Thank you. Please be seated. Colleagues, I understand that Her Honour, the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, is prepared to enter the Chamber to give the Opening Address. Mr. Clerk, would you please attend to and escort the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories into the Chamber.

Please be seated. Good afternoon, colleagues and special guests in the gallery. Prior to proceeding to the orders of the day, I would like to, on behalf of all Members, thank her honour, Commissioner Hansen, for attending to this opening of the Fifth Session of the 14th Legislative Assembly and for her opening address to us. A very special thanks goes out as well to Mr. Bill Gilday and the 17 members of the choir from the Sir John Franklin High School. Thank you for singing our national anthem so beautifully. It is always a delight to have you visit our Assembly.

I would also like to express our profound gratitude to the members of the Detah Drummers, and to thank them for their gift of music to us today, and to Pastor Connie Landstrom for serving as our chaplain today. Thank you for your prayer and for your words of inspiration to us.

I would like to welcome all Members back from a well-deserved but busy break. We can also look forward now to four weeks of productive and important work in this Chamber.

Orders of the day, item 3, Ministers' statements. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Minister Antoine. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the Budget Address on Wednesday, February 20, 2002. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Minister Antoine. Item 3, Ministers' statements. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I join yourself and the rest of my colleagues in this Chamber for what I hope will be a very productive session. We as legislators have some very interesting and complex issues to discuss over the next several weeks and I look forward to some very lively debate.

A number of activities have taken place in Hay River over the last few months and I would like to take this opportunity to share some of these with the Members of this House. In late November, the Hay River Kiwanis Club hosted the international president of Kiwanis, Mr. Brian Kunat. It was quite a coup for the Hay River Kiwanis Club to host this international president. Mr. Speaker, my sincere congratulations go out to all members of the Hay River Kiwanis Club, and particularly Mr. Ed Dakin, club president and my constituent, who did a superb job of organizing Mr. Kunat's visit to Hay River.

In December, Mr. Speaker, Hay River hosted Members of the Legislative Assembly as we held our caucus meetings there. I was very pleased that my community could host these meetings and I want to thank my colleagues for choosing Hay River.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to our meetings, my colleague Jane Groenewegen and I hosted a community meet-and-greet. This was a chance for the community of Hay River to meet the MLAs from around the Northwest Territories. The meet-and-greet was a resounding success with over 200 people in attendance. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Katl'odeeche Drummers, the Filipino Dancers, the Harry Camsell Choir and Diamond Jenness Handbell Choir for providing entertainment. It was wonderful and very well received.

Speaking of entertainment, Mr. Speaker, I would have to say that the highlight of the evening was watching Premier Kakfwi, Minister Handley and Sandy Lee as they attempted to perform their version of Filipino dancing.

Mr. Speaker, in December, the Honourable Roger Allen, Minister of Housing, attended a meeting with the Hay River Seniors Society. At this meeting, Mr. Allen announced his intention to have an independent living facility for seniors erected in Hay River. I am very encouraged by Minister Allen's news. I have worked very closely with the Hay River Seniors Society since becoming an MLA and I think it is high time that this government devoted more resources to our ever increasing seniors population.

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to report that things were reasonably quiet over the holidays and I was able to spend some time at home with family and friends. It certainly was a most refreshing break.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank...

Mr. Delorey, your time for your Member's statement is up. Mr. Delorey.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, tragedy struck in January of this year as Mr. Kole Crook of Hay River was killed in an airplane crash that also took the lives of two sisters from Tulita and a pilot from Nova Scotia. Mr. Speaker, Kole was a very young man of such promise and truly an accomplished musician. He spent thankless hours performing throughout the Northwest Territories and Canada. He was a talented fiddler who was always willing to share his gift. He will be truly missed and my sincere condolences go out to the family.

Mr. Speaker, in mid January, Minister Miltenberger came to Hay River to meet with the workers at the hospital and lay out his action plan to address their concerns. I understand that these talks are ongoing and I look forward to some very positive outcomes in addressing their concerns.

