackenzie Delta region for their caring ways.

Another senior who requires recognition is Mr. Marty Tappanen, who tirelessly prepares meals for the seniors bi-monthly luncheons at the Ingamo Hall Friendship Centre. I cannot overlook the valuable work of Ruby and Buster McLeod. Ruby works tirelessly promoting youth dancing in the Inuvik Twin Lakes riding. The youth dancers often perform at many of the functions promoted in the town of Inuvik.

Another valuable personality I would like to recognize this week is not only a friend of mine, but a pioneer in the aviation business, and spends much of his leisure time in the bush, Mr. Fred Carmichael.

There are so many others who have set the standards for us, many of whom I may have missed. If I have, I apologize. Let me say I did not forget the important contributions to our special community. I hope you all had a very special week and continue to enjoy Seniors' Week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Allen. 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 group of individuals in Hay River who worked very hard to ensure that our youth get a good start in life. Individuals involved in the Hay River playschool have been very proactive in setting up facilities, equipment, and volunteering time to work with the youth of our community.

A few years ago when they were trying to set up the playschool, funds were hard to come by. Certain individuals were very active in getting the funds in place. One individual even went as far as to take out a personal mortgage so the playschool would have a facility to work out of.

Through their efforts, they have been able to pay off this mortgage and they are very well established in Hay River. The playschool and the Head Start Program, through their hard work, have established an education system that ensures every child between the ages of two and five get an early start in education.

Recently, the playschool group got together and organized an auction in Hay River. Through this auction, they were able to raise over $20,000 to put towards playschool activities in Hay River.

Groups such as these, Mr. Speaker, should be high on the government's list when it comes to helping them with funds. I would like to congratulate this group of individuals in Hay River and I wish them all the success in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Leon Lafferty on June 20, 2000, regarding the maintenance of territorial highways.

The Member's question tried to make a connection between the department's maintenance expenditures by highway and its maintenance priorities. There is no simple or direct connection between the two.

As the Minister of Transportation, I am responsible for setting the department's maintenance priorities. My general direction to the department is that all public highways in the Northwest Territories, all-weather or seasonal, should be maintained to keep them safely passable for the travelling public at all times.

On a practical, day-to-day basis, the department's regional superintendents and highway foremen decide how they will keep the highways in their areas safely passable. The amount and kind of maintenance work required will depend on their judgements according to the type of highway surface, geography, local weather conditions and traffic characteristics.

Maintenance costs vary tremendously across the Territory. Highways built on stable, well-drained ground are less expensive to maintain than highways built over swampy muskeg. The cost of highway resurfacing depends on whether locally available gravel sources are scarce or abundant. Snow removal is more expensive in areas that get more snow. Heavily travelled roads need more attention than lightly travelled roads. Maintenance costs vary from region to region and highway to highway, not because the department's priorities change, but because these factors change.

The Department of Transportation's maintenance expenditures by highway give no indication of its maintenance priority. The priority to keep the territorial highway system safely passable is the same everywhere. Achieving that priority does cost more for one highway than another but all our highways have the same priority. They are to remain safely passable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I would like to recognize Sharon Greenland, my constituency assistant from Inuvik Twin Lakes, accompanied by Mr. Tom Williams, my executive assistant. Welcome to the gallery.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Allen. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have the opportunity to recognize someone from Inuvik that often. My constituency assistant, Debbie Jugens, is with us today.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Welcome. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. I caution Members that visitors should be in the gallery. However, we will assume they are watching on television today and we wish them a speedy recovery. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank our pages. I would like to do it now because as the day goes on, the activity of the House may preclude that. We have had with us for the past week the pages serving from the cadets. They come from different parts of the Northwest Territories. I would like to introduce them and their sponsors. Patrick Joss from Holman, a guest of Mr. Steen; Vanessa Grenier from Fort Smith, a constituent of Mr. Miltenberger; Shana Ermatinger from Inuvik, guest of Mr. Allen and Mr. Roland; Jackson Mantla from Rae-Edzo, a guest of Mr. Lafferty; Carl Galle from Fort Simpson, a guest of Mr. Antoine; Karla Lennie from Norman Wells, a guest of Mr. Kakfwi; Sabrina Krivan from Yellowknife, and Vital Manuel.

