Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Antoine.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am told in Yellowknife today we have 22 very special visitors, joining eight of Yellowknife's most respected residents to take part in the 2003 Seniors' Forum. Many of these seniors are directors of the NWT Seniors' Society. Mr. Speaker, they're gathering for the next couple of days to talk about progress on the Seniors' Action Plan released last June. Seniors have built our communities and have made important contributions to where we are today, in social and economic development. Seniors are among the most experienced group of individuals from whom we can seek advice. I congratulate them on their continuing efforts to improve northern community life.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Seniors' Society can celebrate many accomplishments since their establishment in 1983. Over the years, the society has worked in partnership with other seniors' societies and with government and related organizations to improve the independence and quality of life for seniors in the NWT. They have been working for more than 20 years with the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors and other agencies to improve care for seniors suffering from Alzheimer's and other related dementia. Mr. Speaker, seniors, those over 50, are the fastest growing segment in the NWT population. We number 6,000 of the NWT population of 43,000. Unfortunately, at least eight percent of us can expect to become afflicted with Alzheimer's.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health and Social Services has contributed $50,000 in planning funds towards the YACC's proposal for an Alzheimer's and related dementia care facility. The NWT Housing Corporation has offered a contribution of $1 million to provide additional housing, but this doesn't include operating funds.

Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that we will continue to hear recommendations as that we develop a facility, or more likely several facilities throughout the Territories that deals with Alzheimer's and related dementia. Bringing seniors together to hear from them is a good start. Now we need to listen. Mr. Speaker, it's critical that the government plan to put real dollars towards the care of individuals who have been the cornerstone in the way this territory was developed. We owe them a reasonable level of care. Mr. Speaker, I would like to wish them success on their meetings in Yellowknife over the next couple of days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to bring attention to an issue that is very frustrating to some Northerners and indeed myself. Mr. Speaker, with the advent of increased development in our territory, we need to ensure that we have an educated workforce that will be able to meet the demands of development. In addition, Mr. Speaker, there should be a strong commitment from our government to recruit and develop a northern workforce. Mr. Speaker, the government's maximizing northern employment program is a good initiative that goes a long way in addressing the needs of our northern workforce. However, it appears that there is more work to be done. Mr. Speaker, I am still hearing of instances of educated young Northerners who have attempted to return to the North and put their skills to use to no avail. I have read volumes of literature, Mr. Speaker, about our government seeking qualified nurses, teachers and other professionals.

Mr. Speaker, on the flip side, I am well aware of instances whereby a northern graduate teacher has done all the right things in applying to our district education council and our local schools for gainful employment. Mr. Speaker, these same northern graduates then wait patiently and they are not even favoured with a reply by the district education council that their resumes have been received, and that they have to find out through contacts in the school systems that teaching positions have been filled and they weren't even considered.

These graduate teachers that I speak of, Mr. Speaker, are born and raised in the North, yet they find themselves unable to return to the North and teach. I find this totally unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. We must, as a government, do everything in our power to encourage our young people to return to the North after graduation.

Mr. Speaker, I do believe it is high time that we ensure that our northern graduates are truly given priority in hiring. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' Statements. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I rose on the issue of education and asked the Minister a few questions about the numbers we receive when it comes to the quality or grade our children are in. Mr. Speaker, I am still concerned with the lack of information. Again yesterday, I raised a question about children in Kindergarten to Grade 9. Is there any requirement to achieve a certain mark in that class before they go on? The Minister stated there was some testing done, but he wasn't too specific as to what areas that would be in.

