Thank you, Mr. Roland. Please be seated. Bonjour. Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, later today I will be tabling Common Ground, the final report of the Economic Strategy Panel. Members may recall that the panel was appointed last June by then Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Stephen Kakfwi, to develop an economic strategy for the Northwest Territories. It was a complex undertaking and I commend the 17 members of the panel on their effort.

The panel represented a cross section of northern organizations with an interest in economic development. The panel's report mirrors this broad interest base and includes not just industry and sector associations' concerns, but those of aboriginal governments, as well as communities and organizations dealing with environmental and social issues.

Panel members put a considerable amount of time and effort into producing this report. Without the dedication and commitment of both themselves and the organizations they represent, we would not have such a comprehensive document to guide our efforts in building a strong and vibrant northern economy. This government intends to continue the cooperative approach taken by the panel in developing solutions to problems facing economic growth in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share this document with Members and the public. I look forward to hearing their impressions and comments on the recommendations contained in the report.

The panel's report provides a comprehensive approach to economic priorities and actions needed to guide our economic development efforts.

The work of the panel is already paying dividends for this government. An early draft of Common Ground enabled this government to begin work on a draft non-renewable resource development strategy to gain the interest of the federal government to invest in the North.

The Common Ground report, along with additional input from the public, will form the basis of a GNWT Economic Action Plan for those recommendations directed to the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, it is my intention to table the GNWT Economic Action Plan during the next sitting of the Legislative Assembly this fall.

I will also reconvene the Economic Strategy Panel in one year's time to review progress made on implementing the recommendations contained in the report.

We hope to emulate the panel's success by continuing to work in partnership with aboriginal governments, industry and other Northerners for input and direction on future economic development initiatives; for example, the Tourism Strategy.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to invite you and other Members to join me, panel co-chair Richard Nerysoo and Darrell Bealieau, and panel members in the Great Hall at the break for the official signing of Common Ground and a press conference.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past couple of months I have had the privilege to meet and talk to a number of our youth across the Northwest Territories.

In May, I had the opportunity to formally recognize four youth at a formal dinner jointly hosted by the Native Women's Youth Association, the NWT Council of Friendship Centres and the GNWT. This special event was held here in the Great Hall in conjunction with International Youth Week. The youth who were recognized this year include Jennifer Duncan from ColviIle Lake, Steven Raddi from lnuvik, Chelsea Simpson from Hay River, and Lisa Turner from Yellowknife. These four individuals all have displayed strong leadership and have served as excellent role models for the youth of the Northwest Territories. It is dedicated young people like these who will help move the North towards a better tomorrow.

On May 31, 2000, I was pleased to be invited as the keynote speaker for the official opening of the 2000 NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River. This was an excellent opportunity to pass on our message to over 1000 youth from across the North. An event such as this provides an excellent opportunity for youth of all ages to share their experiences with their peers from other parts of the North and also allows them to raise the level of their own self-esteem and confidence in their abilities.

I accepted an invitation from Samuel Hearne Secondary School in my hometown of Inuvik, to give a keynote address to the 2000 graduating class. I also traveled to Fort Resolution along with Steven Nitah, the MLA for Tu Nedhe, and spoke to the Deninoo School graduating class. Both of these special events provided an excellent opportunity for me to congratulate these students and to provide encouragement to continue their lifelong journey and inform them that the future holds so much potential for all youth and new graduates of today.

On May 29, 2000, the Students Against Drinking and Driving group provided an update to the Minister responsible for Transportation and his officials and myself. Information was provided on the organization's fundraising efforts and to also provide an update on the planning for the Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving Conference, which will be held in Yellowknife in March 2001. The students provided a very impressive presentation and demonstrated their enthusiasm and commitment to this event. I was very pleased to see these youth contributing to bring awareness to this serious problem, not only within the NWT, but also at the national level.

Next weekend, the Lutselk'e Dene Band will be hosting an Akaitcho Territory Youth Camp. This youth conference's primary purpose is to bring youth from the Akaitcho Territory together to discuss common concerns and share ideas on how community and regional organizations could better support youth to maintain healthy communities. This youth conference will be conducted in an environment which allows for traditional activities, as well as a sharing of wisdom from respected elders from the Akaitcho Territory.

Over the summer, I plan to attend a youth conference in Hay River, and I am looking forward to hearing the views of our youth in the Northwest Territories. As leaders, we must remind ourselves the important role that youth play in assisting us in designing the future of the Northwest Territories. Youth are our future. As a responsible government, we have to ensure that we continue to provide opportunities to our young people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Allen. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and celebrate a jewel at the centre of my riding, Range Lake North School.

Mr. Speaker, you may have noticed there are three classes from Range Lake North School visiting us today. Mr. Speaker, I must say one of the sweetest words I heard as a Member-elect was to be introduced as "Our MLA, Sandy Lee" in one of my visits to the school. I am very pleased we are able to have some of them with us.

