Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform us if students, new or old, are informed in a timely manner that in fact they would have to come up with the living allowance and money to carry on approximately half the month of their first portion of schooling? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have a student guide. We did have a 100-page student guide last year, as you will recall, and there were some concerns with that. We cut it down, but we feel we have a very good student guide in place right now that gives direction and application forms and the process.

Mr. Speaker, I do take the Member's comments seriously. There may be an opportunity here to provide even more information and more guidance to students but I do believe we have some good processes in place already. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear that they have cut down on the 100-page document as a student guide. You need to go to school to understand it, I believe.

Mr. Speaker, the question is in fact is there notification given? Is it in the student guidelines? A simple line that says, "Be prepared that your first ten days or two weeks of schooling that you will not have funding for." Is that clearly laid out in that manner? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure that it is laid out in that fashion, Mr. Speaker, and in that wording. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister then look into that matter and if in fact it is not plainly spelled out, that it will be? Thank you.

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

Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is a very good suggestion and we certainly will. I appreciate the Member bringing it up. We will certainly will take that into consideration and look at that to see how we can do that to ensure -- I think I should state that we continually work on trying to refine this program to ensure that there are good administrative processes in place. As I said, we have made tremendous advancement, Mr. Speaker, in the inquiry response time. We have dealt extensively with the application forms, the student guide and the staff training issue so that our own staff are better trained. We take this issue very seriously because a lot of our students and people in the NWT are affected by it. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that particular piece of legislation is in the draft stage at this point. We have been working with the Department of Justice and have been doing extensive research to produce a piece of legislation that is considered restrictive but at the same time respects the rights of individuals to fair treatment. We find that this is going to take more than a normal amount of research. We have been told that in the other jurisdictions, Mr. Speaker, it takes almost three years for them to actually do all the research and produce a document that can stand the tests.

We have the ability to gain some information from other jurisdictions on how they have managed to put this in place. With respect to the present calendar for this particular piece of legislation, Justice is advising us that we will have a draft back from them by December and the department will have it ready for the spring session of this House.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, as always, I support a department's work to get these kinds of thing right the first time and the time taken, I hope, is well spent. I would remind the Minister that it has been five years since the national strategy came into place. I think we have had ample time and I do look forward to seeing it in the spring. In the meantime, I would ask the Minister, would it be the department's intention to circulate the draft to interested organizations like SADD to get their input before it comes in final stage to this Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to take this suggestion to the department to see whether or not we would be running this draft legislation by people like MADD or the student organization as well. However, I would have to take that into consideration as to whether I have the ability to do this. I have to caution that I may not have the ability to do this, I may have to present it as it is through the Assembly and then the process would be through the committee process where people would have the ability to respond. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a welcome effort on the part of the Minister. Related to this, Mr. Speaker, reflecting on the efforts of students, especially the student organizations in the North, to broaden their influence, would the department be supportive of a request from these organizations to assist them with more coordination and resources to get the word out to other parts of the North on this vital matter? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to say that in the past, the department has supported the Students Against Drunk Drivers through a grant to them to help them put together their conference that they held here in Yellowknife. We take this as a move towards increasing safety on our highways. We would be open to requests for further assistance on their part to assist us in getting out the word, if you wish, to improve safety on our highways. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.