Mr. Speaker, I raise this because as a parent -- and many parents probably find themselves in the same situation -- when we put our children in school, unless you receive a call from the school to say that your child is in trouble or has been in trouble with other students or a teacher in the school, you seem to think everything is going quite well. When the child comes home with a report card that says they are doing satisfactory, you think they are doing pretty good and achieving. It's not until later on in life when that child goes into, say, Grade 10, when marks start to count for something or when they are starting to prepare themselves for university or college, that we start to find out that they don't have the entry requirements for a college or university program because they have sailed along in the system with not too many worries. They are achieving according to the standards we put in place. Mr. Speaker, we need to look at what we have in place to see if our children are getting quality education and not just quantity. So I will have appropriate questions for the Minister later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week I was a bit taken aback to see some of the local media accounts of some of the consultation going on around the energy strategy. The media has portrayed some of that discussion in an article entitled A Tax in Strategy and it discusses higher fuel tax as part of energy strategy discussions. In fact, I think the special advisor on energy indicated the taxes in the NWT are among the lowest in the country. "We don't tax very high at all and we do have some opportunities to raise revenue."

I find this alarming, especially when dealt with in isolation, Mr. Speaker. I think we all know the cost of living in the North is already extremely high. The cost of operating a business, particularly a small business, is high. It's very marginal at times, Mr. Speaker. We have to keep in mind that small business still has to be competitive and it's very expensive to operate here and compete with southern businesses who have easy access to our markets. So I think that, for several reasons, a discussion leading down this path causes me some problems. We know that we simply can't talk about tax increases or propose these types of strategies as a means for paying for our energy strategy as if we are operating in a vacuum. That's the sense that I get here, Mr. Speaker.

It won't be long until we are reading headlines in the newspaper about "stagflation." You've just seen oil prices come in around the $40 a barrel mark and they've led to inflation. I think the Bank of Canada rate, today or yesterday, was raised just the other day after a report coming out on Tuesday that said we had a 12-year inflation high of 4.5 percent. I think the core rate was 3.3 percent, Mr. Speaker. Much of the inflation rate is being driven by higher energy prices and now we've seen a Bank of Canada interest rate raise.

That's going to mean, Mr. Speaker, it's going to be a tough time for investment. We are looking to see plant and equipment expansion. It's going to be more and more difficult with interest rates on the rise. If we expect to further compound the problem for our residents and for our businesses by raising taxes, it causes me some grave concern. I know this is a discussion paper at this point, but we simply can't be looking at these things in isolation as if we were in a vacuum. I would wonder, on behalf of this government, who is overseeing this energy strategy with a macroeconomic perspective? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in light of the success our Premier has had in Ottawa with respect to health care funding, it's an opportune time to discuss HIV and AIDS as it impacts northern residents. Mr. Speaker, nationally statistics confirm that HIV and AIDS affect aboriginal people more compared to other ethnic groups. The cause of this is said to result from aboriginal people being disproportionately affected by various social, economic and behavioural factors. These factors include poverty, substance abuse and limited access to health care services, all of which are real and exist in many of our communities.

This government, with an increased commitment in health care dollars, must now commit to providing resources required to raise awareness on the devastating effect this disease has on the lives of those who are affected by the disease. It is a disease that, due to this devastating effect, makes people from all walks of life, including government, take the approach of trying to ignore it and hoping it goes away.

We cannot take this approach anymore. It's time to pull our heads out of the sand and take up the challenge of educating ourselves and our residents. Mr. Speaker, resources are required to support the territorial, regional and community organizations willing to take on the challenge of providing awareness through education. However, this government cannot absolve itself from the responsibility of providing and promoting HIV and AIDS awareness by having others do it for them.

Mr. Speaker it's my understanding that the group AIDS Yellowknife was dissolved in 2002, an organization committed to providing education and support to those concerned with the disease and those living with it and those whose lives are touched by it. It is organizations such as this that require the support of this government. I would encourage this government to seriously assess the resources currently made available to promoting HIV and AIDS awareness among all residents of the NWT. Furthermore, I ask that this government, through the provision of appropriate funding, encourage all groups to continue with the valuable work that they do in providing information and support to those people touched in some way by this disease. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about the inclusion of municipalities as public bodies under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. It's been pointed out by the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Commissioner in her last three annual reports that NWT communities currently have no legislation regulating the release of names, addresses or other private information on Web pages or other public documents. Apparently, municipal officials from both Yellowknife and Hay River see this as a serious concern.