In the last few months, Mr. Speaker, I have had a number of occasions to visit Range Lake North School. As you might have noticed in your many visits, Mr. Speaker, when one goes into the school, one is struck by a feeling of openness and interactivity, not only due to the design of the building, but the atmosphere created by the teachers, staff and students.

One of my visits to the school was to shadow a grade 3 class, known as 3M, Mr. Speaker. It was amazing to watch how some people out there start their day with 200 to 300 kids hanging on their arms, telling the teachers about what they had done the night before. It was a very different way to start the day than from how I start, which is usually in silence and reflection for the day.

Mr. Speaker, I also watched a grade 3 math class for 45 minutes, where they learned to do their arithmetic without lifting a finger. It was all done through the games and interaction between students. It was amazing to see.

I also saw grade 3 students writing a book on how to write a book. They had a book on how to develop a character, a story. They had built a rainforest within the class. It was an amazing learning environment that I saw.

Mr. Speaker, I also had the occasion to visit their family fun night in April. There were 300 to 400 parents and teachers, and all sorts of activities filled the building that would give the local Raven Mad Days a run for its money. I thought that it was a hidden treasure that the rest of us were not aware of.

Mr. Speaker, in June, I had the pleasure of attending their junior choir to hear Pachenbel's Canon being played by a string quartet. It was quite wonderful. They also did a musical...

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The time allowed for your Member's statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Ms. Lee, you may conclude your statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to add that one of the things that they did was a musical production on the theme of how we are all different, and that is what makes the world interesting and fun to live in. The professionalism and the talent of that musical would give a Broadway producer a run for his money as well. Mr. Speaker, it is an extreme pleasure for me to have the classes from Range Lake North School visiting us today. I hope they enjoy what they see. I think it is quite appropriate that they are here, as we are going to be releasing a very important document later in the day. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Mr. MacDonald, the principal of the school, and their able staff, as well as the Parents Advisory Group, headed by a very able Mrs. Linda Corkum. I would like to welcome all of the children here in the gallery and out there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement surrounds the question of children in care in public facilities. Mr. Speaker, many families have been torn apart because children have been taken away from their homes for all kinds of reasons and put into foster care and group homes. They then end up in young offenders' facilities, and eventually in public institutions, such as jails.

Mr. Speaker, this government must do more to realize that a family is a unit. At times, families have problems. We have to take more time, effort, and resources to assist families with their problems, especially families who find themselves on income support, who do not have the ability to assist in developing their families because of the lifestyle and conditions in which they live, mainly because of unemployment and a low economy.

Mr. Speaker, more has to be done with how this government deals with children. I have suggested looking at a youth advisory council in the Northwest Territories. We find many of our children today in institutions, in the streets, or in trouble with the law. Yet, Mr. Speaker, there seems to be no resources to help them out.

I think it is important for children who are living in foster care, group homes or young offenders' facilities to have the resources, help, and the ability to work out their differences with their families. As a government, we should have learned from our past experiences, especially with the hostels, where children were taken from their families for five to ten years. They had no connection with their parents and they lost their culture.

Mr. Speaker, this government has to do more to assist families when they need us. Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services questions on this matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to talk about some concerns that have been raised with me by my constituents about the new student financial assistance rules and how they are affected by them.

On Friday, I tabled a letter from a constituent of mine. I will not read it into the record, but I would like to paraphrase from that letter so that you can see what I am talking about.

"Mr. Bell, I am one of your constituents, and I would like to bring to your attention how the student financial assistance rules affect me.

This spring I completed the third year of a five year degree at a southern Alberta university and I intend to finish my degree and begin teaching in the Northwest Territories once I have completed my education.

I was schooled in the Northwest Territories from grades 2 through 12 inclusive, a total of 11 years. Under the old system, I was entitled to two semesters of grants for every three years I was schooled in the Territories. I obtained six semesters of grants, which was my limit. Under the new system, I would be entitled to 11 semesters of grants, one semester for every year of schooling in the Northwest Territories.

To my dismay, I found out that only students who are entering post-secondary studies for the first time qualify under the new system. I believe this to be a gross injustice to myself. Had I wasted away my last few years and just entered University this fall, I would be entitled to 11 semesters of grants, five more than I was entitled to under the old system.

Instead, I was a responsible person for the past few years, but I am unable to qualify for the grants under the new system. I understand that one has to draw the line somewhere, but surely to not include continuing students in the new system of grant entitlement does not appear just.

I hope you will review my case with the Minister responsible for Education and or bring up this injustice with the House, as obviously other continuing students are affected as I am."

Yes, indeed, Mr. Speaker, other students are affected in this manner. When we look up in the House today and see all of these bright young faces, we know that our government is looking after them and will take care of them as they go to post-secondary education, but what about their older brothers and sisters? Have we thought about them?

