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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, seniors are of concern to me and we did have a meeting on this and it's a program I have been continually looking at. I have also worked on it for the past two years and made substantial changes, Mr. Speaker, because one of the issues that arose was the minimum amount that a senior would have as income. We raised that from $35,000 to graduate up to as much as $50,000 depending on the area they are in. With respect to the cost of fuel, Mr. Speaker, the cost of fuel is not relevant because we supply a certain amount of fuel. In more colder climate areas, we increase the amount of fuel as well that seniors can receive. So, Mr. Speaker, we have addressed a number of areas already. Naturally, we are always concerned about the issues for our seniors. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've been attempting to put the funds to good use. We've made arrangements to make job offers to all the graduates of the nursing program coming out of Aurora College. We are taking steps to try to find people to fill positions, doctors specifically, that funding has been identified for. We are still struggling in a lot of the key areas of allied health professionals because there is a national shortage of physiotherapists, x-ray technicians, lab technicians and these other kind of specialized areas. We are going to be working with all the employees to take advantage of the training that's there because we want to focus not only on recruitment but retention as a key issue. So the staff and all the authorities in the department have been working very aggressively to put into place all the funds and resources we have been allocated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today's job board, the internal GNWT job board that comes up on the Internet, listed some 17 positions still vacant or being sought at Stanton territorial health authority, and ten being recruited in Inuvik region. Mr. Speaker, I was wondering, outside of this Internet job board what other recruiting initiatives or venues are we looking at? For instance, are we going overseas to see if immigration could help us with this? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a whole page of initiatives that I would be happy to share with the Member, but overseas recruitment is one area we have made some investment into. Last year, we went to the Philippines. We've also had some strong indication that there may be potential in places like New Zealand. So we are looking at all options in terms of trying to fill these positions in the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In discussion with a number of authorities and managers across the NWT, the issue of housing for health care professionals has been listed as a specific barrier to our ability to attract and recruit people. Is the Department of Health and Social Services looking specifically at housing as something that we should be addressing to help improve this?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are two focuses to that question. In the smaller communities that don't have market economies and market housing, we tend to have housing attached to the nursing station or part of the nursing station. We are striving to make sure that the rents are competitive as well as the buildings and housing is in good repair. In the market communities, specifically Inuvik and Yellowknife where the cost of rent and accommodation is extremely high, we have been talking with housing and looking at ways that will allow us to work with the communities to build housing. There is some housing available right now. For example, working with the foundation that is arm's length from the government that would allow us to work and develop housing because we know there is money available in the budget through the salaries to pay rents, to offer rental accommodations at an affordable rate. So we are looking at doing that. We recognize as well that there are implications beyond health, that in some cases, education suffers from the same kind of problem. So we want to work with education as well to come up with a broad government response. Thank you.

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

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question follows on my Member's statement earlier, regarding the Waste Recovery Reduction Act. Unfortunately, it seems that we have come to a certain point within this work that it seems to have come to a halt. There has been some work being done, from my understanding, which is a bit disappointing because a couple of weeks ago, we reviewed some information from the department and corresponded back with them to say that this could be dealt with during this sitting. In fact, in correspondence from the Inuvik Recycling Society, they've informed me that they had made comments on the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development's discussion paper of May 2001. So this has been an ongoing matter for quite some time. So I would like to know from the Minister if he is still prepared to bring forward legislation during this sitting, so that we can hopefully have it done within the life of our government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister of RWED, Mr. Antoine.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Knowing that we have four to five weeks of session scheduled, does the Minister think that it's possible to have it introduced during this sitting?

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister of RWED, Mr. Antoine.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would he be able to inform Members of this House as it's prepared to be brought forward so we will be able to address it as committees to make sure that we have a public consultation on this process? We know there has been previous consultations, so will he be able to inform us as to when he will be able to come forward closer to that date? Thank you.