Mr. Speaker, during the review of the commissioner's 1999-2000 report, this government committed to providing information and consulting with communities about the possibility of including them under the current NWT ATIPP act. Recent correspondence updating us on the status of this amendment show that there has been little or no action taken to address this issue.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight supported the commissioner's recommendation that municipalities be included under the territorial ATIPP law or that new legislation be drafted to deal with municipalities' use of public information. So, Mr. Speaker, later today I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs as to the status of this concern in consultation with municipalities about it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about an issue that has reached and stayed at a crisis proportion for the last few years in Yellowknife. It has to do with the lack of affordable housing and land for development. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the media I heard in horror the confirmation of what many of us have suspected all along, which is that the price of an average home in the city has jumped by 40 percent over the last year, from $151,000 in January of 2002 to more than $212,000 in January of 2003. A number like this should not go unnoticed by this government, Mr. Speaker. People are suffering with prices like this in the city, whether they be seniors, low income people or everyday working people, Mr. Speaker. The people who talk to me are especially puzzled by the lack of action taken by this government to alleviate this glaring problem.

Mr. Speaker, to address this question, the idea of legislating rent control has been bandied about in and out of this House. I appreciate this speaks to the frustration of many who have had to face the skyrocketing rent increases, but I don't believe that enacting such legislation to apply to all of the NWT to address the needs of a few heated markets is desirable at this time. It was not too long ago, Mr. Speaker, although it's hard for us to believe now, that land owners in the city had to offer all kinds of incentives to attract and keep tenants in their rental property. Studies we have seen have shown that legislated rent control would have long-term consequences in stifling land and property development. That must be undertaken by private development.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the government still has a duty to take action in order to mitigate the extreme ups and downs in a timely and effective manner. The latest changes to the NWT Housing Corporation's loan guarantee program is one step forward, but that's not enough, Mr. Speaker. What we desperately need is an urgently proactive action on the part of this government to work with the city to make more land available for houses and apartments to be built on. The market is ready to respond and there are developers ready and willing to invest. We need this government to work with the city to streamline the process for making land development available and make it easier and economical to develop the land. I ask the government to act on this now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Antoine.

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. At this time I would like to recognize the people in the gallery who haven't been recognized and would like to welcome you to the House.

