Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. I agree.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are very excited about the Social Agenda Conference. It will involve more than delegates who are front-line workers. It will also be representative of people in leadership at community, aboriginal government, and hopefully leadership at this government level as well.

Part of the agenda of the Social Agenda Conference is to break into small groups with facilitators so that various subjects can be discussed. For example, you would have a smaller group break out with a facilitator and all the groups would be discussing the same subject at the same time. They would bring that information and input back into a larger, plenary session. I expect there will be quite a cross section of people in the smaller groups. For example, there could be MLAs, there could be Ministers, there could be aboriginal leaders, front-line workers. We will speak with each other and have that dialogue in small groups as well as in larger plenary sessions. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that this conference, as far as the number of delegates, is now full. I was wondering what criteria determined that we were extended to as many delegates as we can handle at this conference? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the conference is being held on the Hay River Reserve. The main, large meeting room will be the recreation complex there. There are a certain number of people who can meet there by standards and codes and regulations. That is what has capped it for us.

We have talked about, because there was such an interest in this conference, trying to set up some form of closed circuit communication with some buildings, some tents that might be set up on the grounds of the complex, but that is what has restricted us. Unfortunately, we have not been able to accommodate everyone who wants to come to the conference. We do feel we have a very good cross section. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in Hay River, we have a seniors' society that is very proactive. In view of the fact that there would be no extra accommodations required, or no extra expense for that matter, to have the Hay River Seniors' Society involved in this conference, would the Minister consider extending an invitation to the Hay River Seniors' Society? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Seniors' Society is certainly on our list of invited delegates. I am not sure how many seats they have, but as the Member points out, one of our other restrictions in how many people we can accommodate has to do with commercial accommodation. I am pleased to say that a number of private homes have opened up and are going to take billets in order to accommodate more people. I hear what he is saying, that there would be no cost associated with accommodation, transportation, or meals if we had local people.

If it comes to be that there is some way of addressing the issue of the number of people who can actually fit in the recreation complex, that may be possible. At this time, I have not had it confirmed to me that there is any communication set up for more than what can be accommodated in the building. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take it then that the Minister is still waiting for final numbers. If there is an opening, would the Minister consider extending an invitation to the Hay River Seniors' Society? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have put together a Social Agenda Conference planning team, which has representatives from various NGOs and government departments. I would not want to usurp their management of this conference on the logistics by saying what we can or cannot do. Certainly if it looks like there is availability for people to partake without actually being accommodated in the main building, and there are local people in Hay River who are interested in participating in some fashion, we will do our best. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in reference to a statement I made earlier today on Skills Canada, given this government's concern for capacity building and the fact that as of July 1st this year, the federal government is no longer supporting the program, will the Minister for Education, Culture and Employment look at this program and please advise how it might be adequately funded for its continuance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is unfortunate that HRDC is looking at terminating its particular funding. This has been a particularly very good contributor to the skills development and career development of individuals throughout Canada and certainly here in the Northwest Territories. This particular competition has proven to be extremely well participated in the past couple of years. The federal government has contributed about $200,000, to my understanding, and we are certainly in a position to say we will look at increasing our funding to this. We are also interested in taking some further steps on that. Thank you.

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