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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring accolades to a wonderful initiative established by a very dedicated group of parents in Hay River, that being the new Hay River playschool building. The new building has been the dream of many parents in Hay River for several years.

Mr. Speaker, the building that the playschool had previously been housed in was built back in the 1950s and the playschool took occupancy in 1993. By 1999, through a number of fundraising initiatives, the playschool managed to pay off the mortgage and even accumulate a sizable building fund. This was no small feat, Mr. Speaker. Due to the extremely poor condition of the building by year 2000 or so, the playschool executive knew that something had to be done with the building. In looking at the amount of renovation that it would take to bring the building up to standard, it was determined that their only option was to build a new building.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity, once again, to thank the Honourable Roger Allen, Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation for the donations of two Housing Corporation lots in Hay River to the playschool. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that as I speak, the floor is being laid in the new playschool building, the electrical, heating, mechanical and carpentry finishing will commence within the next couple of days. The final inspection on the building is scheduled for March 31st and it is the playschool's hope that they can move into their new building over the spring break in April. Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that a tremendous amount of work has been done over several years by the parents, volunteers, towards this very worthwhile project.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize these parents. The members of the past building committee were Candy Carlton, Kathy Sperry, Ron Tordiff, Donna Dean, Leanne McLeod, Heather Desautels and Robert Fraser. Mr. Speaker, the current board building committee members are Louise Schumann, who is the building committee chairperson, Melanie Carter, Tracey Hill, Laurie Fraser and Rhonda Latimer, who is the playschool coordinator and also a teacher at the playschool. Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues to join me in congratulating the parents of the Hay River playschool on a job well done.

---Applause

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

Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Lafferty on February 27, 2003 regarding the amount of rent paid by Education, Culture and Employment for income support clients that are currently living in public housing. For the 2002 calendar year, the amount paid was approximately $155,000.00. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Ms. Lee.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don't have a formal process, Mr. Speaker, to recognize the many individuals that are involved in the education system from administrators to teachers to classroom assistants, support teachers and so forth, including the volunteer groups like the DEAs in some cases and certainly the volunteer groups that are in the parent advisory groups. We should do that, Mr. Speaker, and I'm glad that the Member brought that up. Thank you.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this is a section of our community that gives a lot that has been ignored. These are not boards that are appointed, they are not remunerated, they don't run for the office, they just silently go about doing their work, but they do important work. I wonder if the Minister could commit to look into this and see what sort of things he can do as a Minister to recognize and show that their work is appreciated? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is absolutely correct. These are volunteer individuals who spend a lot of time providing assistance and guidance to our educational bodies. I agree with the Member that we should formalize a method by which we can recognize these individuals and I'll proceed to do that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's willingness to look into this and to take action on it. May I ask the Minister to conclude that deliberation and advise us by June session as to what precise action that he would be taking in that regard? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly work on it immediately. I'm not sure if we can give the details as to what we can possibly do for recognition by the end of this session, but I'm sure that we can get some things rolling fairly quickly, Mr. Speaker, because we will be nearing the year end within a couple of months and we want to ensure that those parent advisory groups are recognized and the individuals that are working on them. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going along so well and it looks like I hit a bump there. Mr. Speaker, what I was suggesting to the Minister is to have a response by June session, not by the end of this session. I believe that is enough time for the Minister to... I don't mean a lot of money or anything like that, but I think there is a lot that can be done to recognize them and to show them that they are appreciated. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we can certainly do that. It would be my desire to have this done before June, Mr. Speaker, because, as I said, the representation on some of the parent advisory groups may change next year and school year end is approaching at the end of June. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last couple of days, I've questioned the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the quality of the education in our schools and some of the testing that goes on and what it actually means. I would like to continue with that, Mr. Speaker. The question I have for the Minister is, at one point in the Northwest Territories and throughout Canada a Grade 12 diploma meant something, it told potential employers that you'd achieved a certain quality and that you were able to step into the workforce and begin some tasks in that scenario. Mr. Speaker, what I understand now is that a Grade 12 certificate is not of much value nowadays and I would like to confirm if it is or not by asking the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if, in fact, a Grade 12 diploma is required when students to go college or university.