Thank you. I can appreciate the Minister has been over this and I know we will have a chance to sit down and raise a number of concerns with the Minister, Regular Members will. Specific to this issue though, Mr. Speaker, is a need to get some baseline data, a need to determine things like participation rates. I guess my real question is, if we are going to implement this new governance structure, but we don't know where our participation rates are, I am wondering how we are going to know if we are successful. How can we evaluate, judge and measure something like this new mechanism if we really don't know where we are now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the department has a sense of where it is now and also the participants who are recommending the formation of this board feel like they know where they are now as well. What Sport North requested at the annual meeting was information in relation to the department's expenditures as far as recreation programs go in the smaller communities. The department is in the process right now of gathering that and we are hoping to make it available to Sport North in a very short while. Furthermore, I now have a meeting with the president of Sport North tomorrow morning, and I am hoping that we can talk this thing out and see where it went off track.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. I appreciate the Minster's willingness to meet with the president of Sport North to try to resolve this. I think that's a good first step, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicated that he thinks the department has a sense of where we are now regarding participation rates and these types of things. I am wondering if the Minister could indicate whether or not the department has ever tried to quantify the value of volunteer efforts in sports, put a dollar figure on the amount of work we are able to leverage from volunteers around the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in relation to whether we did any analysis of the benefits dollar-wise of volunteer efforts, I don't believe anybody has ever done this. But I'd just like to make a point here. We're not trying to get rid of volunteers. We know that sports and rec depends almost 99 percent on volunteer efforts. We don't see this as doing away with volunteers. That's not what we hope, anyway. One thing about all this, this is not a department initiative. We put it to the partners and this came back from them, the proposal for a separate board. I assume that they've taken into consideration volunteer efforts from the individual sport organizations. I'm sure they do. So we're not trying to do away with these volunteers. We're trying to make sports and recreation applicable equally across the Territories if we could. I might find out, for instance, that Sport North, even though it's a big outfit, it's still representing only 13 out of 33 communities in their make-up. On the make-up of the territorial sports organizations, 96 is Yellowknife and 66 is for the rest of the Territories. So there is a little bit of an imbalance here that needs to be corrected, and that's what we're trying to do. We're working with the sports organizations to hopefully accomplish this, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. I think what we need to do is add more money, Mr. Speaker, because if we have a fixed sum, if we have this fixed pie and we're going to try to slice it a few more ways by adding this extra layer of governance over and above the service delivery agents, we're simply going to have fewer dollars filter down to all of the communities, including the smaller communities who we're really trying to help. Wouldn't the Minister acknowledge that if we're going to make any inroads into fixing sport in the Territories, it's going to be by adding some money? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the Members well know that we don't have any more money to put in the pot. All we have is what money we're getting now, added to a program from the federal government. That's the only addition to the whole thing. It is not our intent to put another cost of administration in this. The partners themselves are suggesting that we may do with less administration if we establish this board. So I'm waiting to see how they plan to point this out to me.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. That was the last question and the last answer. Time for question period has ended. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to Opening Address. The chair recognizes the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for this opportunity to speak on an issue of great importance to me. When a politician stands up to speak to other politicians, there is probably a great deal of cynicism. Mr. Speaker, it reminds me of a saying by Nikita Khrushchev; a very famous saying. It said the problem with politicians is they promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. The great actor Peter Ustinov said, politicians are like weathermen who predict bright intervals during a day of unrelieved rain.

But today you can relax. What I have to say to you today is more about a politician's personal journey than a politician's pompous promises. I will start by reflecting back to the year 1964, about 40 years ago. Then as a young man from a small town in Ontario -- Renfrew, Ontario -- I stepped into the 10-storey Kent Albert Building in downtown Ottawa -- then the tallest building in Ottawa, Mr. Speaker -- to start my new job as editor of debates of the fledgling Government of the Northwest Territories. Binx Remnant, who many of you will likely know and may have known, then the deputy clerk of the Council of the Northwest Territories, said to me, "Jake Ootes, you're the first employee on the payroll of the administrative headquarters of the Government of the Northwest Territories." That was my introduction to this fascinating and fabulous land whose administrative headquarters was still located in far-away Ottawa.

It wasn't until 1967 that the government moved its headquarters from the nation's capital to the new capital here in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, when I joined the government I was 22 years old at the time.

For me, the following 40 years have become somewhat of a blur. Nevertheless, they were exciting, memorable years filled with incredible experiences. In many ways, only an adventure novelist could again bring to life many of those events. For me, those 40 years have passed by much too quickly. I think it was John Lennon who said life is what happens when you are making other plans.

