Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Please be seated. Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Speaker, I had the great pleasure three weeks ago at the Legislative Assembly to meet a wonderful young lady, Miss Kendra Qilluniq. Kendra is the winner of the Queen's Jubilee Book Award. She was chosen by random draw of all entries to present the book "Voices of Our Youth" to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, two weeks ago in Ottawa.

This book was a compilation of stories created by the young people of the Northwest Territories to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee Year. The children were encouraged, as a literacy project, to write a story that they would like to tell Her Royal Majesty. My honourable colleague, Mr. Steen, has already shared several of these stories with Members of this House.

Each principal of the participating schools was asked to nominate a contributing student who would be an excellent ambassador to present Queen Elizabeth with her copy of the book. Our winner was Kendra Qilluniq, a grade 5 student from Weledeh Catholic School in Yellowknife.

According to her principal, Ms. Merril Dean, Kendra is a self-confident mature student who has shown leadership skills throughout her six years at Weledeh. She is always one of the first to volunteer to do extra tasks and activities that contribute to the well-being of the class. Kendra, according to her principal, has a strong sense of presentation, excellent speaking skills and works hard at playing fair.

All these qualities were demonstrated during Kendra's stay in Ottawa. She waited patiently outdoors during an incredible rainstorm in order to present Queen Elizabeth with her copy of "Voices of Our Youth". I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kendra, on behalf of all students and residents of the Northwest Territories, for being such an excellent ambassador. She represented us well.

I would recommend that if you have not yet been able to read a copy of this very entertaining book, go to your local library or school library and take an opportunity to do so. Not only is it a

great window into the minds of our youth of today, but it is also a very good read.

Mr. Speaker, I would like today to thank not only Kendra for her part in this project but each and every student who took the time and energy to present a story for Queen Elizabeth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The Honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Jim Antoine will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the Joint Energy and Environment Ministers meeting in Halifax. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Any further 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 address the issue of the recognition of addictions counselling profession by this government. Recently, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health and Social Services unveiled a report entitled A State of Emergency; A Report on the Delivery of the Addictions Services in the NWT. This report chronicled the challenges currently being faced by alcohol and drug counsellors attempting to address the complex issues associated with substance abuse and addictions in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the concerns associated with the qualification of counsellors and the ability of current programs to meet the needs of the communities that they serve must be addressed immediately.

Mr. Speaker, we must as a group of concerned stakeholders work to break the cycle of chronic relapses. The impacts of chronic relapses cost to this government each year millions of dollars in increased health care and socio and economic costs.

Mr. Speaker, alcohol and drug counsellors throughout the North have worked very hard over the years, providing a wide range of services to those who suffer from alcohol and drug addictions.

The time has come, Mr. Speaker, for this government to recognize alcohol and drug counsellors as allied health professionals, and to have alcohol and drug programming deemed a poor service.

Mr. Speaker, the recognition of addictions counselling as a profession, and the credentials earned through a certification process, represents the first step in building our current programs.

Mr. Speaker, with the formal recognition of addictions professions, measures can be taken to ensure that quality ethical and professional services are delivered to our communities.

Mr. Speaker, we must strive to be accountable to our communities. We can demonstrate our commitment to that ideal by recognizing the profession of addictions counselling.

Mr. Speaker, this government has formed partnerships with Aurora College and the Canadian Addictions Counselling Certification Board and other interested stakeholders to achieve higher standards of personal and professional growth for addictions counsellors.

Mr. Speaker, National Addictions Awareness Week will be held from November 17th to the 23rd. I would encourage the Minister that during this week, an announcement be made outlining this government's support for the formal recognition of this profession.

Mr. Speaker, many other professions are recognized and have designations and/or certifications associated with...

Mr. Delorey, the time for your Member's statement is up. Mr. Delorey, you have the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, other professions are recognized and have designations and/or certifications associated with them. Alcohol and drug counsellors should be no different. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate a major talent, and major league talented athletes in my constituency. They are Andy Wittlinger and Amy Wittlinger.

Mr. Speaker, the Wittlinger siblings had a very successful 2002 North American Indigenous Games experience, competing for Team NWT in swimming. The games were held back in July to August in Winnipeg.

