Thank you, Mr. Braden. Bonjour, mes amis. Déclarations de ministres. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Minister Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. Déclarations de ministres. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that later today I will be tabling the code of conduct respecting conflict of interest for employees of the public service, a new policy recently approved by the Financial Management Board.

In a time when government is being called upon to demonstrate greater accountability, it is important to clarify for our employees and the public the high standards of professionalism that guide the public service.

In developing the code, the Government of the Northwest Territories consulted with a number of stakeholders, particularly our own employees, the Union of Northern Workers and the Northwest Territories Teachers Association.

Feedback from employees was a key component in developing the code. As an employer, we sought to create a document that is understandable and fair to employees as individuals while preserving the integrity necessary for the proper functioning of our organization. Our consultation process with employees included mailing a copy of the proposed code to every employee with an invitation to provide feedback. We received a number of excellent suggestions, comments and concerns which were then researched and, where possible, integrated into the final version.

This code sets out disclosure requirements and guidelines respecting conflicts of interest for Government of the Northwest Territories public service employees both during and after the termination of their employment. It also outlines what steps employees should take to ensure that they do not place themselves in a situation of real or perceived conflict and provides mechanisms for determining whether a conflict of interest exists and, if so, for dealing with it. The guidelines are clear, concise and all in one place which will ensure a common understanding of the rule and expectations by both the government and our employees.

Employees will have the assistance of their supervisors to understand and interpret this code, as they would with any policy of the government. In addition, an ethics counsellor will be retained under a contract administered by the secretary to Cabinet to make rulings relative to a number of code provisions.

As part of the implementation process, each employee will have the opportunity to participate in an information session to review the code and its requirements. These sessions will be organized for employees in all government departments and agencies. In addition, each employee will be provided a copy of the code.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is entrusted with the protection for the public interest in many significant areas. It is therefore essential that the high standards traditionally demanded of and adhered to by our employees be recognized, documented and understood. This code of conduct will do this and further, it will help ensure continued public confidence in the impartiality and integrity of our public service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Déclarations de ministres. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to inform the House that on Friday afternoon, February 23, 2001, the Department of Transportation officially opened the new winter road linking the communities of Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake. This newest section of winter road is the first addition to the winter road system since it reached Fort Good Hope from Norman Wells in 1985. With this latest addition of 165 kilometres, the territorial winter road system now has a total length of 1,469 kilometres.

Mr. Speaker, the construction of this new winter road has been a good example of local initiative and cooperation amongst community groups and between communities as well as substantial material and financial contributions from private sector companies.

I want to congratulate Chief Richard Kochon and band manager Joseph Kochon of the Behdzi Ahda First Nation of Colville Lake for taking the lead in this project from the original proposal through to Friday's opening. The Behdzi Ahda First Nation was awarded a contract for $195,000 to build the road and has acted as the department's principal contracting agent throughout. The project included the coordination of crews working at either end from Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope to speed the work along.

The success of the project required the positive cooperation and contributions of Chief Delphine Pierrot of the K'asho Got'ine Charter Community Council, as well as the Ayoni Key Land Corporation, the Yamogo Land Corporation and the Fort Good Hope Metis Local No. 54 Land Corporation.

The opening of the Colville Lake - Fort Good Hope winter road was also a remarkable first for the constructive and generous participation of the two exploration companies working this winter road in the area; Paramount Resources and Canadian National Resources, both of Calgary, Alberta. The two companies agreed to contribute approximately $100,000 each towards the construction of the road, either in actual money or the equivalent dollar value in equipment and labour. With the private sector's substantial participation, the department was able to carry out twice the work it had expected to accomplish in preparing and improving the right-of-way in the first year of the road's operation.

Once again, I would like to congratulate all those who were involved in building this successful new extension to the Northwest Territories' winter road system. Weather permitting, the Colville Lake - Fort Good Hope winter road will remain open until Saturday, March 31, 2001. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Minister Steen. Déclarations de ministres. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday over 60 representatives from the media, oil and gas industry, aboriginal governments, municipal governments and this Legislature met in Inuvik to celebrate the onset of drilling at the Petro Canada-Akita Well at Swimming Point and the return of the oil and gas industry to the Mackenzie Delta. There is good reason to celebrate. This winter, the oil and gas industry has hired 800 people and is spending $160 million in the Mackenzie Delta.

