Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under our sports and recreation program funding, MACA has $825,000 for events such as the recent event in Inuvik. This is divided up into communities. As well, there is some funding for regional recreation associations or organizations. As an example, Mr. Speaker, Inuvik would receive, under this program, $43,000. Should there be a non-government organization that would request funding, the request would be deferred to the community that the organization is presently resident in. As another example, Mr. Speaker, Sachs Harbour would receive $28,000 and Fort McPherson would receive $32,000. Some of this is based on population numbers and that's why there is a difference in the amount allocated to each community.

Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Minister is giving some numbers out there. That funding is transferred to municipalities and if non-government organizations wanted to get some of that money, they would make a request to their municipal council or hamlet council. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's correct, Mr. Speaker. In most communities, the sports events are organized by the municipalities anyway, but in the larger communities it's obvious that some of those sporting events are organized and, to some degree, sponsored by the business sector. So they would then have to apply to the local community for some of the funding that the community receives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister, for the record, just state if there is any other funding that non-government organizations can apply for in that area, sport and recreation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the only other government funding that may be available would be if they approach the regional sports organizations. For instance, if there is a regional hockey organization, they may be able to approach them for some of the funding if that is the type of activity they are having. Other than that, we don't have a program specific for non-government organizations.

Item 6, oral questions. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. It's following up on the Member's statement that I made. Mr. Speaker, I could add to my statement that I am speaking on behalf of a constituent who was schooled here and who has lived and worked here all of his life, or almost all of his life, and he was very disappointed when he was accepted to the RCMP academy only to be told that he couldn't get any student assistance because this program was not recognized. Mr. Speaker, in my statement, I gave the Minister evidence to suggest that there are other jurisdictions in Canada which recognize this institution as post-secondary education. So is the Minister willing to reconsider this position as soon as possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT follows the Canada student loan guidelines and those guidelines don't recognize the RCMP cadet training institute as a post-secondary institute for the purposes of student financial assistance. For that reason, we do not recognize the academy, Mr. Speaker. That has been the case all along, where we have gone by the guidelines provided by the Canada student loans list that are provided. That is the reason for it. Ms. Lee has presented some information that we can certainly take a look at, however, the traditional way we have gone is to ensure that it follows Canada's student loan guidelines. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have to ask the Minister to try to get out from under the albatross of the Canada student loan guidelines that he seems to be blinded by. Mr. Speaker, the Minister should be concerned about fair treatment and equality for students. God knows, the government has been talking for years about the need to train Northerners and we need RCMP officers. We would like to have them coming from the Territories. We have a student who was accepted, who meets all the criteria and he's just going to say no because it doesn't qualify.

It's pretty hard to hear the Member's question and if you allow her time, you might have a chance to get the question without...Order!

---Interjection

Could you ask the question, Ms. Lee?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I ask the Minister to, for once, do his job, open his eyes, read the stuff?

---Interjection

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do wear glasses and if I take them off, I have a hard time seeing out of my right eye. I am also deaf in my left ear.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I take this job very seriously, I really do. To suggest that I am not doing my job is insulting to me. That's the Member's opinion and that's fine with me, but, Mr. Speaker, I mentioned to the Member that she brought some information to the Table and I would be most prepared to look at that. However, we need guidelines to go by, Mr. Speaker, because there are always certain areas we can say this should be considered, that should be considered. We will consider that, but we do have to adhere to certain guidelines. Thank you.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, maybe I should qualify that, Mr. Speaker. He may be doing a great job in other areas, but when it comes to student financial assistance, he has really been blinded. He's had a board decision that should consider his policy. Anyway, Mr. Speaker, in seriousness, this is talking about people's lives. Would the Minister consider...

Excuse me, Ms. Lee. I don't think it's fair to the Member that people are trying to pressure the Member into making a question. It's not fair. Could we get some order in this House? It's getting a little hard to hear the question and also we should allow her to make her question. Ms. Lee, your question, please.