Mr. Speaker, today I want to pay public tribute to two influential Northerners who have passed on. Both Pearl Hodgson, wife of our former Commissioner Stuart Hodgson, and Mark de Werdt, former justice of our Supreme Court, died in British Columbia in September.

Mr. Speaker, as many people know, when I first moved to Yellowknife in 1967 to work with the territorial government, I was the executive assistant to Commissioner Hodgson, and in this way I got to know the Commissioner's wife, Pearl. She was a very gracious lady and an active volunteer here in the Northwest Territories. In her role as Commissioner's wife, she hosted many distinguished guests, including members of the Royal family. In fact, she and Stuart became good friends of Prince Charles, and Pearl was one of only seven Canadians invited to Prince Charles' wedding to Princess Diana. Pearl Hodgson was also a devoted wife and mother, and a wonderful friend to all who knew her.

Mark de Werdt was also a long-time Northerner. He moved to Yellowknife to practice law in 1958. Over the years, he served in many legal capacities including both defense and Crown lawyer, magistrate and finally justice of the Supreme Courts of both the Northwest Territories and British Columbia. He and his wife, Ann, retired to British Columbia in the 1990s, although he continued to come north as a deputy judge from time to time.

Justice de Werdt died of cancer in Vancouver. He has left behind him not only a grieving wife, four sons and other family and friends, but also a long list of notable accomplishments and the respect and affection of a great many people in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, including me, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to join me in saying thank you and goodbye to these two fine people who contributed so much to the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Roland on October 1, 2003, regarding consolidating contracts for computers.

Mr. Roland asked how many computer purchase contracts have been awarded this fiscal year to companies outside of Yellowknife. In 2003-2004, there have been 10 tenders for different products. These contracts have been awarded to three different Yellowknife firms.

The total value of the contracts is $610,632. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Ms. Bea Campbell, a Fort Smith constituent and friend who is the president of the NWT Seniors' Association. She's accompanied by Barb Hood, the executive director of the NWT Seniors' Association, and with them is Jane White a new resident of the NWT from British Columbia.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to introduce a constituent with the Salvation Army, Major Karen Hoeft, who is also a tireless community volunteer. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 5, recognitions of visitors in the gallery. I would like to take this opportunity to say welcome to all those who are here to see their government. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for a number of years now the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment has been telling us that Aurora College would be moving ahead to offer a baccalaureate or bachelor degree programs in a limited number of areas. I believe that teaching degrees and nursing degrees that they planned to offer in particular. Can the Minister confirm and outline the college's plan to move into baccalaureate degrees in the next year?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have had plans for several years to offer a teacher education degree out of our system, through the Aurora College system, and additionally we have been working with Health and Social Services to offer a degree in nursing, and also we've been working with the University of Victoria to offer a degree in social work through the college system. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I remember hearing the previous Minister say that we would soon be delivering degrees for teaching. Can the Minister confirm that we will actually be starting third-year programs in nursing next year?

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

Mr. Speaker, yes, the intent is to offer a third year, starting in 2004-2005, for nursing. There are still some hurdles to come, mainly in the area of space and so forth. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister advise whether or not the program will be part of the base funded operation of the department, or will they have to be looking for new money each year in order to continue offering the program?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are still some process issues that need to be ironed out, and we hope to be able to accomplish that in the next couple of weeks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of people who are in the program, and they got in the program, particularly from smaller communities, expecting they'd be able to finish their degree here in the North. The Minister is, I think, raising some question about whether or not that's going to happen, saying that they haven't answered of the questions. Is the Minister confident that we will see years three and four of the nursing baccalaureate program starting at the beginning starting next year in the Northwest Territories?

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