Thank you, Mr. Nitah. Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I committed to reviewing a recommendation from this Legislature that the homelessness file be assigned to a Minister. Given the importance which this government attaches to this issue and to ensuring that our residents have access to adequate housing, Cabinet considered the recommendation when it met this morning.

In determining the most effective response, we were guided by a number of considerations. First, to be timely and effective, the designated Minister will need to be able to call upon an already established administration which can provide resources and support. Second, both the Minister and administration should already have the necessary background, expertise and networks in housing and related matters. Third, for the Northwest Territories' purposes we need a lead Minister with a mandate to both coordinate and advance the work and objectives of other Ministers and departments with responsibilities related to addressing homelessness.

Finally, we wanted to act on this proposal taking into account that it will be helpful for implementing the recommendations of the Social Agenda Working Group which will be reporting on how we can better deliver social programs and services in the next few weeks.

Mr. Speaker, with these considerations in mind, Cabinet has agreed that Housing Minister Roger Allen will be designated as the lead Minister responsible for addressing this important issue, and that the Housing Corporation will provide administrative backup for the Minister.

Minister Allen will give a brief report to the House before the budget session concludes on how he, his Cabinet colleagues and their departments will collaborate on addressing the homelessness issue. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are concerned about mothers who drink during pregnancy and children with FAS/FAE. Fetal alcohol syndrome and effect in the NWT remains a serious concern and a priority of this government to address. FAS and FAE are preventable, but if not prevented the consequences are life-long.

Early intervention is crucial and early screening and diagnosis are key protective factors for those affected. In addition to increasing public awareness, it is critical that we have workers trained to conduct effective screening.

I am pleased to be able to announce a major initiative to enhance the skills of our front-line health workers that will take place on March 15th to 18th, 2002. On March 16th the Department of Health and Social Services will be hosting a FAS symposium in Yellowknife on behalf of the Prairie Northern Pacific FAS Partnership. Given the importance of this issue to the people of the NWT, Premier Kakfwi, along with the Ministers responsible for social services for the four western provinces and the three territories, are planning to attend.

This symposium is an important opportunity to offer training and professional development for our health and social services professionals. Approximately 60 to 70 health and social services professionals will be trained in screening for social risk factors and screening for maternal alcohol consumption. This type of screening allows the early identification of potential risk, allowing for earlier intervention and, hopefully, reduction of damage to the unborn child.

Training will also be offered in the Nipissing district developmental screening tool. This training is part of an initiative under the early childhood development strategy to ensure that all regions will have trained professionals by the first week of April 2002.

On March 15th, Dr. Loretta Fuddy, deputy director of Health for the State of Hawaii and the founder of the Hawaii Model Home Visitation Program, and Mr. Brad Bell of the Yukon territorial government, will be providing information to front-line staff on home visitation models used in their jurisdictions. Working with children and their families within their own home is an important component of any successful program for children and families at risk. The information provided at this workshop will be invaluable to front-line staff in implementing family visitor/child development support programs in their communities.

On March 17th and 18th, 10 physicians will receive training in the preliminary diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. They will receive continuing education credit for this from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Preventing FAS remains a key priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Providing our health and social services professionals with the tools and training necessary to assist pregnant women and identify children with developmental delays is key in moving this priority forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, although we are still trudging through the freezing temperatures of winter, spring and summer are just around the corner and the warm months will bring to mind recreational activities, including swimming. Today I wanted to discuss the above-ground pool program in the Northwest Territories and make some comments about the swimming pool in Fort Providence and the condition it is in.

Mr. Speaker, the pool was built in 1972 in Fort Providence with a plywood shell and without any heaters in the facility. Now, 30 years later, the roof needs to be replaced. It has huge holes in it that are beyond repair. The cement floor is cracked and heaving. The styrofoam around the pool is cracking and expanding outward and the shower is still in the public view and without any hot water. When the pool is in use, it leaks about a foot of water a week.