Mr. Speaker, as I go through the Northwest Territories' new Student Financial Assistance Manual, I realize that if I had just completed my fourth year of education, there is nothing left for me as far as grants. I cannot continue on. If I have only completed two years, I have three left. This simply is not fair, Mr. Speaker.

To this government, my constituents say "Let us not punish current students for their success". Thank you.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on my colleague, Mr. Bell's comments regarding student financial assistance. I have met, along with my colleagues, with students from the Student Association for the Northwest Territories. I have also received calls and concerns from many constituents.

The government is to be commended for making long overdue changes to student financial assistance, but a very clear area of concern is the interpretation of the legislation, the regulations and the policies put into place. Mr. Bell has touched on some of them. There are also some other very simple issues that I believe the Minister could, through his own direction, remedy, just by giving direction to do so.

Issues relating to direct deposit, the ability to choose a travel agent, and the very intimidating nature of the manual put out. It is over 100 pages long, and even my esteemed learned colleague, the former Minister responsible for Education, said he would be confused trying to apply for student financial assistance.

Mr. Speaker, the students are not asking for much. These are process issues, things that could be done administratively to try to alleviate some of these concerns. It is also possible, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, that by decentralizing some of these authorities down to the career centres in the regions, the students would be better served in the regions and communities they are closest to.

It is very difficult to be dealing with impersonal fourth floor operations out of the Lahm Ridge Tower when you are from Fort Smith, Norman Wells, Sachs Harbour, or wherever you may be from. You could probably get a better level of service from the region you live in.

Mr. Speaker, the government has clearly made a commitment across the board to decentralize to the communities and to the regions. This is one program that, for some reason, they seem intent on hanging on to at the headquarters level. I believe there are simple, effective and efficient ways to deal with some of the students' concerns.

Like my colleague, Mr. Bell, I hope the Minister responsible for Education, when we come to his budget, will be willing to listen and make the necessary changes that he has the full power and authority to do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to highlight the challenges facing the tourism industry in the Deh Cho riding. I believe that the challenges facing tourism in our riding are shared in large part by the tourism industry in all of the western Arctic.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is the only jurisdiction in Canada, besides Nunavut, that does not have either a separate Ministry dedicated to tourism or a major tourism organization that reports directly to a Minister. Mr. Speaker, visitation rates for tourists visiting the NWT are growing at a far lesser rate than these other jurisdictions.

Mr. Speaker, the reorganization of the government-sponsored regional tourism marketing agencies in the mid-1990's into one central sector-oriented agency, NWT Arctic Tourism, has not proven itself to be a success. NWT Arctic Tourism, by focussing on sector-based tourism marketing, has lost a certain degree of regional focus. Mr. Speaker, there is certainly no sense of ownership within our region to NWT Arctic Tourism.

Indeed there is an increasing sentiment that we should return to the regionally focused tourism marketing agencies we used to have. It is essential that this government start to provide meaningful resources to regional tourism agencies, thereby allowing groups such as Big River Tourism Association to resume the valuable work they used to do.

Resumption of funding to the regional tourism agencies does not mean that this government needs to scrap NWT Arctic Tourism. I believe that the efforts of the regional tourism agencies could be complementary in nature, leaving NWT Arctic Tourism to focus on pan-territorial marketing while the regional organizations pursue regional initiatives.

Mr. Speaker, tourism is our second largest industry. Yet, Mr. Speaker, the NWT spends $1.2 million on marketing initiatives, while other territories spend many times that amount. For example, the Yukon spends $2.5 million.

Tourism provides many spin-off jobs in the service sector and has the potential to create valuable highly paid careers for our youth on a year-round basis. It is critical that this government nurtures tourism in our communities and devotes meaningful resources to its development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I rise to speak of concerns of my community on the capital plan of this government. I have worked positively, I believe, in my first term as a Member, and I try to do the same in the second term as a Member of the 14th Assembly. To date, on the capital side of the program, we have heard of the bad news in that the Aurora Campus project is being delayed in Inuvik. Another large impact to the community is the Inuvik Regional Hospital, and it is being changed from a P3 project to a traditional project.

I have asked the Finance Minister, as well as the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, to keep me up to date on this. I have had verbal commitments that this will not be put back any further. To date, I have not received any further information. It has been over a month since the news was out that the project has changed status. It seems that no one in the region is aware of where things are going.

I am trying to take the high road here and work positively, and hopefully have a positive outcome. Until I hear some positive news coming back from my Cabinet colleagues, I am going to have to take a more critical view as to what has been going on.

I have not been told of any other changes with the project. I have been told that it is on time, or that it will not be delayed too significantly, but that is a concern, especially when we look at our budget situation.

Mr. Speaker, I am aware that ever since 1988, this government has transferred $1 million per year for that project. I am also aware that over the next four years, there is another $16 million coming to this government for that project. Mr. Speaker, that alone covers over two-thirds, almost three-quarters of the project.

I would like to know, and I will be asking questions of the Finance Minister as to what is being done to move this project along. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.