Bonjour, Madames et Monsieurs. Bienvenue a l'Assembly aujordhui. Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to this first Session of the new year, 2001. I would like to wish everybody a happy Valentine's Day.

Recently, I was in Ottawa to observe the selection of the new Speaker for the House of Commons. On behalf of this House, I would like to take this opportunity to extend best wishes to Peter Milliken, a former Deputy Speaker to the House of Commons, on his recent election as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

I wish to advise the House that I have received the following message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories:

"Dear Mr. Speaker:

I wish to advise that I recommend to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories the passage of the Appropriation Act, 2001-2002; and Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 during the Third Session of the 14th Legislative Assembly.

Yours truly,

Glenna F. Hansen

Commissioner"

Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the budget address on Thursday, February 15, 2001. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Antoine. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week, more than 100 school and community education counsellors in the Northwest Territories are in Yellowknife. They are delegates at a conference called Honouring the Spirit of Our Children.

Mr. Speaker, the enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated by people in care-giving roles is evidenced by the high degree of interest shown in attending this conference. In addition to the participation of counsellors, 40 parents took part in a parents' night on the first day of the conference.

I am sure that we are all aware of the importance of providing a safe, caring and stable environment for children in which they can grow into happy, well-adjusted and healthy adults. Children who experience personal success will become self-reliant and contributing members of our communities.

We are fortunate to live in a country in which we can find support for our efforts to create a nurturing environment. That support often comes from caring professionals who counsel, advise and listen with empathy to the challenges we face in our efforts to foster the right kind of environment for our children.

Sponsored jointly by the departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Health and Social Services, the Honouring the Spirit Conference addressed topics of importance to professional counsellors and caregivers in their efforts to ensure they have the skills required to support the public.

Mr. Speaker, a healthy society of self-reliant individuals who contribute to society in a meaningful way is an important part of the vision this government has for the Northwest Territories. We are working together to ensure that we provide a network of programs and services to support the vision I describe.

Mr. Speaker, the joint efforts of my department and those of the Department of Health and Social Services, led by the Honourable Jane Groenewegen, in organizing the Honouring the Spirit of Our Children Conference is a step in the right direction. I want to thank all those involved in organizing and attending the conference for their commitment to helping us to realize our vision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi will be absent from the House until Tuesday, February 20, 2001, to participate in the Canada Trade Mission to China. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to begin by letting you know that I am happy to be back here in this wonderful Chamber with yourself and the rest of my colleagues to continue the work of the 14th Legislative Assembly on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories.

As you are aware, Mr. Speaker, today is Valentine's Day. Seeing as I am one of the unfortunate and deprived Members who live outside of this expanding and booming capital city of Yellowknife...

-- Applause

-- Laughter

...I am going to borrow a line from my colleague, Mr. Roland, and send greetings and love to my wife and family back home.

Mr. Speaker, it does not seem like three months have gone by since we last sat in this Chamber together. I know that it has been a very busy time for everyone. I do hope that you all had an enjoyable holiday season. For me, this holiday season was extra special. I would like to share with you the gift that made it special.

Mr. Speaker, on November 16th during National Addictions Awareness Week, I spoke in this House on the problems associated with addictions and the dangerous effects that drinking and smoking can have on the unborn child. I informed the House that my daughter, Michelle, who was seven and a half months pregnant at that time, had given up smoking and drinking the day she found out she was pregnant.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to let you know that at 3:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Michelle gave birth to a baby boy, weighing in at nine pounds, three ounces. Brent Michael Lane Hartwell is my third grandson, and he was born in his home community of High Level, Alberta. I am also happy to report that both mother and baby are healthy and doing great.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of Michelle. I want to let her know that I appreciate the sacrifice she made to give her baby the opportunity to have a healthy start in life. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Congratulations, Grandpa Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. Declarations des deputes. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Welcome back, Members. Mr. Speaker, today is a day of loving, caring and sharing with others. I would like to wish everyone a very happy Valentine's Day, especially Karen and my children on the loving, caring side of Valentine's Day.

We, as a Legislative Assembly and government, must never lose sight of the human side of the Legislative Assembly. Despite making decisions on budget, legislation, and programs that are being delivered, we all must keep in mind that there is a human side to all of these decisions.

When it comes to people we represent in the Northwest Territories, regardless of how small or remote the communities they live in, like Colville Lake, or as large a community as Yellowknife, we must never lose sight of the services and programs we deliver. We must never lose sight of the individuals' names and faces, regardless of their father, mother, sister or brother, grandfather or grandmother. Putting a face to all decisions that we make in regard to the acts we carry out and the trust people place in us shall never be lost.