Over dinner, my colleagues, the Honourable Vince Steen, Mr. Dent, Mr. Roland, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. Krutko and Mr. Bell heard about the differences between this economic boom and 25 years ago. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that change has taken place and the oil and gas industry is working in true partnership with aboriginal governments, our government and communities. Together, they are expanding the traditional range of benefits from employment and business development to training, equity participation and community development.

Mr. Speaker, I also saw evidence that the tourism industry is growing. An Oilman's Curling Bonspiel was held for the first time in 15 years while we were there and brought in people from Calgary and Edmonton. As well, when we landed, the airport was full of red jacketed, Fulda representatives. Fulda is a German company that is promoting its tires by hosting an adventure competition that traveled along the Dempster Highway and ended in Tuktoyaktuk. I believe that the international media coverage of this event and the experiences of the competitors, especially with our exceptional winter weather, will result in increased tourism for this area.

As the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, I was very encouraged with what I saw and heard in Inuvik. The department will continue to work with its many partners to ensure that the economic activities in the Mackenzie Delta continue to grow and provide maximum benefits to northern residents and businesses.

-- Applause

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Déclarations de députés. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the fuel rebate. Last week, the Minister of Finance said, and I quote from unedited Hansard, "The reasons for having a flat rate are to keep the administration simple and efficient for us to administer." Mr. Speaker, the Minister also said that we need to get assistance to the people of the North who need it most and get it there quickly and there has to be a cut-off somewhere.

Mr. Speaker, I think we would all agree when we are talking about a subsidy or rebate for homeowners and renters for fuel that there will have to be a cut-off somewhere. However, Mr. Speaker, if we had a sliding scale for this support, we could assist more families and, Mr. Speaker, we could do it for no bigger cost.

Yes, some families would receive less than others, but we would at least provide some help to more than the 3,300 families now being targeted. Mr. Speaker, that is almost 25 percent of the households in the Territories.

Mr. Speaker, last week I questioned the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation about programs administered by that department and he confirmed that the Housing Corporation does administer programs on an income-tested basis. The amount of support varies by community and by household income. Mr. Speaker, the administration would not be more difficult than what the Housing Corporation now provides if we were to administer this new fuel subsidy by the same methods. It would take only a simple chart if a person applied for a rebate and demonstrated that their income was between "x" dollars and "y" dollars, then they would qualify for a subsidy amount of a certain amount of dollars.

Later today, I am going to ask the Minister of Finance which side he is on. Is he going to be on the side of fairness for Northerners or for ease of administration for government employees? Mr. Speaker, I hope he comes down solidly on the side of fairness for Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Déclarations de députés. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a statement today on the feedback I have been receiving from my constituents on the recently announced fuel rebate. Mr. Speaker, we all know that there is never enough money in government to go around for everyone's needs. For that reason, we were very grateful to hear that the government is going to put some money back into our pockets to help us deal with the rising fuel costs. So for those who are eligible to receive this assistance, this is very good news.

However, the question is how many people would actually be eligible for this assistance and I can advise you, Mr. Speaker, that on the basis of a cut-off at the combined household income of $72,500, almost no one from my riding of Range Lake would qualify for this rebate. This income cut-off basically nullifies any benefit that could come from it, because most families could not afford a mortgage for Yellowknife houses at that combined income.

This is unfair criteria because we all pay for the high cost of fuel, at the pumps as well as heating fuel. This does not depend on how much money we make. Mr. Speaker, Yellowknifers should not be penalized over and over again for the high housing prices in our city. We pay high housing prices and high fuel prices like everyone else, so we should all have a share of the rebate.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister of Finance has great pressure on him for his use of the government dollar, but I would urge the Minster to reconsider the cut-off income level of this rebate so as to open the room a little wider for average income families in Yellowknife.

At the same time, I would request that the Minister consider dropping the rate of Northwest Territories fuel tax by a minimal amount to ease the cost at the pumps. This would benefit every user fairly and equally, whether they be business or resident consumers.