I would like to say on behalf of all the Members, we appreciate all of your efforts in the past five days. Thank you very much, pages.

-- Applause

I am told this is excellent training as you proceed to become MLAs yourselves later on.

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during committee of the whole yesterday, the Honourable Joe Handley made a comment. I pull it out of the unedited Hansard. It refers to the debt wall, which is something I have questioned him about previously.

A question was asked of him during the opening comments to the budget about the debt wall. Mr. Handley's response was, and it refers to new dollars:

"...already seeing a turn-around. A little bit of the population growth and so on. But if we see no increase at all, then we would hit our maximum within two years. Within two years, we would be there, and quite possibly within 18 months. That is an estimate because of course, things will change."

What I would like to know from the Minister is, what has changed from the previous Session, when I asked questions and the Minister responded to me that we were looking at the debt wall within less than a year if things did not change. What has changed since the previous Session to now? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a number of things have changed. First of all, we have, during the past several months as the Member knows, received more revenue in terms of corporate taxes than we had anticipated. That has certainly made a difference to our bottom line. Secondly, the population in the Northwest Territories is showing some increase. Third, there are good signs of further development on the Diavik mine, possibly the Winspear mine, there is increased oil and gas activity going on and exploration activity up and down the valley.

The economic picture looks more positive than I think was projected by the previous government and even by ourselves earlier in this term. Increased revenue has certainly been a big part of it.

I am optimistic that our departments will be able to find the $5 million we had identified in the budget through efficiencies and looking at doing things differently within the department. Both on the expenditure and revenue side, there are more signs saying things are improving than what we had anticipated several months ago. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister stating we will see some revenues flowing from the Diavik and oil and gas developments within the next 18 months? Is that the case? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member well knows, we do not collect much of the revenue directly ourselves. We do indirectly through the increased employment of northern residents. We anticipate seeing improvement. We anticipate having more Northerners taking jobs in construction at Diavik. We see BHP doing a good job of meeting their targets. Winspear is continually looking for people. There are some good signs there and it is the same thing with the oil and gas development.

The biggest increase and benefit to us will continue to be employment until we have devolution. That is where I see most of it coming from. The other piece is as industry comes North, they use more fuel, purchase more from companies who produce products and all of that indirectly generates some revenue to government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are not getting any figures here and I know we will not receive a direct benefit from revenues, but the Minister has said that "we are seeing more revenue from corporate tax, our population is increasing". So what is the dollar value of those increases to this government? The summary of accumulated cash position we have due from the Government of Nunavut in this fiscal year is about $35 million. Can you explain that further? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I look at the main estimates and the revised main estimates for the year 1999-2000, we at that time projected $90 million in total tax revenues alone. In the year 2000-2001, we are estimating $133 million in revenues in taxation. There is a bit of a windfall that year because of the way one of the major companies in the Northwest Territories field their corporate tax.

We anticipate in 2001, $129 million. The following year another extra million in revenue. There is a small but continuing increase in here. I think these are projections based on actual projects. As I said, I expect there is going to be a lot more development happening in oil and gas and mining and construction and so on over the next little while.

I am optimistic we are going to see even more improvement than is shown by our finance people in doing their accounting of what we have and know right now. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister inform us what is the proposed number, or guesstimate, of your department when it comes to some of the good signs you had mentioned earlier, oil and gas and diamond development, and the impact that will have on us with the budget and the revenues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are expecting, and again I cannot break this out by sector, as I do not have that information in front of me, $55 million in personal income tax. We expect that to maintain itself and to increase. Not by us increasing the rates, but by the number of people who are working.

