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.

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.