Another option may be to consider an across-the-board tax credit so that every resident in the Northwest Territories who pays taxes and consumes fuel can receive badly needed relief. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 2, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Lafferty. Déclarations de députés. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today concerns training and education for jobs in the oil and gas industry, and I would like to point out some of these issues surrounding this topic.

First of all, there are no college programs for oil and gas training in the Northwest Territories. There are only safety programs being offered. There is no community-based training. People currently have to go south for oil and gas training, and there has been no new funding for oil and gas training this year. The $500,000 that has been committed is essentially the same as last year -- this at a time when $22 million has been committed to support the diamond industry.

Mr. Speaker, it is my fear that the window of opportunity will have passed us by the time the Government of the Northwest Territories establishes meaningful northern training programs that will help Northerners get jobs in the oil and gas sector. Residents of the Deh Cho need quality training now in order to be prepared for oil and gas exploration. When exploration happens, it happens quickly, and it may then be too late to provide proper training programs. We will then witness an influx of workers from southern Canada, while our northern work force struggles to find low paying jobs in the industry.

Mr. Speaker, surely money cannot be an issue here. Look at how much money was poured into the diamond industry by this government in a short period of time. Contrast that amount with the small amount of funding allocated to oil and gas training and preparation. We have been waiting for renewal of oil and gas exploration activity and development in the North for over 20 years. Now that the activity is here, it seems that this government intends to sit by idly and renege on its responsibilities for the provision of meaningful training opportunities for northern residents.

Mr. Speaker, it is essential that this government take a creative and immediate role in providing resources for training people for upcoming jobs in the oil and gas sector. We cannot afford to wait for the federal government to fund our plans. We must allocate funds ourselves before the opportunity is lost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been very noticeable that the Minister of Health has been before us all this week defending her department's budget. As a Member of this House, I do not apologize for the many questions that I have been asking the Minister concerning her department. They are very serious issues that we were speaking about. They are concerns that touch each and every one of my constituents deeply and meaningfully.

As the Minister knows, the recent report, Tuberculosis Controls in the Northwest Territories, was profoundly connected directly to my constituents. Recent news reports and the results of the TB report all point towards a worsening problem that is in our many communities.

Mr. Speaker, I will be questioning the Minister later concerning the report. The report contains 26 recommendations and points towards more need for training, awareness and resources to deal with this alarming health problem in our communities.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I will bring to the attention the alarming statement contained in the highlights of the TB report which notes that "It is unacceptable that the rates of TB in parts of the Northwest Territories are 10 times the rate in the rest of Canada." Mr. Speaker, I will repeat the fact again. In some parts of the Northwest Territories, the rate of TB is 10 times the rate of the rest of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Fanning, the consultant who wrote the report, points out that TB is a common disease that has affected other countries world-wide today. The disease has a 90 percent rate of being curable. At that rate, Mr. Speaker, I think that ourselves as a government have to realize that there is no reason in the Northwest Territories that people should be dying of a disease that is curable.

Mr. Speaker, with that, I will be asking the Minister of Health questions with regard to this report. Thank you.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, like several of my colleagues here today, want to continue to make the case for equitable fuel rebates.

Mr. Speaker, I really think we need a fair program. We have heard it argued that graduated rebates might be one way to achieve this, and they be inversely related to income. I think the idea here, Mr. Speaker, would be that those who need the help most are going to get the most help. The government's program as we have seen it so far, the existing criteria, some of them seem to make sense. For instance, you must be paying for home heating oil or propane without other subsidization in order to qualify. They have told us that this does not include the recent federal rebate. That is reassuring, Mr. Speaker.

However, your employer cannot be offsetting the cost of home heating fuel either. How will our government tell, Mr. Speaker? Are we going to look at federal government employees receiving isolation pay which offsets the cost of living and decide that, indirectly, this is a subsidy?

Mr. Speaker, we also know that renters are going to receive a $150 benefit, but what if their rent has remained stable over the past year? Many people are into one-year leases. Will this end up being a fair and equitable program? Mr. Speaker, our government seems very concerned that we have a program to administer and a cheap program to administer. However, I think that if that was the only criteria, certainly the Finance Minister would just write cheques to every man, woman and child in the Northwest Territories. Certainly simplicity is important, but not as important as getting the money to those who need it. We have to remember this, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Allen indicated last week that the Housing Corporation already collects enough information to implement graduated returns, but in the interest of speed, I presume, a simple pass or fail test is being set up at $70,000 or so per year, per household.