Corporate income tax in 2000-2001 gives us almost $40 million. We realize, as I mentioned earlier, there is a bit of a windfall this year. Next year it will go down to about $34 million or so.

Payroll tax, under the current regime, gives us $8.8 million, and that will increase as employment increases. Fuel taxes are about $10 million, closer to $11 million, going up to about $13 million. Tobacco tax will maintain itself at about $9.8 million. Property tax will maintain itself at about $8 million, then rising in a couple of years to roughly $9 million. Insurance taxes will maintain itself at about $1.5 million. All of that will either maintain itself, we project, or increase. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Antoine. My constituents in the Deh Cho have been shocked by the results of the department's most recent assessment of the property values. For example, in the community of Enterprise, I am told that some of the properties have gone from around $4,000 in assessment to over $20,000. I would like to ask the Minister how his department could justify such huge increases in property assessment values. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process for property assessment values allows for appeals. I would like to ask the Minister what percentage of property owners in the general taxation area have appealed their 1999 assessment notices?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. It may be out of the availability of the Minister, however, I will allow the Minister to respond if he wishes. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister undertake to provide me with the information that would indicate how many of those appeals that were reviewed by the independent board of revision have resulted in either an increase or decrease to the property assessment values?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are addressed to the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation and follow up on my Member's statement this morning. I was wondering if the Minister would commit to taking a serious look at how the Power Corporation can formally develop an apprenticeship program that would look at the very many skill sets within the Power Corporation and come forward with a plan, unless it already exists and I am unaware of it, as to how we can train Northerners to become mechanics, linesmen, as I indicated in my Member's statement. This would also have the added benefit of making sure we do not lapse apprenticeship dollars when there is still a critical need for trained Northerners in these critical areas. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, the Honourable Jake Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That it is a very good suggestion. We will look at it and I certainly agree with the Member that we should look within our organizations in government wherever we can for apprenticeships, certainly with an organization like the Power Corporation.

At the moment, the Power Corporation does have an apprenticeship program which was started four years ago and a total of seven apprentices are in the Power Corporation, four of whom are in the west and three in Nunavut. All are priority one candidates under the affirmative action program.

For the Member's information, the Power Corporation is conducting an organizational review as a result of the division process. Several steps have been taken on that. One was to set up a steering committee, which has decided to do some consultation and to check with a cross-section of employees, as well as representatives from the Union of Northern Workers, to provide input into the organizational review process. Following that meeting, a design committee was set up of approximately 15 individuals from across the Territories. It includes representation from employees, including the bargaining unit, head office and excluded employees.

The design committee meets on an ongoing basis and is looking at various areas. I think this is one area this fits into, if it has not already fit into. I appreciate the Member's comment, and that is an area I will follow up with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the days of old, the territorial government was one of the main employers of apprentices. They have since gone out of that for the most part and have moved to contract arrangements with local tradesmen.

The Power Corporation, since we own it, is a key area with tremendous potential. My question to the Minister is will he be prepared to report back with a clear plan and some targets? We asked BHP to try to hire 13 apprentices and rotate them into the workforce. We asked Diavik for 18 apprentices. Would he commit to coming back to the House to report back, and could he tell us when? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, the Honourable Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The subject of apprenticeships popped up during my election campaign as I was going door-to-door. I did speak to several individuals who worked for the Power Corporation who spoke about this area as well.

Due to the many issues that have been there with the Power Corporation, it is a subject that I feel needs to be addressed quickly. There were previously other priorities. I will discuss with the board of directors, with whom I am meeting on Monday, the possibility of designing a program and will report back to the Member as to the timing this can be looked at and discussed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the Minister reports back, could he also indicate how NTPC could work with Education, Culture and Employment in terms of marketing and promoting the apprenticeship opportunities with the Power Corporation to the students in the schools and through the career development component of the Department of Education. Because it is well and good to have apprenticeships, but you have to be able to make sure that we spend the same kind of effort and time that we have trying to get apprentices into the mines.