---Applause

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, following in line with my Member's statement on the issue of education, I would like to know from the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment -- since he's had some time to review and get more detail -- if, in fact, there are requirements between K to 9 to advance in the grades? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the last Legislature, an inclusive schooling directive was introduced and in our legislative time, our department and I have signed off on a student assessment evaluation and reporting directive. That paved the way for the department and staff to address the issues that are there and there. We want to ensure that student assessment processes are in place and that teachers have a mechanism by which to do that. As I mentioned yesterday, there are tests. There is also the teacher's ability to deal with the students. They know the students best as to whether they are functioning at the level that they should be functioning at. Those kinds of processes are in place up to Grade 9. As well, more and more we are introducing tests, but we are very dependent on the assessment processes of students and assessments are done by teachers, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I should also state that the Beaufort-Delta District Education Council and Beaufort-Delta leaders pushed a number of years ago to push testing in the Beaufort-Delta region so they can start to gauge some of our own students up there. In fact, full-time kindergarten started in the previous year to try to get students to go further and learn more at a young age. So I would like to know from the Minister if, in fact, he has worked with other groups out there that have taken advanced positions, for example, on the testing side to try to help them out, because those testing requirements do cost dollars from existing budgets. Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Testing is taking place. More and more we are using the Alberta process of testing. That is more directed at the curriculum that we teach, similar to the curriculum we teach. Some of the other testing may not apply, but certainly that is an area that we are encouraging more and more and want to see come through. That testing can take place at Grade 3, Grade 6 and Grade 9, Mr. Speaker, so that there can be indicators for teachers beyond the classroom assessments that they do. In addition, Mr. Speaker, we are working on developing tools to assist teachers and making judgments on how to do assessments for students. We have that on the way, Mr. Speaker, for a number of areas. We've also done workshops with program support teachers. We're also developing a handbook, Mr. Speaker, that would be available to schools to use to standardize the understanding of what a modified education program means; if a student is, in other words, in a Grade 7 class but taking courses at different levels. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as parents look to the education system to help them with their children and their needs, we must also look to the information provided and one is those results that come home is a report card telling you if your child is achieving. Yesterday, I asked the Minister what is taken into consideration in coming up with that achievement mark on those report cards. I would like to know from the Minister today what does that achievement mark reflect? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason for our student assessment evaluation and reporting directive was to set out guides for teachers, schools and so forth to look at the methods of reporting back to the community and back to the parents on the level that students are achieving at, Mr. Speaker. On the report cards themselves, in the Beaufort-Delta specifically, the report cards provide the grade levels and whether the student is above or below a grade level, Mr. Speaker, or whether the student is on a modified program. Then it gives the opportunity for the teacher to address that issue directly with the parents, to speak about the areas below, above or at grade level the student is being graded. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform us if through these ratings they are assessing how the child is doing in the education system, or if those tools are used to help prepare them for entrance into college or universities, or is that just a tool to grade our existing system? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a tool, at the moment, to use for assessment of students, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, we are working on a number of areas to improve the system and it allowed us to identify, once we had the two directives in place. We needed to do that as first step. In 2001, we introduced the last student assessment and achievement directive. In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, I should point out that we have been concerned about student achievement and the bottleneck that is created at Grade 10 for example. What we've done in the early childhood development program is to introduce a school improvement program, where we're doing more counseling and effective behaviour support programs. We also addressed the class sizes, student support needs and so forth. Strengthening the role of the parent in the community is another area that we want to work heavily on. There are a number of those kinds of things that we are working on, Mr. Speaker, to address the whole area of student success in our schools. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this afternoon is for Mr. Ootes, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, in his capacity as one of the Ministers involved in the harmonization issue. Mr. Speaker, a few days ago, in a discussion or in question period here, Mr. Bell asked some related questions and one of the Minister's answers suggested our criterion for determining what is a low income threshold for a family in the North. Mr. Ootes replied that the figure is $3,833 a month, and under that anyone would receive a benefit. This is a national standard, Mr. Ootes pointed out. My question, Mr. Speaker, is taking this number of $3,833 a month as a national standard, is it appropriate to apply that here in the North, given that the cost of living is at least 20 percent above Edmonton's? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that was a level that was provided to us by the Housing Corporation and it gives us the opportunity to provide an incentive for low income working families to reduce their rent, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Well, you know if this is a national standard, we have to apply some things because we have rules like the National Child Benefit, which can or cannot be applied at our discretion. I guess where I'm concerned here, Mr. Speaker, is that here we have a cost of living, as I say, in Yellowknife that is 20 percent higher than Edmonton. If we go into some of the communities where we are now pushing 30, 40 and 50 percent higher, is it realistic to say that a national standard is really the right one for the NWT? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm informed that this is an example of a level, and that does vary from community to community in the North. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Again, Mr. Speaker, on the harmonization plan. It seems that some of these thresholds have also changed. We are now counting new forms of income that weren't assessed before. They're being assessed now and that has given rise to some of the issues that my colleagues have raised over the last few days where, because of the harmonization program, people are finding they're not being assessed differently and are having to pay unexpected increases in their rent. Mr. Speaker, is the harmonization program just a way of offloading onto the low income families costs that this government would normally otherwise bear? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these figures do not apply, of course, to the income support side, which are different areas. Mr. Speaker, the reason that there has been an income cutoff is to provide an incentive for individuals to go out and work. If the income is below that amount, then of course there is an opportunity for the government to say, well, we will reduce your rent accordingly. So if it works in reverse, in other words, if there is an income level established, then an individual can still earn up to that amount but have their rent reduced by approximately up to $250, Mr. Speaker. So it is an incentive. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The incentive that is in place for working families is one that I am entirely in support of, have supported and will continue to support. But the issues that have been raised here, Mr. Speaker, concern the sad situations that many elders seem to find themselves in, and students. So where is the benefit or the impact for those people and how they relate when they are in low income situations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, let me explain that income support clients will not be affected by this. Mr. Speaker, they will be fully covered for any increases that will be applied. The next is low income families, working families. As I said, we have an income cutoff there of $3,833, in which they can receive a rebate on that. For close to 90 percent of our low income working families, the indication is it will go down for them. That leaves our students and our seniors, Mr. Speaker. For students, who are generally on student financial assistance, their rent will go from $32 a month to $20 a month. This is designed specifically for students in that fashion. So I believe the program is designed to be consistent with the goals of what we are talking about for harmonization. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the former Minister of Transportation, Mr. Steen, met with the Dogrib chiefs in November 2001, the agreement at that time with the chiefs was that they would each provide a BCR and the Dogrib Treaty 11 Council would also provide some written statement of support for it, and then we would follow up with the creation of a steering committee and a proposal for the federal government. I am prepared to do that. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I will initiate it by writing a letter to the chiefs, if the MLA agrees, and ask them to give me some indication and we will get that steering committee underway. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I have to respect the chiefs and councils of the Dogrib communities, as well as the Treaty 11 Council. If that was their wish, then, yes, I would participate. I really have to respect their position and first contact them if the MLA agrees with that. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I care for all of the people in the Dogrib region, as well as all the people in the Northwest Territories, but I have to respect the leaders they elected. They elected the chiefs and those are the leaders in the communities and I have to respect their position as well. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I have to respect the local leaders and if that's what they want me to do, I would look at it. But really, Mr. Speaker, it's not my place to go do a survey of the Dogrib people to find out if they want a road. There's local leadership who have that responsibility. It's just not my place to do that kind of survey.

Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment a number of questions regarding the harmonization. He's indicated in the House, and he stated again today, that the whole harmonization initiative was based on the fact that we want to encourage people to start working, especially people on income support. Initially, that's what the whole intention of this initiative was. I want to know if the Housing Corporation raises the rent of a person on income support and if we provide additional money for income support, therefore, the cost factor to the person on income support is nil. How does that encourage someone to go to work? Can the Minister answer that for me, please?

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, income support programs are designed with a productive choice element in it and we will support individuals to go back to work when they are on income support. With the low income families, working families, there's an opportunity to earn income up to $3,833 a month and they will not be penalized. They will be given the incentive to have their rent reduced, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently the clients on income support in actual reality don't pay rent. If a student now has to pay rent, it doesn't make sense. How much would a student be paying? In reality, we are trying to encourage people to go back to school and we are trying to encourage them to go to work, but we will be affecting them negatively because we will start increasing their rent. Isn't that right?

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if a student is in public housing, at the present time they would pay $32 a month depending on their income, but they would be at $32 a month. We are proposing that that be reduced to $20 a month, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am being told by some of the students who are in the different campuses that that isn't the fact. In actuality, if you are from Fort Providence and you are at Thebacha Campus, for example, you would be paying $300 a month for an apartment, but now you will also have to pay, based on your income, a portion of what you earn from student financial assistance for your house in Fort Providence. So we are double billing them. Is that what's happening here? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't speak for the Housing Corporation on this, Mr. Speaker, but students in student housing pay according to the college rate. That is not public housing, nor is it considered public housing in the same fashion, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also wanted to ask the Minister regarding his comments about the seniors' cap. Any seniors that are turning the age where they would be considered senior by public housing, after the grace period, will have to pay full rent. So it could be in excess of $400, not capped at $400 as stated in the plan.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the plans are that seniors and students would be grandfathered and they would see a change in their rent, depending upon their income. If they have high incomes, they can be paying up to $200 a month, but that is capped for the first year and that will change by $50 per year until the total amount of $400 is reached and it will stay at that. That is our proposal, Mr. Speaker. About 75 percent of seniors we look at will pay less than $100, with the majority being at $20, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my Member's statement earlier about the lack of affordable housing, which I believe stems from lack of land available for developers to build on, we are also aware of the fact that the city government is doing all it can to address all these increased needs, but the cost of developing land is becoming more and more prohibitive. My question is addressed to the Minister of MACA. Could the Minister advise what actions he has taken as Minister to see what he can do to help the city government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past year, the activity that MACA has undertaken in relation to lot development is only relative in non-tax-based communities. The understanding we have and the policy we have for tax-based communities is that tax-based communities develop their own lots in their communities. We don't assist them. Thank you.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's the problem that we have been facing in this Legislature. The Members from the city and tax-based communities raise this issue over and over and ask the Cabinet to take action on it, and they come back with something for non-tax-based and nothing for the tax-based communities. The Minister is aware, as well as anyone else, that even the city government of Yellowknife cannot deal with the cost of developing lots. They are having a hard time with Niven Lake. Isn't that the Minister's responsibility to look at the situation and see what he can do? Can the Minister answer that, please?

Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the only program that I am aware of that MACA or the territorial government has to assist tax-based communities, and the only one that has been actually created in the past to assist tax-based communities, is the ability for tax-based communities to apply for a loan to develop their own lots. I believe it's called a debenture. This government supports that, but that is the only program that I am aware of. I haven't been, as a department, asked to assist specific tax-based communities in developing their lots. We left it up to them to do their own planning. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't believe it's entirely true that nobody has asked him for help to assist with the cost of developing land in tax-based communities, Mr. Speaker. It's this kind of nonchalance about what's going on in Yellowknife that's driving people in Yellowknife crazy.

---Laughter

Everybody points out to me, Mr. Speaker, every resident in Yellowknife brings in $17,000 or more in transfer payments. Every family that we bring in to Yellowknife brings in money to be spent in the rest of the Territories. So why is there such a nonchalance and pooh-poohing about what's going on in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Interjection

Excuse me, could I have some order in the House? It's hard for the Minister to hear the question. Have some courtesy for your colleagues. Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, MACA is well aware of the shortage of lots in the city, as well as in other communities, like Inuvik, for instance. We just don't have a program to assist them. I can commit to taking the issue to Cabinet, but I am sure our Members are aware that the dollars are very limited and we just don't have the capacity to help all the communities with their lot developments. But I will commit to taking this back to Cabinet to see whether we can create a program to help all communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think on a very serious note, I think that Yellowknife is part of the Territories too, and it has its own needs that it's not able to deal with. The cost of developing lots is becoming really prohibitive. Even with this market, the city is not able to develop Niven Lake and developers don't want to jump in there because the risk is too high and all of our infrastructure is aging. Mr. Speaker, may I ask the Minister whether or not he values the fact that every resident that lives in Yellowknife brings in $17,000 per person in transfer payments and that's essential for the Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Ms. Lee, I will have to rule that question out of order. It's not original to your statement. Please keep your question directed towards your statement, which was the question about land development in Yellowknife, not a question about what individual incomes are. Could you rephrase your question to the Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister not acknowledge that he is a Minister of this government and responsible for everybody and that includes the residents of Yellowknife and their needs to develop an affordable market? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have no problem acknowledging that.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I spoke about the need for our government to attract and encourage our northern graduates to return to the North. We hear a lot of talk about maximizing northern employment, yet when I go back to my constituency in Hay River, I hear cases of where our northern graduates are having to find employment in the South because they are unable to secure employment with our government due to no fault of their own. It becomes very frustrating, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if he is aware of the number of northern students who, after graduating from a southern university with a teaching degree, have been able to secure a teaching job in the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the number of individuals who have gained employment with our government after returning from the south after university, or graduated from our northern college system. Nor am I aware of the number of students who have not obtained employment as a result of the maximizing northern employment program. We do have a program that places priority on hiring of teacher graduates, nursing graduates and social work graduates, Mr. Speaker. That is in place. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister state where northern graduate teachers who are born and raised in the North would be classified in a priority rating system in the North as far as teaching positions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.