Mr. Speaker, only 25 percent of households in the Northwest Territories will qualify for rebates, but I can assure you that more than 25 percent of Northerners are struggling to make ends meet this winter, due in large part to the cost of fuel. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, a fuel rebate is a worthwhile initiative, but let us not turn our backs on 75 percent of the households in the Northwest Territories.

I think the Minister is going to have to decide what is most important to him, Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Dent has indicated. Does he just want to quickly put out a million dollars to get government critics and media off his back, or does he want to set up an equitable rebate program? Time will tell, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an issue that is critical to the well-being of every resident in the Northwest Territories. This is an issue that I have addressed in this House in the past, but one that I feel cannot get too much attention.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak to the issue of our seniors and the critical lack of funding they face. Mr. Speaker, our elders are a very valuable resource to us in every sense. They possess a wealth of information for our young people to learn from and our elders are only too happy to impart their vast knowledge of a wide variety of subjects to our future generations.

Mr. Speaker, I feel strongly that our government is not fulfilling its responsibility with regard to seniors. Mr. Speaker, our seniors population, age 65 and older, in Hay River in 1999 was 189 residents. The population projections by the Bureau of Statistics estimates that our seniors population in Hay River will grow to 341 by the year 2018. Mr. Speaker, this is almost a 200 percent increase. In addition, Mr. Speaker, the overall seniors population in the Northwest Territories is expected to increase by 134 percent by the year 2019.

Mr. Speaker, we as a government have appointed a Minister responsible for Seniors, but have not provided any direct funding for this portfolio. Mr. Speaker, I question how we are to effect change if we are not providing the means to do so. Mr. Speaker, we have to provide for our ageing population and set in place a plan of action for future generations. Mr. Speaker, I suggest the time for action is now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fetal alcohol effect and fetal alcohol syndrome are, I believe, the most daunting and challenging situations that this government faces not only today, but I think it will be something that will become of even greater consequence for us in the future.

As I have started to learn more and more about this situation as a newer MLA, it struck me as something where I did not even know where to start to begin to look at this, to find out where we might be able to make a difference.

Today, Mr. Speaker, in Fort Simpson, there are a number of people who are getting together and showing just the kind of leadership that I need as an MLA to try to make a difference. Parents and community and school leaders are getting together to start to learn more, to talk about fetal alcohol effect and fetal alcohol syndrome, to get over some of the conditions of denial, of guilt that might be associated with this. They are learning how to cope, how to make their communities, institutions and homes better places to deal with this kind of thing.

I hope Members of this Assembly will join me in wishing them luck. We will be looking to them for leadership and I wish them all well. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue with his Member's statement. Are there any nays? There being no nays, Mr. Antoine, you may continue.

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. The condolences of the Assembly go to the family of Mr. Cazon. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, most of what we do here in the House is covered by the media to some extent. Something that is not covered by the media is how I spent my weekend, so I thought I would take the opportunity today in my Member's statement to just talk about the weekend that I had as I left to go home last Friday.

When I got home, I was able to attend the annual banquet of the Hay River Chamber of Commerce and see the swearing in of the new president. I would like to congratulate Doreen Farrents, who is the new president of the Hay River Chamber of Commerce and also thank Duane Morgan, who is the outgoing president, and who will serve as past president and will continue, I am sure, to be a good support to the chamber.

There was a new chamber executive and board of directors sworn in that was about half men and half women. That is very progressive for Hay River, because I remember a time when I was the only woman on the executive there serving as president for a few years.

At this function, Guy Turvey received the Alf Manson Citizen of the Year Award. Mr. Turvey is a very respected, very deserving recipient of this. He has been an educator and principal and volunteer-extraordinaire in the community for many, many years. So that was good to be able to take that in.

Mr. Speaker, as I had a chance to chat with the mayor on the weekend as well, I want to say that Hay River also seems to have turned a page in terms of partnerships, working with surrounding communities, leadership working together. I am very pleased with the positive outlook and approach that is being taken to the issues in Hay River.