It is at risk of collapsing and is a hazard to the public. These problems give rise to issues of security, liability, safety, health and privacy concerns, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs for funding to construct a new pool in Fort Providence.

As we all know, sports and recreation are key to developing strong communities. Sports develops leadership skills in our youth and encourages them to continue to lead in whatever activities or jobs they choose to pursue in life. Sports and recreation also helps to keep youth off the streets and out of trouble. This is unquestionably important in the North where there is a lack of activities for youth, especially in the small communities.

A new recreational facility such as the above-ground swimming pool can contribute to the overall health of the community. Entire families can enjoy what a swimming pool has to offer, be it through swimming lessons, competitive sport or leisurely activities.

These reasons, Mr. Speaker, are why the construction of an above-ground swimming pool in the Hamlet of Fort Providence should be considered. The construction of swimming pools are not considered as capital projects, yet MACA was generous enough to provide $300,000 in funding to Fort Liard's new above-ground swimming pool, completed just this fiscal year. Fort Liard is a community of 520 residents, while Fort Providence has 840 residents and we do not receive any funding.

The population difference is considerable...

Mr. McLeod, your time for your Member's statement is over.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, the population difference between Fort Providence and Fort Liard is considerable. That is why I believe the Minister for MACA should consider providing a larger community like Fort Providence with funding to construct an above-ground swimming pool.

Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister responsible for MACA questions regarding this issue during oral questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak on an issue that has been a concern for a quite a number of years in the community and it is around the Aurora campus facility in Inuvik. It has been known for many years that it needs replacement. We have gone through the idea of a regular capital project and it has been in the five-year capital plan for some time.

The facility itself is holding together, but just doing that, Mr. Speaker. In fact, it was agreed by the community to allow the campus to jump ahead and put one of our other schools behind in the capital plan to ensure that we can continue to offer programs with Aurora campus in the community. There is much demand for programs there as we are seeing the development occurring in the Beaufort Delta region.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that occurred when the Aurora campus was being discussed was Public Works and Services put a plan together for Aurora College and this government viewed that and accepted the report, I believe, and had the campus put forward. Since that time, Mr. Speaker, it has gone a couple of ways. One is when P3s were discussed by a previous government the campus was put onto that list as one of the things that should be moved forward, but when the government then decided not to carry on with P3s and that there will not be public/private partnerships, the campus fell back onto the normal capital plan of this government.

Since then, Mr. Speaker, as it came on to the plan, the government has stated that there has not been enough funding to build both the campus and the student residence at the same time. In fact, we are going ahead now, as stated in the main estimates, with the plan to build the Aurora campus facility itself, but lacking a student residence. Now this government has done a number of things to try and address the student residence, but it is doing things, Mr. Speaker, in a forum, as I see it, which is just prolonging the situation and increasing potential further costs by taking little side routes to try to deal with the issue. Later on during question period I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know that the water situation in Fort McPherson has been a problem for some time. They have now found a new water source and they are in the process of implementing that source, but it has been a rough start. There have been major breakdowns and freeze-ups, and no facilities for parking the vehicles. They are being parked outside.

Mr. Speaker, the community is very concerned that they know there is going to be an increase in the cost to deliver the water and sewage programs in the communities. There is a water and sewage subsidy program with regard to the old system that was in place, yet, Mr. Speaker, they do not see any increases in ensuring that the coverage of the cost to deliver our programs and services will be within reason and will be expanded by this government to ensure that the community can carry out its responsibilities for delivering water and sewage programs, and that there will be a subsidy in place to ensure that they can afford to do so.

Mr. Speaker, water and sewage programs are supposed to be a priority of this government, but we have seen a change in focus on how funds are being allocated to communities. In some municipalities there have been increases. In the case of the water and sewage programs, we do not see any increases in the next years for this program, but knowing the new system that the community of Fort McPherson is presently on, there will be a higher cost to operate, maintain and deliver water to the residents of Fort McPherson.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs what they are doing to monitor the costs of this program. Are there going to be unforeseen expenditures in light of the problems they have faced to date? They should be coming forth with a supplementary appropriation to ensure that they will find dollars so that communities can carry out the responsibilities that they have taken on, especially for water and sewage delivery in our communities.