I would like to put a challenge out to all Members of this House of the 14th Assembly that we never lose sight of the faces of the people who may not be with us here today and have passed on. As a loving and caring day, I for one would like to ask this government to have a heart when you make a decision, to have a heart when you bring forth the budget, to have a heart with regard to everyone we represent.

With that, I would like to wish a happy Valentine's Day to one and all, and again, have a heart.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on the title of my Member's statement...I am not sure how these things work out or how we title Member's statements, but I am hoping this will be titled "Great Expectations". Of course, Mr. Speaker, I am referring to the Maximizing Northern Employment Strategy that our Premier alluded to in his address to the people of the Northwest Territories.

I, like the people of the Northwest Territories, listened intently as he guaranteed jobs for teachers and nurses, for those of us who were trained in the North or coming to the North. Interestingly, I had a call from a constituent right after the address. She said she was so excited about the Premier's announcement because her daughter is attending university in the south. She had called her daughter and made her aware of the Premier's guarantees and talked to me about how convenient this would be, since they lived in Yellowknife and her daughter could come back here and teach in Yellowknife.

I think it is important that we do not get too far ahead of ourselves. I am not exactly sure what the Premier's commitments and guarantees really mean. I relayed this to my constituent. I think there are still a lot of details to be worked out. I think guaranteeing jobs for teachers and nurses, especially in some of the smaller communities, might not be such a thing. We know there is market demand already, Mr. Speaker.

Guaranteeing support for teachers and nurses in these small communities, or as my colleagues have alluded to many times, guaranteeing adequate housing in the smaller communities for teachers and nurses, I think that would be a thing, Mr. Speaker.

We will wait for details. We are very interested to see how this all plays out, but we are also concerned. We want to make sure that this is not just another job-creation program in the public service, a make-work project, Mr. Speaker. We have seen them before. We know that we have private sector incentives and opportunities for economic development all over the place. Why not partner up with the private sector? I really hope that is the Premier's intention here, to guarantee that we are going to work with the private sector to create jobs for Northerners.

If the Premier and Cabinet have a checklist in their back pocket and they pull it out and number one says "build great expectations", I think they can check that off, Mr. Speaker. Number two should say "deliver a well-thought out plan of action". That is what we are waiting for.

Like the public, I agree the Premier's promises are encouraging. However, like the public, I also hope that the devil is not in the details. Thank you.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, throughout the life of the 13th Assembly, I repeatedly raised the issue in this House of the need for a broad energy strategy for the Northwest Territories. During the 13th Assembly, it was an issue that was very difficult to have any attention paid to it because of other pressing matters, such as division, restraint, cut-backs and all those other issues of the day. The reality now, Mr. Speaker, is that we are faced with an energy crisis, so to speak, with rocketing fuel prices and increased demand on petroleum products and the negative impact it is having on all of our budgets and the cost of living in the North.

Mr. Speaker, the government has come out with a number of initiatives, such as the review of the electrical generation, transmission and distribution report. The Public Utilities Board as well is working on a report, an operational, strategic review. As well, the government has done work on a Greenhouse Gas Strategy. All separately done pieces not yet linked.

Mr. Speaker, it is going to be critical for this government to, in fact, link those pieces to show the people of the Northwest Territories what in fact the energy strategy will look like. We are spending in the neighbourhood of over $700 to $800 million a year on petroleum products as a Northwest Territories jurisdiction. We are the energy hogs of North America on a per capita basis.

Mr. Speaker, the issue of hydro development as it is detailed in the review by the government on electrical energy is a good one. It requires more work. I encourage the government to take the steps to move ahead to provide the detail of technical, financial and regulatory basis. We also have to look not only south, but let us look at the potential north for having a replacement on our dependency on petroleum products with hydro, a clean, environmentally friendly, safe form of energy.

On the issue of rates, Mr. Speaker, the structure of NTPC, the de-regulation that is talked about, having an ombudsman that reports to Cabinet, those are all issues that require much further debate. I do not think it should be taken at face value as presented by the consultants.

I would also encourage, Mr. Speaker, that the Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board would see the opportunity...Mr. Speaker, I request unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Thebacha is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, to conclude, I would also ask the Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board to add to the work done by the consultants on the strategic and operational review of the PUB, to table it in this House so it can in fact be added to the mix as we try to make sense of the best way to proceed as a Territory on the issue of a broad energy strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Mahsi, Mr. Nitah. I just want to remind Members that Members' statements should stick to one topic for each statement. Remember the two and a half minute rule. The Speaker is being a little bit generous with the time today because of Valentine's Day, but tomorrow we shall return to the strict order of the House. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.