We have to give the same kind of attention and effort with this particular initiative if it is going to succeed. So could the Minister indicate that and could he also just indicate when he thinks he will be able to report back. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, the Honourable Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I believe what the Member was saying, the long and the short of what he was saying, was that we need a promotional program on the part of the Power Corporation to work hand in hand with the Department of Education to ensure that the focus and the profile of apprenticeships is raised.

I am meeting with, as I mentioned, the Power Corporation on Tuesday evening in Hay River and I expect that I can discuss both of these matters. I will report back as quickly as I can after that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for Education. I am alarmed with statistics that I have come across, the percentages of illiterate people in the different constituencies versus the percentage of the population who are illiterate in the Mackenzie Delta, 36 percent. In the community of Tsiigehtchic, it is almost 39 percent; Fort McPherson, 3five percent; and in Aklavik, it is 38 percent.

There are other constituencies with even higher percentages, in some cases up to 40 percent. So I find it awfully alarming, Mr. Speaker, that we have these high percentages of illiterate people in our ridings, yet we are trying to talk about economics and making sure that we do the best for the people, because one of the statistics states that the higher the literacy level is, the greater the success rate they have in the labour market.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, many of the people that we find who are in trouble with the law have low literacy skills and that leads to crime. There are also other statistics in relation, a person with low literacy is usually on unemployment or is usually receiving social assistance.

So I find it alarming, Mr. Speaker, that we as a government have not done more to try to attract those skills. So I think that realizing there is a connection between these percentages and aboriginal communities that illiteracy has a direct relationship between crime, poverty, unemployment, poor health and low income limits success for the people in those communities.

So I would like to ask the Minister of Education exactly what is his department doing to improve on these statistics and bring down the percentages of illiteracy in the aboriginal communities?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no doubt that illiteracy is an extreme problem in this Territory and that we need to address that on an ongoing basis. At the moment, to my understanding, the Northwest Territories Literacy Council is conducting a research project. I expect that they will be bringing that forward within a short period of time and that there will be recommendations in there that possibly we can, and look at and see what can be done.

Funding is done through Aurora College to provide literacy funding to community groups at the moment. Literacy is a problem throughout our system. It is there at the early childhood level and our programs, that we do have, are trying to address that area through the early childhood programs, through Aboriginal Head Start programs. And then in school systems, we are noting that literacy levels are low and it is of concern to us and I believe that this whole area needs addressing.

We are just developing and, hopefully we will get it through soon, a directive which has been worked on for some time, the directive on adult basic education and literacy. Following the directive, we hope to develop a strategic plan, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the areas in our communities that we see a lot of is our people who are on income support trying to better themselves through the adult education program. Yet, Mr. Speaker, I find it appalling that in the budget review that is one area that has taken some major cuts, especially in the delivery of that program in our communities.

So how can the Minister stand here and say that there are avenues that they are taking to accomplish this, but yet, on the other hand, they are cutting the program that is in place to deliver this in the small communities?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The program that was in existence, Community Skills for Work, sunsetted. It was not put into base funding and that is the program that I believe that the Member is referring to.

I have been working to develop, refine and enhance that particular program. I presented a paper to the Standing Committee on Social Programs yesterday, and hopefully we can discuss that as a possibility. The area that we are looking at is a target at employment and literacy, family and workplace program, so hopefully, Mr. Speaker, that can be addressed. I believe that is what the Member is asking for.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I for one feel that it is crucial that we do have opportunities for the people in these communities, especially in some cases where you have 40 percent of the population illiterate. In regard to the oil and gas industry in my riding, it is on our forefront. It is on the doorstep, but in order for us to take advantage of it, we have to have skilled labour.