Mr. Speaker, Yellowknife's Francis Ablitt was also on the team, along with Robyn McLeod, Deh Cho MLA Michael McLeod's daughter, Collin Stipdonk of Fort Simpson; Robin Gordon, Kristielyn Jones, and Curt McLellan of Fort Smith. The three YK swimmers brought home 25 medals in all from Winnipeg, and Andy and Amy took home a big portion of these medals. Andy won nine individual medals and two medals as a member of relay teams. Amy won seven individual medals and two as a member of relay teams. At the games, Andy and Amy combined to break five NWT swimming records.

The Wittlinger sibling accomplishments do not end at the Indigenous Games. Andy and Amy have attended the Alberta Senior Championships the past three years, and have had numerous top ten finishes. Last April, Amy competed at the Edmonton Keyano International Age Group meet in Edmonton, Alberta, against swimmers from 33 clubs across Canada, the United States and several other countries.

Amy and Andy both give time back to their Yellowknife Polar Bear Swim Club. They are qualified coaches and are currently helping the younger age group swimmers with the club. They have been swimming with the club for seven years and I could tell you that their parents have taken the time to tell me that there is a lack of support and funding for these elite athletes, but that does not seem to stop these exemplary and very talented young swimmers. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize them and congratulate them. I ask that the Members of this House join me in recognizing them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee -- quite an accomplishment. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring attention to this House in regard to a matter of a young child, six months old, who has a very serious disease, a heart disease -- a disease that affects the blood system by forming blood clots, and it has serious implications to the security and the life of the child. One of the recommendations to the family was that they had to move from the community of Aklavik to either Yellowknife or Edmonton.

Mr. Speaker, the family has been away in Edmonton receiving treatment for their child. They were gone for ten weeks. Mr. Speaker, the family also has three additional children who had to stay back home in Aklavik. Mr. Speaker, I think it is critical that this government helps this family to deal with this medical emergency by assisting the family to move to Yellowknife and find the appropriate accommodations.

Mr. Speaker, to date, the social workers in Yellowknife have been trying to make an attempt to find some accommodation, but all they were able to find is a one-bedroom unit. Mr. Speaker, there are six members in this family.

Mr. Speaker, I find it crucial and critical that this government, and the Minister of Health and Social Services, do whatever he can in his powers to ensure that the health and well-being of the family and the child be taken into consideration.

Mr. Speaker, it is sad to see that we spend a lot of time in this House talking about programs and services, but yet, Mr. Speaker, a simple thing such as providing accommodation for families from outside of Yellowknife to receive medical attention is unwarranted in regard to not having the accommodations available to families to deal with medical emergencies, such as this young Donovan Bailey Junior is having to deal with today.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of Health and Social Services questions on this matter to assist this family with this medical emergency. Thank you.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Among our youth today, there has been a disturbing trend, Mr. Speaker, of more violence, more bullying and intimidation, especially in our school yards and in our classrooms, Mr. Speaker. This is the kind of behaviour that later manifests itself in family violence and spousal assaults and other kind of violent behaviour in society.

I am happy to acknowledge the work of a committed group of people in the NWT who are challenging that kind of behaviour, Mr. Speaker, and really are making a difference.

Over the past three years, the Restitution Peace Project has successfully established the peace circle model. It is a restorative justice approach to behaviour and discipline at J.H. Sissons School here in Yellowknife.

Teachers, children, parents and community members have all played a part in developing this program. It offers an early intervention method and educational approach for children from kindergarten to grade 12 to address this growing concern, Mr. Speaker, for safe schools and student achievement across the North.

Over the past three years at Sissons School, suspensions have dropped from 49 to five. Students are learning self-discipline and non-violent problem solving. Long-term results include improved self-esteem, stronger relationships, reduced incidents of bullying and increased achievement. I think we can all learn from this approach, Mr. Speaker.

There is a video called "The Circle for All" that has been produced by Paul Gordon of Yellowknife. It chronicles the progress of this project. The support for this film was extended, Mr. Speaker, by both our government and the federal Justice department, along with community support and parental support for the whole project.