I also had the opportunity to cook a meal in my home and entertain friends on Saturday night and have them over. I had an opportunity to get up on Sunday morning and, as usual, go to church with my family. I heard a very good sermon on Sunday from Corinthians on love. I will keep that in mind throughout the next few days here in the Legislature.

-- Laughter

That is the thing I love about going to church. It puts everything into perspective, right? Also, on Sunday afternoon, I had an opportunity to help my little girl with her science project. When I said good-bye to her Sunday night, she was very happy and enthusiastic that she had launched the work on her science project that she had due this week. I just had a great weekend. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Madam Groenewegen. It sounds like a very relaxing weekend for you. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my statement on Friday, I am pleased to recognize two visitors from South Korea in the gallery. They represent a company that specializes in sky and star watching. They are here to document and photograph our aurora for public consumption. I am happy to report that they have been here since Thursday and they have been able to see the beautiful Aurora every single night. They are here until Tuesday. They are Mr. Sangku Kim and Mr. ByungHo Jeong from South Korea. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Welcome to the Legislative Assembly and to the North. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my Member's statement, our seniors population in Hay River is expected to grow by almost 200 percent by the year 2018. One issue that our seniors are currently faced with and will most certainly be faced with in the coming years is the issue of affordable housing. I will put this open to the Minister responsible for Seniors or Housing, whichever they feel is the most applicable. Would the Minister please elaborate as to what the department is doing to provide housing in the near future for our aging population? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize for being a little delayed in my response here. We do have in our action plan to provide a seniors-plex in Hay River. I believe it is in the fiscal year 2003-04. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the department inform us what long-term plans they have in place to address the projected demand for seniors housing over the next several years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I can inform the Member that we have been in consultation with the senior's society of Hay River. They have been working very hard to define their needs in accordance with our housing needs survey, particularly the seniors' needs. We have been working with them on a continual basis and we will continue to do so to meet those ever-growing needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the senior's society has recently submitted a proposal to build a 28-unit complex for independent living in Hay River, pending municipal approval. Would the Minister please indicate to this House if the Government of the Northwest Territories would be willing to partner with the Hay River Seniors Society in the building of an independent living complex? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the tentative arrangement has been to help the senior's society work in achieving those goals. However, we do have some limited funds and we have earmarked a certain number of dollars towards that project by way of a combination of arrangements that we are trying to help them solidify and that should be probably realized in the next year or so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Final supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a constant lack of funding for programs and services for seniors. Does the government have any long-term plans to maybe look at increasing financial help they give to seniors in the Northwest Territories in the long-term? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Specific to the housing needs and according to the housing needs survey conducted in the year 2000, we have continually worked with all seniors across the Northwest Territories. It varies from community to community, but in the large urban centres, Mr. Speaker, we have been awarding a certain number of units to complement their ever-growing needs. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to ask the Minister to explain what activities are being undertaken to prepare northern residents for employment opportunities in the oil and gas exploration sector. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We work in conjunction with Aurora College. The college delivered a number of programs over the past several months. As well, we provided funding to various regions directly to fund certain activities regionally and we did so on a budget of $500,000, part of which went to the college and part of which went for short-term training. For example, in the Deh Cho, we spent $100,000 and in the Inuvik region we spent $100,000. This is in addition to the college training programs, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform the Members of this House what progress has been made in convincing the federal government of Canada to fund the Human Resource Strategy for the non-renewable resource sector?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it is a very important element that we continue to pursue. We are continuing our discussions with the federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs as well as the Human Resources Development Minister, Ms. Jane Stewart. I should also state, Mr. Speaker, that in Mr. Handley's visit yesterday to Inuvik, he had the opportunity to meet with three individuals who represented the college, the director of the college as well as Akita Drilling and CAPP, Canadian Arctic Petroleum Producers. There are some interesting developments that hopefully can be formulated to move forward on this. It is an initiative they are working on. We do not have the details of that that we can release yet, but we are continuing work in that end. As well, if I may, Mr. Speaker, we work closely with the training group that is in existence. It has been very active in the Inuvik area on oil and gas training. I met with them several weeks ago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister to identify for this Assembly what alternative plans for oil and gas training are in place should the federal funding not be approved in the next 12 months?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that is a good comment and question. With regard to our ongoing work, we are working on a number of areas. As I said, we are laying the foundation for a number of programs. Literacy is one, which is an area that many of our people need in order to advance forward in any type of job, be it oil and gas or other areas.