So I would like to ask the Minister, is he willing to implement a program to take advantage of these economic opportunities and improve the labour market in our regions, so they can take advantage of these opportunities?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are working, as part of a group led by the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, to deal with the oil and gas developments in the Mackenzie Valley. There are a number of thrusts underway. We are part of the Human Resource Development Strategy and we have developed an extensive program and outlined the potential jobs that will be there. We have outlined what the requirements are and I believe that will address some of the concerns that the Member is speaking of with regard to the need to bring our population into a position and position them to take advantage of the potential jobs that are going to be there down the line.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister give me a general idea of when will he have something in place, for the House and for the people in my riding, knowing that there is a program that is going to be in place, there are resources, that he will have to deliver these programs.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an ongoing process. All of our departments are involved in part of the strategy to have development take place in anticipation of the oil and gas activity and the pipeline activity. As well, we have the Non-Renewable Resource Strategy, which identifies, I believe, 19 possible areas that need to be addressed, in order for our Territory to be ready and participate in this development that has taken place. So we are working on that on an ongoing basis.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this morning is for the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding the shortage of doctors in Yellowknife. I have heard from a constituent, Mr. Speaker, who is concerned with the continuing pressure that is on the few doctors that are in Yellowknife. I would like to beg your indulgence in reading just a couple of lines from a message.

This person, who is a mother of two young children, says:

"On recent visits to our family doctor, while I have still received the outstanding care I appreciate, I have noticed that my doctor and others are just plain tired. They work unbelievably long hours, while still offering us their best. They are overworked. There are too many patients and not enough doctors."

And she goes on to talk about the delays in trying to schedule appointments with her doctors and with specialists.

My question, Mr. Speaker, is, can the Minister update the Assembly on progress by the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Board to restore the doctors ranks in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the honourable Member for Great Slave has raised this issue because it is of very much concern to our department that we stabilize the situation here in Yellowknife.

I noted, from the Alberta Health Minister recently, that Alberta is looking for about 330 general practitioners. About 15 would probably solve all of our problems here in the North, particularly in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is well known that there have been negotiations taking place between the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Board and the physicians here in Yellowknife to look at an alternative payment schedule, offering physicians options for how they would be paid and what kind of benefits they could receive.

These negotiations are still ongoing at this time, so I am not in a position to offer details. But we do hope to have something to take to the Financial Management Board shortly in terms of the investment that it will take to stabilize the situation with the physicians, who are here. The secondary part of that is, then we will have a competitive contract of which to recruit more positions.

That has been a difficulty in the past. Under the fee for service schedule, it was difficult to clearly define for physicians what they could expect, who might consider coming here. So we hope to have such a recruitment tool in hand and also an offer for Yellowknife physicians in the very near future.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the information and I also appreciate that as negotiations may be going on there is some information that is best kept behind closed doors for now, and I look forward to the progress.

We still have a situation where, especially in the emergency ward here in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, we are facing a very distinct lack of physicians. The number of doctors able to cover the needed spaces is not there. What assurances can the Minister offer that, at least, that very vital service will be covered for the next coming months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we do reach a full complement of general practitioners here in Yellowknife, then the rotation for emergency shifts will become more bearable for the physicians.

In the interim, the department does have an agreement with the Alberta Medical Association for the provision of physicians who will provide locum services here in Yellowknife, to cover such things. It is not a long-term solution, but in the interim, we hope that that would help to cover the shortfall and certainly, again, we want to express that we understand the pressure that the physicians are under and we are doing our best to stabilize the situation and the working environment for them.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The work of the department along with the Health and Social Services Board is very critical in this area. The leadership demonstrated and the professionalism there is something that we are counting on. In other communities in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise us on the status of the number of physicians available there and, indeed, can all communities in the Northwest Territories count on a stable supply of physicians and medical care over the next couple of months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the other communities which do have resident physicians, the negotiations for the transfer from a fee for service payment plan to a contract salary have been completed. However, we are experiencing difficulties with shortfalls. I know Hay River, for example, is also very actively attempting to recruit physicians for that community. What we want to do is equalize as much as we can the method by which physicians are paid, and this will avoid a competition between the various communities who have resident physicians to try and recruit from within the pool we have. We need to bring physicians in from outside.

