Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will deal with each of the issues. Mr. Roland had three issues. First were his comments with regard to the student housing in Inuvik for the college. He is correct that this dates back a long way. What we have done in Inuvik, Mr. Chairman, was first of all concentrate on ensuring that we had the ability to put up a new college building, which is proceeding and will be started this particular summer, fall, et cetera, and that was of great concern to us to ensure that got built. The student housing did become a concern, but what we did was turn to what is referred to as the Blueberry Patch. We presently have 30 units in that particular housing complex, and 18 units were turned over to the developer and we are getting 10 of those units back. Mr. Chairman, that will accommodate the number of students that are attending and the housing that is needed for the Inuvik campus. We additionally have access to eight more units if we do need them, Mr. Chairman. These are not new units, we recognize that, but it will solve the problem for us for the immediate future for the next number of years; three, four or five years.

What the honourable Member mentioned was reference to the money that is being put into the projects in Fort Smith. We have approximately $1.3 million for the Green House, $1.3 million for the Brown House and then some $2 million for the replacement of 15 units. This is necessary, Mr. Chairman, because first of all, we have an order from the fire marshal that we must address the units -- the Green House and the Brown House -- or they will be shut down and he or she wants a commitment. I'm not sure if it was the fire marshal, but we've got a report from the assistant fire marshal, I believe it is. Anyway, she said the units would be shut down if we didn't address the issue. Additionally, the units that are due for replacement, we are in dire need of those units, Mr. Speaker, for similar reasons. The current housing is extremely old, 40 to 50 years old there and if we don't protect our assets in the community, then we could face a critical problem in Fort Smith.

Now, I think what may be throwing the situation somewhat was some information that was passed to the standing committee that indicated there were vacancies of 50 some beds, I think is what it was. I am going to try to explain what happened here. We have a place called Breynat Hall, which was a residence for high school students and at one time two students were accommodated per room. The college doesn't find that acceptable, and it is not fair to the individual adults going to the college in Fort Smith. In some cases, in emergency cases, people are doubled up in those units, but I think that is where the figure may have come from, that there was extra space there. That, in our opinion, is not correct because the college is very adamant that they don't want to double up people except in emergency cases, because they are not suitable for that. As well, Breynat Hall is very old and there are some problems with that particular unit.

So there has been a need to identify, Mr. Chairman, the protection of our assets and ensuring that the 40 to 50-year-old buildings are addressed and we've done that, Mr. Chairman. As well, I can't avoid the Brown House and the Green House. There was a comment, well, why couldn't we switch the money? I still don't have enough money, Mr. Chairman, to address the issue in Inuvik because that particular need is approximately $4 million. I can tell the Member, that I've not given up on Inuvik. I'm talking with the Minister Responsible for the Housing Corporation, I don't know whether there is any resolution there. I did speak previously about the possibility of approaching it on a private sector basis. That didn't work for us. It didn't work for us because the price became too much for us. So if I may move on, hopefully that clarifies the situation. I can provide further answers if there is a need to do that on the housing situation.

On the teacher education program, yes, we are encouraging our students to get their degrees. We're providing support for five students per year, to go back to school. Plus we offered, also, for them to do it by distant education because some teachers may find that in a community, with a family, it is too onerous and difficult to move from the community to get their degree, so we offer it part time. The question, of course, that has been asked is why can't those particular graduates, from the programs that we have, get jobs? In all cases, we have identified this as a maximizing northern employment issue and we have indicated that we would guarantee employment, but it doesn't mean employment in the particular home community or the community that they may wish to live in. But they do receive priority hiring from our department side, and we are in touch on a constant basis with our DECs to address this issue. So hopefully that answers that particular question.

As for the DECs and DEAs, who is unionized; all teachers, administrators and classroom assistants are unionized. However, the DEAs may hire individuals outside of the union to be classroom assistants, but there is a proviso there to ensure that the benefits and the hiring process is the same as for a unionized individual. So there can't be any discrimination in terms of employment conditions and so forth, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.