Mr. Speaker, the Minister is quite correct. His mandate is not to provide houses. However, his mandate is to provide teachers. We have communities that cannot get teachers because there are no houses. He cannot sit on his hands on this issue. There are options. There are solutions. He has to commit to doing something. It has been three or four years since this issue was raised and nothing has been resolved. Nobody is dealing with it. I would like to ask the Minister if he would commit to resolving this issue before the next school year starts? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am committed, Mr. Speaker, to continue to work for resolution on this. However, as we all know there is a Housing Corporation. We do have a deputy ministers' task force to look at this issue and it is not within my mandate, Mr. Speaker, to go into the communities and resolve this directly with corporations and so forth. We have a process to deal with that. That is the proper way to deal with it. Am I concerned? Of course I am concerned. I am very, very concerned. Am I interested in resolution on this? As I said, I have been working on this. I am working with the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, the Minister of the Financial Management Board Secretariat and so forth. So it is an issue that we are all very, very concerned about. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I continually ask my department to provide me with communities where difficulties arise and we have our officials work with various methods within the government to find resolution to this. As I stated, the mandate for housing lies with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and the Financial Management Board Secretariat for professionals within our government. So it is not within my ability to go into a community and sit down and negotiate with various organizations to resolve this issue, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are very concerned, as I stated. We are continually working on teacher retention. We understand that it is an issue of great importance and value to ensure that we retain teachers. We are working with the various organizations, the representatives from the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. We have a deputy ministers' task force to deal with the housing issue and we expect that they will be bringing forward recommendations and options for us as a Cabinet to consider, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have that answer right here. I will get it for the Member to advise him of when we can expect some answers from the deputy ministers' task force. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Your final supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our priority is extremely high. It has been in the forefront for this government since we took office, Mr. Speaker, with substantial additional investments. We have been working on retention programs for teachers through the teacher induction program and various methods by which we can improve the school system. So there is a tremendous emphasis by this government, including my department, on the education and improvement of our people in the communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Lafferty. The Chair is having difficulty with the question. You are asking for an opinion, almost a personal opinion, rather than a question related to the portfolio of the Premier. I will allow you to restate your question, if you would. Mr. Lafferty.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.