This video and the models and the examples and the success that is shown is now being circulated across schools in the North and I want to acknowledge especially, Mr. Speaker, the contribution and the belief and the commitment of Lynn Taylor, a key player in this project. I commend her for her efforts and for her colleagues and all the students at J.H. Sissons for setting such a great example. Thanks.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for my constituents back home in Inuvik, I would like to inform them, I would like to thank them for all the calls and the e-mails that they have sent me over the weekend in regard to the activities here in the House, last Friday especially.

I would like to encourage them if they do have the opportunity to view the whole discussion that does not appear over the TV and things, we only get the first hour and a half of discussion from this Assembly back home, so I would encourage them, if they can go to a computer and log on to the government website and go to Hansard to get the full discussion and details as to what was said and some of the discussion that went around this table.

I would like to thank them for their calls and e-mails and their prayers. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to take time to extend a warm northern welcome to a company that has opened its doors to a new office in Hay River. This company is Conoco Phillips and they hosted their grand opening and open house just over a month ago in Hay River.

Instead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, our mayor, Duncan McNeill had the opportunity to demonstrate yet another unknown talent with a pipe cutter. So it was a pipe cutting ceremony.

The Hay River office is coordinated by Mr. Ross Papirnick who is the operations supervisor of Frontier. Mr. Papirnick and his wife Alphonsine are returning Northerners. Alphonsine originally hails from Fort Providence. The Papirnicks have returned to the Northwest Territories from Alberta and are pleased to be back home.

Mr. Papirnick will be working towards building relationships with First Nations and aboriginal people, local businesses and community groups in the Hay River area. The Hay River office will serve as a regional base for existing operations as well as new venture exploration that is taking place in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and now in the southern part of the Northwest Territories. The office will complement Imperial Oil's offices in Inuvik, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson.

Mr. Speaker, I welcome Ross and Alphonsine Papirnick and Conoco Phillips to Hay River and I look forward to working together with them in building a strong economy and future for Hay River and for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the Minister for Health and Social Services and the staff in the Inuvik Hospital and here at Stanton for attention paid to a constituent of mine who had an accident by himself on a skidoo north of Colville Lake on Saturday morning.

The constituent, travelling alone about three hours north of Colville Lake had an accident and was left there most of the day by himself in extreme pain and finally, in the afternoon some of his brothers came and found him because he was late to arrive at his destination. They found him in extreme pain, unable to provide for him but gathered around him and found that he apparently had quite a few broken ribs, the internal injuries were not well-known.

They spent a long night by themselves because they could not get medical help right away because of darkness and an inability to get the landing set up. However, they rallied around him and they brought him out on Sunday. He was medivaced and given medical attention and I understand now he is here to make sure there are no other internal injuries that have not been discovered to day.

I just hope that he recovers so that he can continue to serve his community as the first and the best band manager that Colville Lake ever had. That is my constituent Joseph Kochon so I wish him well. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my years of failing eye sight I wish to recognize three constituents who are apparently in the gallery. Ms. Gina Dolphus, the present of the Native Women's Association of the Northwest Territories from Deline; Marie Speakman from Deline and Agnes Grandjambe originally from Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope. Thank you for coming.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ms I would like to recognize two of my constituents from Tuktoyaktuk: Mr. and Mrs. Calvin and Lucille Pokiak. Calvin works in the Inuvialuit land administration office, and Lucille works in the Tuktoyaktuk Housing Association office. Welcome to the gallery.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize four people in the gallery that I see. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the newly elected president of the UNW, Todd Parsons, and public relations and research with the UNW, Barb Wyness. I would also like to recognize long-term Yellowknife residents and very thinking people, Dave and Ann Wind, in the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to be able to recognize a band councillor from the Salt River First Nations and a very well known northern carver, Mr. Sonny MacDonald.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ms. Lee has already stolen my thunder by recognizing three of my constituents that I was planning to recognize. I too wanted to recognize hospital trustee, David Wind, and his wife Ann. I see the Winds quite often these days because their grandson plays on my son's hockey team. Welcome to the House. And Barb Wyness, who is also a constituent. Thank you.

-- Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize several people. First of all, Sonny MacDonald simply because he is also the chair of the Arts Council of the NWT but also the co-chair of the arts strategy panel in the Northwest Territories. Next I would like to recognize Violet Blondin-Camsell, chair of the Dogrib Community Services Board, who is also in the gallery, and Roy Desjarlais who is a member and just recently joined the Yellowknife School District No. 1. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Colleagues, I would just like to recognize in the gallery Mr. Leon Andrew, spouse of our esteemed Member of Parliament, and a very long long time friend and colleague that I worked with, Melody McLeod, many many years ago. Melody is chair of the, I think it is the water board.