It would be correct to say that we are experiencing a shortage in other communities as well, but hopefully this contract that is being negotiated now will serve as the tool that will cause southern physicians to look at northern communities including Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Finance. I was encouraged in going through his budget speech to hear that the government intends to put as much emphasis on oil and gas development and spin off business and industries as it has done in the diamond industry. It has done some good work there. Just to quote a passage "within our means, we are committed to continuing to provide similar support to Northern companies working in the oil and gas sectors."

I would like to applaud them for that, but I would also like to ask the Minister what kinds of industries and spin off businesses has the department identified as things that they might be looking to support. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suppose that there are two areas that we have had interest expressed to us. One is in the business of providing oil and gas well maintenance services. There is a very active project going on at the Hay River Dene Reserve and I think that they are doing some great things and have some good people working on it. I expect that we have that one. I expect that we will see other companies coming forward wanting to get into that business.

Second, we have had some interest from companies who either own drilling rigs or are interested in drilling rigs. There are northern companies who want to do that. All of the industry has expressed concern over the shortage of equipment, camps and so on in the North, trucks and other equipment. So I expect that we will see more of that.

I anticipate over the next couple of years, as this speeds up, we will see a lot of interest by northern companies wanting to get involved and having a legitimate place to have a good viable business in this. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Oil and gas well maintenance, drill rigs and things like this are great and I am glad to hear that. But I am wondering if any manufacturers in the North have expressed interest in getting in on pipeline development. It seems to me that there might be some opportunities available there. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have had regular meetings with the Northern Manufacturers Association. Certainly they are interested in business opportunities that oil and gas will provide to them on a number of fronts, tanks, construction materials. There have been some general kinds of discussion about alternative kinds of pipes, for example, using fibreglass instead of steel. That certainly has not reached the stage of being a realistic proposal yet, but definitely manufacturers are very interested in the opportunities this presents. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If local companies do have ideas that seem feasible and seem to be good ideas, how do they approach your department to discuss these concepts to see if they may in fact be viable and to see if the department would be interested in supporting them? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They do not approach us in Finance, but I will answer as Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. In Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, we do offer a number of services for our businesses and potential businesses. We have money regionally to assist people in preparing business proposals, feasibility studies and so on. There are also a number of avenues for people to get grants, loans, and contributions through Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. My recommendation is that they would approach our regional economic development offices. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was listening as the Minister of Finance was responding earlier to a question from my colleague and spoke about windfall revenues. So my question will be to the Minister of Finance. I noticed that in our budget before us there has been no increase in rates in personal taxes or corporate taxes, so new revenues there are more a result of economic activity, which is positive.

But in his budget speech the Minister said that the only new tax initiative was a hotel tax proposed for the next year. Well, Mr. Speaker, I disagree. In fact, in this budget there is a significant tax grab. I would like to point out that fuel tax revenues are nearly double in this budget compared to last year. An extra $5 million in revenues, because this government will collect more money per litre than the government did last year.

Mr. Speaker, this tax will hit everyone. Trappers fuelling up their snowmobiles, fisher people trying to fuel up their boats, tourists. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask if the Minister will do the right thing and change the ad valorem tax that is now on fuel to a fixed amount per litre. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to remind the Member that I have, on a couple of occasions, indicated that we have not been enforcing our ad valorem tax. Instead, we have maintained a fixed amount per litre. So the windfall we are getting here is not a result of implementing the ad valorem tax it is a result of increased fuel consumption in the North. That is a result of increased economic activity.

It is our intention, Mr. Speaker, to make the change that the Member has referred to. We are doing very well on a price per litre and do not feel that we need the ad valorem tax. Thank you.