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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this has tremendous implications in terms of the philosophy of the program. Therefore, it is an area that I cannot commit to here at this time. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister talks about the impact to the program. What about the impact to the aboriginal people who are receiving these benefit agreements and having them clawed back? There is an impact to an organization that has signed an agreement in good faith with this government and with industry to allow for these benefit agreements to be negotiated.

I would like to ask the Minister again, will you release the legal opinion that you received so the aboriginal organizations can see for themselves if there is any infringement on their rights in those agreements that they have signed?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is highly unusual. It is unprecedented to release legal opinions. They are between the lawyers and government. However, what we will do is provide a summary of the report, Mr. Speaker, if the Member so wishes, because it will give fairly well the gist of the information. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a precedent has been set in this House where legal opinions have been shared with other Members of this House, and shared within this House. So the precedent has been set. It is there. It has been done. I would like to ask the Minister how soon we can get copies of that legal opinion?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it was provided to me on a confidential basis and I am prepared to provide a summary of the report, which will give the details of what the Members wish to see. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on a line of questioning relating to my Member's statement. The Housing Corporation and the CMHC will be receiving some new funding over the next five years to address affordable housing in the North. I would like to ask the Minister if he could inform this House how the funding will be allocated amongst our communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will reiterate my previous answer. As of yesterday, when I was asked the same question, we have approximately 11 different home ownership type of programs delivered throughout the Northwest Territories.

What we said and what we did commit to was the idea of looking at those communities in greatest need, reinvesting a portion of that money into those communities. We will further review other communities that are lesser in need. We will re-profile those monies in the same regions but to those communities that are in the greatest need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide to this House how his action plan will demonstrate commitment to the people of the North in terms of developing more affordable housing in the smaller communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will use a customary approach here and I will make a Minister's statement and also table a strategic document prior to the conclusion of this session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear that the Minister will be tabling information. I would like to ask him if he could give us an indication of when we can expect to see that -- this week, next week, the week after?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I was advised that it is near completion. It will be presented to myself as the Minister for final review and approval and I will submit that to the House accordingly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I spoke of the vital role played by drug and alcohol addictions counsellors in northern communities. The cost of drug and alcohol addictions, as I said in my statement, is enormous, both socially and economically. Yet despite their importance, drug and alcohol counsellors are currently not legislated as a profession in the NWT. This means that the public has no assurance that the counsellors are certified, that they are meeting the professional standards, that they go through any regular process of re-examination or certification for their skills and competencies.

I would like to ask the Minister for Health and Social Services, what sort of qualifications do you require to be an alcohol and drug counsellor in the NWT? Thank you.