-- Applause

And to all the visitors that are here today, thank you very much for coming to see your Legislative Assembly and welcome.

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko..

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services and it is with regard to two constituents of mine, Donovan Arey and Angela Greenland, with respect to their six month old son who has a rare blood disease. After going to Edmonton for some 10 weeks of treatment and whatnot, they were directed by doctors in Edmonton that the family relocate here to Yellowknife. The doctors strongly support the family's choice to relocated to Yellowknife and he would also realize that he needs to be followed up with regard to cardiac treatments and also to ensure that he is close a clinic and the hospital.

Mr. Speaker, the problem the family is running into is that there is a lack of accommodation here in Yellowknife. They managed to find a one-bedroom apartment but, Mr. Speaker, there are six people in this family. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what his department can do to assist families in need with regards to situations where they find themselves in with respect to diseases such as the one I mentioned. Will the Minister let me know where he stands on this.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the MLA raised this issue in the House last week and sent information from Chief Furlong of Aklavik, and Mr. Krutko has as well raised it. We have received the information and it has been passed on to the department. I have talked to the deputy and we are going to sit down with the Housing Corporation and ECE to see what is possible in terms of assistance. This is not a unique situation where we have had families and individuals having to relocate to another centre, so we are going to be on this one quickly and see what we can do to assist. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell m exactly how fast he can move on this? Mr. Speaker, the direction from the doctor was that they were supposed to be only in Aklavik for a week. We are going on two weeks now. I would like to ask the Minister how soon can he respond to this emergency?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the wheels are in motion. The issue has been raised in the House. As I indicated, information was provided as well from Chief Furlong and it was sent over to the department. I have had my executive assistant tracking this and it is on my list for our daily and weekly meetings this coming week. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me exactly what he is doing to ensure that there is communication open to the family and his department to ensure that we continue this dialogue to give them some comfort knowing that we are moving on this and that we are trying to find a solution to the problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this issue has been brought up. The Inuvik authority is involved and they are aware of the circumstances. They also know that the issue is coming before this House and that it has got the attention of the political leadership from Aklavik. We are taking all the steps we can to assist in this issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if he can keep me informed on exactly where we are at with regard to this issue, and also if he can keep the family informed. I believe we have to move on this quickly. It is an emergency. I believe that as the Minister responsible he should be able to react a lost faster than he is at presently doing.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes I will keep the Member informed. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up quite directly on my colleague Mr. Krutko's issue of the difficulty of finding accommodation here in Yellowknife, I would like to put a question to the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. I am relating it back to some answers that Mr. Ootes gave me last week to questions in a similar area. Through his portfolio he has responsibility for provision of homes and accommodation.

Mr. Ootes advised us that the interdepartmental committee on homelessness was dealing with this most serious issue in Yellowknife. People that I know who are directly involved with assistance to the homeless tell me, Mr. Speaker, that Yellowknife is not part of this committee's agenda. I am told that the interdepartmental committee is only looking outside of Yellowknife and at longer term strategies than our need in this city today.

Could the Minister, Mr. Speaker, advise if Yellowknife and the Yellowknife Homeless Coalition will receive any direct and immediate support from the government in dealing with this issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Housing, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As far as I am aware, we, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, as part of the committee working group, help to develop a comprehensive homeless strategy across the North. I am sure that we will not forget the Yellowknife Coalition in the overall strategy, so we will continue to support them at the level we are and if there is need to give more support I would like to have a chance to review that further. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to emphasis that there is an immediate crisis in homelessness in Yellowknife. This is a magnet community. People are coming into this city from communities for education, for employment, for health care, and perhaps even the bright lights and certainly the opportunities that we are blessed with here right now, Mr. Speaker.