I would like to ask the Minister questions on this matter at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak today about employment in the service industry. I know from talking to a lot of local business people, local businesses are having a very difficult time attracting and keeping prospective employees.

I suppose there are various reasons for this, some of them good, some of them bad. Certainly, to some degree, it is a good problem. There is a lot of competition. Many people are employed in the mines, for instance, and making very good wages, Mr. Speaker. On the other hand, on the flip side, housing concerns are preventing us from drawing from a larger pool of people.

However, there are some optimistic signs. There was an article in the media today about a pre-employment training program sponsored by the HRDC. This particular program prepares people with disabilities for the workplace. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, many times likely these people had been on the income support rolls previously, and this is one way that they are able to get off those rolls. It teaches life skills, resume writing and helps to build self-esteem.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many of us are aware of this, but about 13 percent of the local population is disabled, and because of programs like this that the HRDC is sponsoring and the desire of these people to prepare for employment, many of them will be working and that is a great sign.

The next session for this program starts in March, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to urge potential workforce participants and also employers to contact the HRDC to learn more about this valuable program. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to speak about something which is causing me serious concern. Numerous things have happened lately which are, in my view, counterproductive to unity in the Northwest Territories. Cracks are appearing which potentially threaten the way we live and work together.

We talk about the diversity of our people, our regions, our communities and our culture, and generally we have seen this as a part of what makes us unique and what makes the North a place we are proud to call home.

Numerous things have contributed to what I see as a subtle and disturbing trend, which if not recognized and addressed threatens to divide or polarize us. It is so important that we pay attention to the detail of our policies and initiatives to diminish real actions or even perceived attitudes which lead to alienation of any group that makes up our Territory.

This frustration creeps into our media sometimes and it is reflected in such things as editorial comments and cartoons. With all due respect to our local newspaper, I do not appreciate a cartoon characterizing our Premier in a way which insults his freedom of expression and opinion, whether it is the length of his hair or what he thinks about our Territory's name.

Everyone has the right to respectfully disagree and we heard very clearly from our constituents on the name issue, but if we sink to making comments that are very personal or have racial overtones it does not accomplish anything. In fact, it tears down what we strive to build.

As a Member of this House I want to understand the needs and aspirations of all Northerners and be a part of bringing solutions in a balanced and fair way that does not offend or deny anyone. Let us attempt to be very sensitive to the concerns and aspirations raised by each other as they relate to our constituents, because I know they are raised with sincerity.

If the actions and responses of this government are fair, they should be defendable in downtown Hay River or Colville Lake. So while attempting to arrive at decisions to govern, let us set an example of respect, understanding and unity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. 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 update my constituents and those in the House on some of my activities prior to the session.

The weekend before the session I was invited to speak at the front-line community justice workers conference and workshop entitled, Working the Trenches, in the town of Hay River. I felt honoured to be asked to do this and it was a great learning experience for me to meet and talk with front-line workers from all over the South Slave and Deh Cho areas. This was especially meaningful because in my life before, about 10 years ago, I had a brief stint working at the Department of Justice and one of the things I did was work on the start of the whole community justice and corrections area.

Parts of the sessions were highly emotional as the issues often evolved around people's experience of victimization, justice and restitution. It was also heart warming to see how far we have come in this area and to see the commitment and enthusiasm expressed by the front-line workers and how they shared with each other their experiences in starting up a community justice committee, and maintaining and progressing in the important work in this area.

