Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to apologize. I was reading my notes here so I did not hear the question.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Perhaps you could repeat the question, Mr. Delorey?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question was, what were the main reasons for having this facility built in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what facility are we talking about here? This one?

Thank you. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey, the more specific question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously he was wrapped up in his notes, and I do not want to take up too much time, but it has to do with the North Slave Correctional Centre. What were the main reasons for building that facility in Yellowknife?

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. We will direct that question to the Premier. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe it may have been the previous Cabinet that made the decision on the budget allocation. It was done by a former Minister of Justice. I believe we can revisit the question, but it will take some time. I will take the question as notice and get back to the Member on it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Aurora Research Institute is affiliated with the Arctic College system and through that, hopefully we have some of the results from the research that has been done there being linked into the various departments.

Very broadly speaking, there is probably a lot more that could be done to have departments become aware of the research being undertaken. In some areas, specifically, for example, on energy, I know that when the advisor on energy was putting together the Energy Strategy, he was talking to the people at the research institute on using some of their work in the preparation of his strategy. I am sure there are a lot of other areas of research that can also be considered by departments. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that response. Would the Minister then look at informing his Cabinet colleagues that there is an existing facility with resources here in the Northwest Territories that can take on some of their work when it comes to gathering information and putting things together? The Minister is very correct, they are very involved and my discussions with directors of the past and present indicate that they can do a lot more. I think they would like to be utilized to a larger degree.

Can the Minister work with his Cabinet colleagues to ensure that before we hire outside consultants, they will use our own resources here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that is an excellent suggestion. I will ask the research institute to supply me and other departments with information on their capacity and what they are capable of doing, and also a plan of what their scope of work is over the next few years. I will begin a dialogue with the other departments. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works in regard to the cost overruns at the correctional facility. Mr. Speaker, this project was supposed to come in around $33 million. It sounds like we are well into the $40 million range.

I would like to ask the Minister, did the Department of Public Works and Services underestimate the economic reality of what is going on in the North, where the cost of development is going up? By underestimating that, this cost is now being a burden on the policies of this government.

I would like to ask the Minister, does his department know at this time what the actual cost of this project will be at its conclusion?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the short answer to this is that Public Works, at this point in time, does not know the final price on this project.

With reference to how we arrived at the initial budget, Public Works and Services did go to consultants down south to try and arrive on a price that we could give to the client department for this facility. The consultants could not find a comparable facility down south so they came forward with the suggestion of roughly $35 million for a project like this.

However, that was in 1999 dollars. Unfortunately, there was no estimation taken into consideration at that time, so $35 million in 1999 dollars is what we are working with and that is what was put into the Department of Justice's budget.

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

Mr. Speaker, knowing that the cost seem to be exorbitantly out of control here, I would like to ask the Minister of Public Works, has he looked at phasing back or cutting back certain aspects of this project to save money, instead of having to cut back on the contracting aspect of it? Rather, look at phasing down this project so it is more economically viable and it is something that we can afford.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.