Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past year, the Member has been raising this issue in this House. As a result, he has made us aware that there is the potential for an all-weather road route following the old seasonal winter road into Lac La Martre. As a result of this, I had the opportunity to take a helicopter trip with the department and review this route some time this winter, and there is potential for an all-weather route using that particular road.

However, taking it further from there into Wekweti or into Rae would require quite a bit more engineering. We are just doing preliminary looks at this time. The department is thankful for the Member for bringing these routes to our attention and the potential for them to become all-weather roads.

At this point in time -- I do not want to stir up any false hopes here -- but we are looking at what the Member is suggesting. Thank you.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from one department to another, this territorial department versus the Alberta department, we have not carried out any official discussions on this. I am aware that the other departments within this government have been approaching and had some discussions with Alberta on sharing. I believe the Minister of Finance mentioned in the last day or so that there was some discussions on possibly sharing costs on an all-weather road. The end result was that there is nothing firm coming out of this at this point in time.

The Member is asking if I would commit to this. I have no problem committing to this. We have a committee with Alberta right now which discusses this, and we have a meeting planned for sometime in mid-summer with the Alberta government as to the possible sharing of ways that we can both share costs to enjoy more benefits from the resource development. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I presume the Member is referring to the comment where he actually thought the strategy had some merits. Based on that, I am paying attention to what the Member is saying about the strategy and we are proceeding on that basis.

However, I would like to point out, as I said in the last day or two to the Member for Deh Cho, the strategy is not written in stone and it is there to be amended. It is subject to the aspirations and priorities of this Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

I am going to interrupt the honourable Member. I would like to remind Members that question period is question period. Member's statements are Member's statements. Honourable Members, your rules are that you would like questions to be short and answers to be short because of the time limit.

I will ask you to please abide by those rules that you have established. Keep your questions short and to the point, and we will get as many in during the hour as we can. Mr. Krutko, your question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am leading up to the question. I am just trying to get the information out to the Minister so she is aware of the policies that are out there.

I would like to ask the Minister, what is the policy of the government of the Northwest Territories when it comes to undergraduate nurses?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our department has quite a number of initiatives that speak to retention and recruitment. I believe what the Member is referring to would fall under that category.

All health boards hire students during the summer. Although the government and the department is not the direct employer, we do encourage the health boards to hire summer students. We assist the students in health-related fields to find work during the summer, either with the department or with the boards. We are very aware of the need of many of the students to work during the summer and we do everything we can to facilitate that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it sounds great, but I would like to ask the Minister the question I asked earlier, what is the policy of this government when it comes to undergraduate nurses? Do we have a policy in place to force the health boards to ensure there are opportunities for undergraduate nurses to be employed in our health centres?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is the policy of our department to provide funding to health boards to supplement the salaries of summer students to offset the cost to the board. We also provide assistance to the students to get to their place of employment. In the instance of the student from Mr. Krutko's riding that he refers to, we would be pleased to work with her to help her identify a work placement for the summer and then provide the necessary support to see that she can get there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister consider drafting a policy similar to the one regarding undergraduate nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, so that we can have a policy of our own?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, without the advantage of having the document Mr. Krutko refers to, it is difficult to say whether such a policy would be suitable in the North. One of the challenges in the North and one of the things that makes us different is that we do not have the same volume of nurses working in any one location. Sometimes undergraduates and student nurses need mentorship and a different type of supervision during the course of their work. Whether or not a policy that is available in Edmonton or Calgary could be applied to the North, I am not sure. I certainly will commit to the Member to look at this policy and see if it is something that could be adapted for use in the North. Thank you.

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