Mr. Speaker, while it is subject to a lot of criticism, I think we should recognize the good work that has been done by the Department of Justice over the last 10 years. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize and thank the excellent organization done by the people involved. They had excellent facilitators and special guests from all over the country, especially aboriginal leaders and healers from some of the aboriginal communities down south. I would like to congratulate Brenda Hall and the board chair, Helen Hudson McDonald for their excellent work. I would also like thank them for inviting me to be part of it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the support that we receive every day in this Legislative Assembly by our young people, the pages that serve us here. They provide a great deal of support to us with a great deal of dedication. From time to time we work overtime and the pages are still here with us after hours. They are here serving us diligently every session.

I would like to recognize all pages today, Mr. Speaker, but also I would like to mention that four of the pages with us today are my constituents. They are Miranda Booth, Mara Smith, Sarah Bonner and Leslie Merrithew. Both Miranda and Leslie served as Members in the Youth Parliament that transpired here in this Legislative Assembly several weeks ago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Indeed they are very, very helpful young persons. It is a learning experience for them as well. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Schools North Apprenticeship Program (SNAP) is a program for high school students in the Northwest Territories who are interested in a career in the trades. Mr. Speaker, this is a tremendous program. It gives youth an option to seek an alternative to leaving the North for their education or dropping out of school when they do not want to pursue an academic program. This allows them to complete their high school education while establishing themselves in a trades career. It gives them a significant leg up on that career at the same time, Mr. Speaker.

We know that a healthy economy stems in part from a skilled work force, yet our workforce is lacking many skilled workers. The Northwest Territories is short of trades people and we are right now importing employees from the south to build northern projects. This is certainly not maximizing our northern economy.

The SNAP program encourages youth to stay in school. Right now too few of our students are graduating from high school in the Northwest Territories in comparison with the rest of Canada. Mr. Speaker, we are well aware that more than a high school graduation is required for most jobs now available. In fact, most require 17 years of education.

Here we have a structured, proven program, yet I understand, Mr. Speaker, that there are fewer than 20 students in the program this year. This number is not proportionate to the number of students that we should have in the program. Mr. Speaker, since we are having trouble getting people into the trades I think this is a program that needs to be supported better.

Parents need to understand too that a university or academic education is not always the best track for their children to follow. In our environment in the North, most jobs will likely come up through the trades programs. With mining, oil and gas and other resource-based industries, this is certainly one of the best ways to pursue an occupation. In fact, a career in the trades can often yield a better wage and usually more secure jobs than many other jobs.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment should be better promoting this program to youth and be doing more to encourage young people to consider a career in the trades as a viable option for their future. The department should also be more actively promoting the program to employers, promoting the benefits of participating in such a program and the assistance available to them in doing so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Captain Karen Hoeft with the Salvation Army and also a strong advocate of the Homelessness Coalition. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Welcome to the gallery, Ms. Hoeft. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes it is a practice and policy of the Department of Education to place students in classrooms appropriate to their age. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is certainly a knowledge that the critical area seems to be at grade 10 where students are looking to possibly leave school. There have been improvements in the last couple of years because of the extension of grades to the smaller communities. There has been some success in that. Initially there was increased enrolment and recently we have noticed that there has been improved graduation rates in some of the communities, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do not have complete hard data on that, but there is some indication that students feel that their education beyond that is not appropriate. We can all surmise, of course, about some of the reasons, but there is the issue of the appropriateness of the education system to their interested area of study. For that reason, we have been working on developing alternative pathways for students to take in high schools. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no we are not there to pad. Graduation rates are dictated by examinations that are followed. It is an Alberta set exam that we carry on every year for grade 12. We do testing along the way. Schools do individual testing, Mr. Speaker. We have noticed that graduation rates from the early 1990s to today have improved. It is perhaps not as fast as we would like, but we certainly see it inching up. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to take that question as notice. I do not have that information here. Thank you.

Thank you. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for the Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs regarding my Member's statement on above-ground swimming pools. In my statement I indicated that the swimming pool in Fort Providence is beyond repair and on the verge of collapse.