Sixty-one families, we are told, are seeking urgent assistance. Can the Minister offer nothing more than the statement that that committee is looking across the Northwest Territories? Yellowknife needs help now. What can you do? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Housing, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had taken a number of steps to find resolution to the crisis that is not only confronting Yellowknife but as well other magnet communities across the Northwest Territories. We have opened up EDAP for instance, here in Yellowknife and that was not provided previously. We are looking at a number of other initiatives such as more rent supps that may improve the availability of homes or rental units.

Hopefully with the amount of development that is occurring here in the city, more units have become available as projects are completed.

In terms of transitional homes, again with the limited funding we have we are trying to maximize those dollars to accommodate those who are in the most need. So those are continuing to be our objective here to improve the quality and availability of accommodations for those who are in need. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess what I am hearing is the government does not accept or is denying that there is a homelessness crisis in Yellowknife. My arguments in the short time that I have here I do not think are going to make much of an impression, but I am wondering if the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation and perhaps his colleague for Education, Culture and Employment would accept the invitation that I know is always there for them to visit the Salvation Army or the YWCA or the Women's Centre to see first hand and hear first hand from the people who are facing this. Will they accept that invitation and talk to them? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Housing, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we have always had adhered to the principle that we will work with the communities across the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife is no exception. We have met with the officials of those organizations to help assist and communicate some of the problems we have and certainly be sensitive there, so I am more than willing to meet on an ongoing basis to address homelessness and transitional homes and any other kind of home ownership problems that currently occurs in the city of Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question will be directed to the Premier. It is resulting from some discussion that took place on Friday. I would like to seek clarification from the Premier from Hansard of October 31, 2001, page 635. The Premier, I quote, stated:

"We also created a chief of staff position. The chief of staff position is in fact an executive assistant position that has additional responsibilities."

Mr. Speaker, in unedited Hansard page 2694, we have the Premier stating:

"On years of service, for instance, that is the understanding that every deputy minister in this government has, that they will get one month for every year of service, not the number of years they were a deputy minister."

Referring to the contract. I would like to know from the Premier, was that position indeed a deputy minister position? Has this position now changed? Thank you.

That is fair game. Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those were comments that were made by myself being advised by the staff. The members of the committee will know that we asked to make available our staff last week so that they could answer these types of questions. It has been some time since then.

My understanding of the discussions were that the chief of staff was considered to be a senior management staff. The contract that was used to sign was a DM contract with the changes made. It was considered a senior management position. It was allowed to have some of the flexibilities of an executive assistant position in it.

The point of it is, Mr. Speaker, it is the staff that should properly discuss these with the Members because it is a technical question and I know they have had trouble understanding me when I was in committee. We discussed it here in the committee, we have asked questions about it. The chief of staff position was a position created by Cabinet and the rationale for it was done that way.

This is the best I can do, again, is provide the documentation that was provided back then. There is no lack of clarity in the staff's view about the position, how it was created and where it fit into the organizational charts. The lack of clarity was on my part and I apologize for it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Before I go to supplementary, Mr. Roland, I just want to caution Members that this matter is before the committee of the whole and perhaps the questions and responses would be better asked in that committee. However, Mr. Roland, you can go for a supplementary. I will monitor it very carefully.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, just trying to, for the record, the Premier stated in this House and this Assembly two different definitions it seems now for one position. I am trying to seek from him, is that in fact an executive position - he signed the contract initially two years ago. So is it an executive assistant position or is it now a deputy minister position? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I have to take the question as notice, because it is important to get the technical terms right. I do not want the Members to think I am changing my story or trying to mislead them. Thank you.

Thank you. The question has been taken as notice, and when a question has been taken as notice it ends the dialogue on it. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today goes to the Minister of Finance and it is in regard to the statistics we had on the census of the NWT population. As you know, Mr. Speaker, the census number is very, very important in terms of the amount of money that we get in transfer payments from the federal government and I understand that, I know and we are aware that the Minister has been working on this issue to clarify it. I wonder if the Minister could update this House on what sort of action the government has taken to recount the census. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, when we got the first census numbers, we realized there were some problems with them and our statistics bureau has been in contact with Census Canada since. We have, over the summer, done an assessment of the number of dwellings that were missed across the Northwest Territories. That first part of research has shown us that about 500 houses, occupied houses, were missed by Census Canada. Of course, that has a big impact on the total numbers that we will end up with eventually. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the Minister could advise us as to when he expects the study to be done and what the changed status might be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are now going into phase two of our research, and that is to look right across the North at the number of individuals who would have been missed. That research started in the middle of October. I expect it will have pretty good numbers late this winter.