Additionally, Mr. Speaker, we are working on maximizing northern employment. In that area as well, we do not have all of the areas worked out, but we are working on possibilities there to work on specific areas. Also, we are suggesting to communities and to organizations that if they wish to put forward proposals where they can partner with organizations and aboriginal groups, we would welcome those initiatives, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Outside of basic safety programs, I would like to ask the Minister if he could indicate the number of Northerners who have successfully gained employment positions in the field of oil and gas over the last two years as a direct result of training programs established by his department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a question that I cannot answer here. I will get the information for the Member to the best of our abilities. I am not sure that we can answer it in full, but certainly we will attempt to get as much information for the Member on that particular question as we can. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for Minister Handley today. Last week, Mr. Speaker, the Minister made it sound difficult to administer a sliding scale program for the fuel subsidy. I asked the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation about it and he confirmed that all of their programs are income tested and that the assistance is now provided on a sliding scale by community.

When I asked Minister Allen if they could administer the rebate program on a sliding scale, he did not say it would be difficult. He said, and I quote:

"The Housing Corporation is responsible for the administration of the program. There is a policy side of it that has been determined."

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask if the Minister of Finance will reconsider the policy side of this fuel rebate program and develop a sliding scale for the fuel rebate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly it is more difficult to administer, track, and audit income statements and so on, the more we spread this program out. The important thing to me, Mr. Speaker, is not so much how much work it is going to create, but how fast we can get these rebate cheques out to people. I know people right now who are behind in their payments and are on cash deliveries from the fuel companies who need help right now. I want to get these cheques out right away, so I want to keep this rebate program fairly simple. I do not want to complicate it by adding in new curves any more than we can.

Having said that, Minister Allen and I are looking at it. If there is a way of doing it, then we will take it into consideration. If the Member has suggestions, I would be happy to hear what those suggestions might be more specifically. We are only talking about a $320 rebate here. Is it worth changing the whole system and making it a sliding scale, and giving someone who is earning $100,000 a $50 cheque? Is it worth it? Where do we draw the line on the sliding scale? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today, I would be happy to provide the Minister with my recommendations. Would the Minister explain a bit further what he meant when he talked about the need to audit income statements and this making the program more complex? Are we not going to require people to apply for this program demonstrating their household income on that application form?

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

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I was pleased with the answer the Member gave to my question. Mr. Speaker, I certainly do appreciate any suggestions he may have in that area. In terms of auditing, yes, we are going to have to audit all of the statements that are provided to us of household income. The more we spread this out and the higher the income level we generate or make this available for, then the more and more work we have to do.

As it is, I think we are doing somewhere over 3,000 households we estimate who are paying for fuel, have lower incomes and who will be filing applications. We will have to audit theirs. If we expand this to cover 6,000 households, it doubles the amount of work that we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been suggested that the program could be started as early as the first week in March. Can the Minister tell me if the plan is to have the application forms out next week for this program?

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

Mr. Speaker, yes. Minister Allen, through the Housing Corporation, is working on getting the application forms out. We expect to be able to do that next week. We realize people are anxious, lower income people in particular are anxious to get some help. We want to expedite that as much as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would it perhaps be possible on a sliding scale to ensure that those who claim to have a lower household income were assigned a higher priority in getting their cheques out fast, and that would be one way to accomplish the sliding scale?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the way it will likely work -- and again this is a question Mr. Allen is probably much more familiar with than I am -- is that the people who believe they are eligible will make an application to the housing associations. Those applications will come in as people submit them, but we will have no ideas which ones will come in, whether they are from low-income families or whether they are from people near the top of the threshold.

I believe our intention is to process as much as we can as fast as we can. Certainly if there is a big stack of them on someone's desk, I would hope that we are able to ask those most in need. How this is done will be determined largely on how people put in their applications. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. 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 Education, Culture and Employment in regard to the arts and craft sector I talked about in my Member's statement.