I would like to ask the Minister, would he consider providing funding for the construction of a new pool in the Hamlet of Fort Providence? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department at this present time does not have a policy in place to supply funding for pools in communities. At one time there was a program in place whereby they did this, but it expired or was removed in the days of cutbacks.

At the present time, the department is aware that the community has a pool that is fairly old and they were aware that it reached the point where it has to be replaced, however, this is the first report that the community has a request and I will certainly have the department consider the request.

However, we are going to have to work out how we are going to approach the Financial Management Board because there is no policy.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised at the Minister's response. Last year I made the same request and at that time I was told there was no policy. The Minister states there was no request, this was the first time. I am quite surprised to hear that. In fact, other communities have received funding since then. Fort Liard has received funding. I wanted to know if the Minister could tell me how that community can access funding when the communities that I represent were refused. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has advised me that the funding for Fort Liard may have been obtained by them switching their priorities around whereby they may have had it in the budget, funding for a community hall or a recreation complex and they turned it towards a pool instead, but I would have to get back to the Member to really confirm that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I am surprised at the Minister's response. In Fort Providence we had budgeted dollars for a curling rink and we asked of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs whether we could use those dollars to build a swimming pool. Again we were refused.

I would like to ask the Minister, how can one community transfer dollars from projects that were identified in that community and convert it, but others cannot?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware that the community had money in the budget for a curling rink and there is still some money sitting there for the curling rink. However, there was no indication that I am aware of that the community wanted to use this funding for a swimming pool rather than a curling rink.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from the Minister's response then, I take it that Fort Providence would be eligible to convert those dollars that were earmarked for a curling rink and the building is right now partially completed, those dollars could be then used for a swimming pool.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how much this swimming pool is going to cost, but I believe that the funding that is sitting in the budget for the repairs for the curling rink were in the nature of $50,000. I do not know, if that is what the community wants, well then that is what the department will sit down and negotiate with the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, I was trying to figure out what to ask today of the many things I could ask, and received this letter from a resident in Yellowknife asking me about the high gas prices in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, this person points out to me that in St. Albert in November the price of gas per litre was 46.4 cents. I called one of the local operators this afternoon and the rate in Yellowknife is 82 cents per litre. I also know, Mr. Speaker, that in Edmonton in October it was up to 63 cents, but it went down to 56 cents, now it is 46 cents, and this was in November. I am sure it is lower now.

My question to the Minister of Finance is, could he give us a simple and clear answer as to why the price in Yellowknife is almost double the one in Edmonton? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately I do not think there is any one simple clear answer as to why the price differs in Edmonton compared to Yellowknife. There are a lot of factors including the transportation costs, the mark up costs, the costs at the processing plant, the competition that occurs between retail gas stations in Edmonton. There are a lot of factors that come into play here, Mr. Speaker.

I can assure the Member that our taxes have not changed on gasoline so that has not at all contributed to any price increase. I will also undertake to have the department take a look at the recent increases that have taken place. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, thank you. In looking at the budget address, it has indicated that the government is going to have $160 million in operating surplus this year, yet we have the highest fuel tax in comparison to Nunavut, Yukon and Alberta at 10.7 cents per litre.

Would the Minister, given the good times we are having, consider reducing the GNWT portion of tax to alleviate some of the problems? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will always consider any tax changes that Members want to recommend be taken into consideration. This is something we would have to look at over the longer term, figure out what is happening to the price of fuel, what the impact would be on our revenue.