The Finance Canada people will use the final numbers probably in September 2003, and then do calculations back to whatever those numbers were at that time. We have a bit of time before the final numbers will be determined, and to the best of my knowledge, that will be September. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to hear the positive note on this, but I wonder if the Minister could confirm as to what is his understanding with Finance Canada. Does he have a clear understanding, an agreement with them that they will actually take this into consideration? Is that clear, Mr. Speaker?

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

Mr. Speaker, clearly, under our financing formula, Finance Canada will use the adjusted numbers, and I believe those are available in September, 2003. So they will take the numbers, those adjusted numbers, and will then work backwards on our financing formula back to, I believe, the date when the census was done, so that would be in June, 2001, or roughly then. The agreement is they will work back and make those adjustments with the final numbers, which I think are September, 2003.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the Minister could give us any indication as to he has already mentioned five extra houses. He foresees more. It seems that he may be able to get some more back, so some money back. Could he give an idea as to what dollar amount we are talking about? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I really cannot give a dollar figure right now, but we are looking at least a 10.8 percent adjustment to our population. Exactly what that translates into dollars, I really cannot tell you right now. The number, in fact, might be higher than that once we finish all of our research. Thank you.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government is a party to the negotiations between aboriginal groups and the federal government to resolve outstanding claims and to seek clarification on the aboriginal rights of these respective groups. We have made a commitment to support the recognition and the settlement of these rights wherever we are party, and part of a process. This government stands behind the commitments it makes.

Specifically in address to this Member, it is my understanding that the Akaitcho, the Deh Cho and the Dogribs have outstanding issues to resolve. They are looking to this government to provide some leadership, some support, some assurance that they will be able to assist where called upon to resolve those issues. We are committed to doing that. We support the settlement and the conclusion of the T'licho agreement, self-government agreement. We also support the Akaitcho people and the recognition and the respect that should be paid to their claims and their rights through self-government, as well as the Deh Cho process. We stand behind these groups and we hope that they all come to a resolution of their issues together, working together to get that job done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have had meetings with the T'licho negotiators, discussions with the elders. I have also had meetings with the leaders of the Akaitcho, and have given my assurance, individually, and that of Cabinet, that we expect parties to work together to resolve these very, very difficult issues, to come together through some process, so that the rights of the Dogrib people, the T'licho people, and the Akaitcho people can come to be mutually supported by both groups, all outstanding issues resolved. The ancestors have done that. Their forefathers have done it. Every other group in the Territory in recent history have been able to do it. We believe, as difficult as it is, as difficult as the issues are, it is possible and we expect, in the next few months, for these negotiators and these leaders to come together and come to a resolution that we can all feel comfortable with and enjoy.

Let me just say that the pressure is intense. It is incredible, and everybody wants a guarantee, some assurance. It is not for anybody to give. It is for everybody to come together to deliver. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Lafferty, I am going to rule your question out of order. It borders on a speculative question. I will, however, allow you to re-phrase it, if you wish, without putting the Premier in the position of having to speculate on what is going to happen here down the road. Mr. Lafferty, you can rephrase that question if you wish.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the aboriginal leadership is not looking to secure my vote as the Premier or Member of this Legislature. The aboriginal leadership are looking to me for my leadership and for my ability to be fair, and also to be forceful and able to stand in front of very difficult issues and to help resolve them. That is what they want. They want the comfort of knowing that I am going to serve the rest of my term prepared to help them, prepared to move along issues and they have the comfort of knowing that I will be there to help them. That is what they want. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Your final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, the Member if fully aware of the answer to that question. I am merely the Premier and I have one vote on issues wherever I am allowed to vote, and very rarely in Cabinet. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, submissions have been made to both the Department of Health and the Standing Committee on Social Programs regarding the necessity of recognizing the alcohol and drug counselling profession and the credentials obtained by alcohol and drug counsellors. In addition, addictions, mental health and family violence programming must be recognized as a core service of this government.

Is the Minister willing to formally recognize the profession of alcohol and drug counsellors and their certifications obtained through their certification board? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.