Could the Minister indicate to this House what work is being done to try to improve and enhance the support provided to the whole area of arts and crafts as it falls under his mandate under the culture component of Education, Culture and Employment? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a number of programs, of course, in the area of arts and crafts as well as support for the performing arts and so forth. We have the heritage funding for the Heritage Centre, the museum in Fort Smith, for example, and in Norman Wells, and cultural organization contributions that we provide cultural contributions to various organizations such as the Dene Cultural Institute.

Mr. Speaker, the amount of funding is always a struggle in this particular area and it is certainly one area that I am personally interested in. To date, in all honesty, I have to state that we have not been successful in order to obtain further funding in this particular area to expand the particular programs that we have. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister indicate whether he has had any discussions with his colleague, the Minister responsible for RWED, in terms of trying to coordinate the work being done to support the arts and crafts sector and industry, not just from a cultural point of view, but from an employment point of view? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On a ministerial level, we are speaking very broadly about all sectors of potential employment in the Territories, which includes arts and crafts. That has not been overlooked. However, we do not have any details on that particular area yet, Mr. Speaker. On the administrative end, I know our people, my officials and I, meet with the officials from the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development from time to time, if not consistently. Certainly on our level, speaking on the maximizing employment area, arts and crafts is one area that is part of the overall outlook. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know we are hard to tell apart.

-- Laughter

Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question to the Minister is in regard to Maximizing Northern Employment. Will Maximizing Northern Employment clearly deal with the issue of the arts and crafts sector as well as the other broad areas of hydro, oil and gas and diamonds? It has been identified as very critical to the northern economy. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is early days yet for all the details for us to have addressed, but certainly it is part of our discussions, like many areas are part of our discussions, including employment in government, private sector, all potential areas from the government finance officers, for aboriginal groups, et cetera. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Maximizing Northern Employment Initiative is going to have money attached to it. If we accept the fact that the arts and craft sector is critical to the northern economy, will the Minister seriously look at enhancing the funding of NWT Arts Council from its $140,000 that it has laboured with for the last two years to give them enough money to be able to do some meaningful support for the arts community? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would have to prioritize where we would put our funding, Mr. Speaker. I do not disagree with the Member that the amount of funding received by the Arts Council certainly has limitations, but there are other areas as well. Performing art contributions are not that great, either, as it is for community radio stations and for cultural institutes. We would have to prioritize that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all recall, of course, the difficulties encountered during the fall enrollment period. We have been working as a department very steadily and diligently on ensuring that improvements are made on the processes that are in place. We have made good progress in a number of areas, Mr. Speaker.

For example, the application form has been simplified. In the next round, it will be a more simplified application form. With the student guide, there were comments on it being too large. We are ensuring that is reduced. Staff training is another area. I think that certainly is an area. They are the frontline people with the students. We have expended a considerable amount of effort and time to ensure the staff at the career offices are updated and are familiar with the processes and familiar with the methodology with accessing the computer system.

We are working on student modifications as well, to ensure that it is timely and that it is done consistently to the students on areas that they are interested in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a very good point, Mr. Speaker. That did occur. It was very unfortunate. It occurred this last semester. What transpired, Mr. Speaker, is that we had our "Joe days" at Christmas time. Everyone was off. The "Donnie Days".

-- Laughter

After that, when the staff were to be back for the first week, you may recall we had a considerably bad flu outbreak. It really left us short-handed, which we have to work on to ensure that does not occur. It did create some difficulties for the students. I readily acknowledge that and I want to thank the Member for bringing that forward. Unfortunately, it was a difficult situation all the way around. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize in the gallery a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, representing the High Arctic at the time, Mr. Ludy Pudluk.

-- Applause

Mr. Pudluk was a Minister as well as the Deputy Speaker and a long-serving Member. He was the Dean of the Legislative Assembly for 20 years, I am told. As well, Mr. Pudluk is the provider of our polar bear that is here on display in our Chamber. Welcome back home, Ludy.

-- Applause

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for Minister Handley, again about the fuel rebate. He asked for suggestions as to how something might be administered. We put our department of finance over here together to do some work and we have quickly come up with a proposal we are wondering if he would consider: less than $50,000 income, $320; $50,000 to $60,000, $250; $60,000 to $70,000, $200; $70,000 to $80,000, $150; $80,000 to $90,000, $100; over $90,000, nothing, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering if he will consider that.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I will consider any suggestions the Members give me. Thank you.