If we were to decrease the price of gasoline from 10.7 cents to 6.4 cents, for example, to bring us down to the lowest, it would cost us $1.4 million annually. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is $1.4 million annually, but we are having a surplus of $160 million. Mr. Speaker, I did not hear any commitment from the Minister in his answer as to whether or not he would look at the question of reducing the burden of the high cost of fuel. Do I have that commitment? Could the Minister commit to this House to do that, Mr. Speaker?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said, I will certainly look at it. I will look at any changes that Members suggest with regard to tax decreases, increases, whatever it may be. Mr. Speaker, I will look at that issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final short supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Just to clarify, Mr. Speaker, may I also have the Minister make a commitment to provide us with the reason why our price is almost twice as much as the one in Edmonton?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will have the department take a look at the reasons for the increase. I would have to say that the response we will provide will have to be based on some of our own assessments of the reasons because they are varied, and we may not be able to get access to all of the specific details of exactly what the companies charge for transportation costs, what the mark-up is here and so on. I will provide the best information I can. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regard to my Member's statement on the water and sewage subsidy program, my question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. There has been no increase with respect to the formulas that are used. As we know, last year there was an extraordinary request for funding because of cost overruns with regard to the water and sewage program in Fort McPherson due to freeze-ups that occurred.

I would like to ask the Minister, when will the community see an increase on the actual costs associated with delivering the water and sewage subsidy program?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my department advises me that in 2001-2002 Fort McPherson received an increase of $180,000 in anticipation of higher costs for the operation of the water delivery system. Further to that, the previous Minister in December committed to the community that they would assist the community with any further funding needs, if they were in fact identified. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to the information provided by the Minister, it is clear that the water and sewage subsidy program is set at $318,000. Looking at the information I have in front of me, there is no change with regard to that program for the next four years into 2003-2004. I would like to ask the Minister again, what does the community have to do to see an increase in the water and sewage subsidy program to the cost of actually delivering that program?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the years 2002-2003 and onward the department has not identified the figure because the figure has not been confirmed yet as to what that will be on an annual basis. We are estimating anywhere between $200,000 to $400,000 a year, but we will need confirmation of that to put that to the community. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to realize that when we do implement new systems in communities where we used to have a piped-in system and now we have a water delivery system, there is going to be an increase in costs. I would like to ask the Minister, how soon can you have that information available for the communities so they can hopefully see an increase in delivering that program on behalf of this government?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member mentioned there have been a number of problems with the new system, including the operation of trucks and the Department of Public Works is in the process now of identifying those costs that were just start-up costs. Rather than just coming up with a figure at this time, they are trying to analyze what were actually start-up costs and what were actually working out the bugs. I am hoping that once the new system is fully workable as far as Public Works is concerned, we would then be able to give the community an estimate, through MACA, as to what it would cost to operate that system on an annual basis. MACA would then bring that forward to the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I definitely would like to see the information that has been collected. There have been cost overruns on this project in the past and I think it is important that we keep a handle on what these costs are. I would like to ask the Minister if he will share the information that he mentioned earlier, the information that has been collected, with myself and the Hamlet of Fort McPherson so that we can follow these costs to see what we can do to improve that service.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can commit to bringing that information forward as soon as I have it. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment around the SNAP program. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise the House how many young people are involved in the SNAP program this year and if he has the information going back for a couple of years? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently there are nine students enrolled in the SNAP apprenticeship program. The program was started in 1996 and since that time a total of 18 students have been enrolled and two students have achieved journey person status. As well, of course, we have the training and occupational certification program and one student is enrolled in that as a tourism counsellor. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given that this program has been in existence now for six or seven years, why has there been almost no growth in the number of students involved in the program?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member spoke earlier about the need to promote this further, and I do not disagree with the Member on that. We need to promote this with industry and with employers. One of the school boards here in Yellowknife has a program called Bridges, and they handle this in a number ways as a promotional program. Certainly there are some hurdles here. One is interest on the part of the students to be able to move into that, and the other is access to employment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my statement I said that we needed to support this program and the Minister just said that he agreed that we need to support this program. What specifically is the Minister going to do in the next year to more adequately promote this program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been working on not only the issues of all academic approaches, and I spoke earlier about Pathways, the opportunity for students to move into occupations from grade 10 on, and we are exploring that area. I will commit here that we need to ensure that promotion of this program is done throughout the Northwest Territories and I will assure the Member that that is what we will undertake to do. Thank you.

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