Also in January, I had the privilege of attending the launch of a wonderful book entitled "So That Our Voices Are Heard." This book is about forest use and changing gender roles of Dene women in Hay River and I encourage Members of this House to obtain a copy.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, recent media reports have quoted Minister Ootes as saying that we can expect to see more funding for day cares in the Northwest Territories. I certainly hope those reports were accurate and if so, I congratulate the Minister. Financial support for day care has not kept up with inflation. Rates have not changed since the early 90s. The increases are long overdue.

Mr. Speaker, day care funding is a big issue across the territories. Facilities in both Yellowknife and Hay River have recently run into financial difficulty, but I know many facilities across the Northwest Territories are constantly struggling to make ends meet, often through bingos, raffles and bake sales. Mr. Speaker, we have nearly 3,700 pre-school age children in our territory. As this government's early childhood development plan notes, the most critical time in a child's development is before they turn six. An investment in good childcare yields a two-to-one payback in economic benefits. Our kids' future is too important not to make this investment.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Social Programs, of which I am a member, has consistently asked that more funding be put into early childhood programs like day care. Minister Ootes' response is welcome. Now we will be watching tomorrow's budget to see if the new funding will be sufficient to address the shortcomings in the current system.

However, Mr. Speaker, increasing funding for day care will not likely solve all of the problems. The department also needs to provide better support to boards and organizations that run day cares. I hope the Minister will also develop a process to provide training for volunteer boards in areas like accounting and administration. We will all reap the benefits of such an investment.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the volunteers who sit on boards for day cares and the generally underpaid staff who work in the centres. We owe them our gratitude for a job well done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Merci, Mr. Dent. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first let me start by sending greetings back to my wife and children. Mr. Speaker, as is well known, jobs are the back bone to a healthy community and economy. Mr. Speaker, the issue that I raise today is to speak on the news that came across the Northwest Territories that the Department of DIAND was looking at transferring jobs to the Northwest Territories. There will initially be 20 jobs and possibly 50 jobs, which is a remarkable turn-around when initially a study was done by that department and said that no jobs would be coming to the Northwest Territories, so it is good news indeed.

My concern, Mr. Speaker, is where these jobs will end up in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, it is well known that the activity that is increasing here in the Northwest Territories centres largely around oil and gas development. In fact, a billion dollars worth of activity over the next couple of years, including the two previous, will be done in the Beaufort-Delta region. So, Mr. Speaker, my issue is that I will pursue this government to ensure that as those jobs from DIAND move North, they move North to where the activity is, not just to the headquarters where development seems to happen around government. In fact, we can dig out numerous jobs and growth in this government since division to show that headquarters has done rather well in growing over the last number of years.

My concern, Mr. Speaker, is to ensure that as jobs move to the North, whether they be through this government or the federal government, that those positions are put in communities that can use the jobs as well as provide for the work that is done in the regions, not that everybody has to come to Yellowknife to see someone from government, or get their permits or applications in. In fact, I think it is time for this government to take a page out of what happened in Nunavut and look at some devolution of jobs and those responsibilities to the communities. With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be questioning the appropriate Minister. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in recognition of the Olympic Games that are underway in Salt Lake City, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate all participants and medal winners thus far of the 2002 Olympic Games.

I believe this is also a good time to recognize our very own NWT Olympians, the Firth sisters. Originally from the Mackenzie Delta, Sharon now makes my riding of Range Lake her home.

Until the bronze medal won by Beckie Scott in cross-country skiing in Salt Lake City, Sharon held the record for the best showing by Canadian women skiers. I might also add that of the seven medals that Canada has won so far, five have been won by women, one by a man, and the other gold by a man and woman pair. So as the sign says, Canadian girls rule.

By fortuitous coincidence, I had the opportunity to drive with Sharon to Fort Resolution from Hay River last week. I learned that the Firth sisters were four-time Olympians, representing Canada in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics. Knowing what an honour and how tremendously difficult it is to make it to the Olympics even once, I am astounded at the lack of profile we are bestowing on the Firth sisters.

I was really happy to hear Sharon Firth speak up against the bad habit of smoking by youth and the athletes to a great impact. I believe everybody heard it, Mr. Speaker.

She has a lot of credibility to speak on behalf of the young people and athletes and I would really like to see the government make the point of making the most of Sharon Firth as the NWT's ambassador for young people and athletes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.