Mr. Speaker, during my early years with the Government of the Northwest Territories I was mentored by one hell of a person. Pardon the word, Mr. Speaker, but he was an incredible character: Stuart Hodgson. He became renowned as the benevolent dictator of the Northwest Territories, as he set the North on the road to responsible government, and as the North shed its colonial status from the federal government.

For a number of years I worked as Hodgson's executive assistant. Together we travelled the width and breadth of the NWT, to every community, to every remote corner, and met just about every person of the 24,000 persons in the Northwest Territories at one time or another.

Eventually, I became responsible for the government's Information department, where together with Art Sorensen and Ross Harvey, we handled the government's public relations and communications, its printing requirements, the establishment of a community radio station program and we developed the NWT interpreter corps. These were among some of the more notable projects.

But in one's life there's always a time when one tries something new, and so as the years rolled I wanted to go out on my own, to move on to the next stage, the next event. I went into business as an owner and publisher of several community newspapers. I'm very proud to say that in 1982, one of those newspapers that I owned was judged the best in Canada.

Later, Mr. Speaker, I established Above and Beyond, now a very well-known northern magazine. I spent 18 years in business. It proved invaluable, providing me with tremendous experience to add to my earlier years as a civil servant, both with the federal and the territorial government.

Like all of you, the call of politics and the political life appealed to me, and so in 1995 I ran as the candidate for the constituency of Yellowknife Centre. I was motivated by the challenges and opportunities of the changing times, from my 1960s and '70s experiences with Hodgson when I saw what could be done and achieved. Division of the NWT and deficit elimination were looming issues that the 13th Legislative Assembly had to deal with. The burgeoning diamond mining industry needed a supportive voice. For me it was important to keep Yellowknife strong and to ensure the continuation of a strong central government. I wanted to make a contribution in the areas I felt strongly about: integrity in government; financial responsibility; responsible division of the NWT; improved government efficiency.

By the year 1999 we were a small territory, one with enormous potential. We had overcome a difficult financial period. The economy was on the upswing with one diamond mine in operation and others on the drawing board. Value-added industries, such as the valuation plant and the cutting and polishing plants were ready to start operating. Employment potential was on the upswing in oil and gas exploration activity. Resolution and direction of constitutional issues with aboriginal governments provided more assurance for everyone of the importance of settling land claims and developing self-government processes.

Mr. Speaker, with four years' political and legislative experiences under my belt in 1999, I felt I could serve my constituents even better. By 1999, my passion was to focus on one of the greatest potentials of the North: the people. I wanted to ensure that major development projects would be contingent on the provision of jobs and business opportunities for Northerners.

Also as part of my vision was for an improved social net, a prosperous economy and strengthened democratic principles for our government. I was fortunate enough to be re-elected and then fortunate enough to be selected by my colleagues to serve as a Cabinet Minister. The Premier assigned me the very important portfolio of Education, Culture and Employment. This portfolio assignment has given me the opportunity to implement the programs of life-long learning that are so essential to developing our northern people. With the recommendations and support of you, my colleagues, and my fellow Cabinet Ministers, we together have been able to introduce effective initiatives in many, many areas: the early childhood and literacy programs; improved funding allocations for the education system to bring down the pupil-teacher ratio and to provide more significant funding for student needs. This is certainly only one of many important areas where improvements have been made.

As in everything, the people one works with are very important, Mr. Speaker. It is a privilege and an honour to represent the people of Yellowknife Centre. I've always appreciated the strong support and advice I received from my constituents, and thank them for the opportunity to serve them. They elected me and have faith in me. I'd like to also thank my constituency assistant, Pearl Benyk, who has served me well as a liaison with my constituency.

Mr. Speaker, it takes dozens of people to function as a politician, and I would like to express a special thanks to them for their support and assistance. I want to thank you, my colleagues, who had faith to elect me to Cabinet. I would like to thank my fellow Cabinet members with whom I have built a close acquaintanceship. I would personally like to thank, as well, the Premier, whose task is a very lonely one, and who has supported me tremendously throughout my yeas of responsibility. He encouraged me all along to work well, to work hard, and he's provided me with a great deal of support and given me great faith that we are moving forward on great things.

Mr. Clerk, I'd like to thank you and your staff for the wonderful job that you continually do both in and out of the House, as well as you, Mr. Speaker, for your dedication and guidance here in the House as well as your role as chair of the Board of Management.

I would also like to thank my departmental staff and all of those in the department whose work is so valuable, as well as those in the field and the district education councils. I would like to thank certainly my deputy ministers. First, Mark Cleveland whose patience helped me absorb the great amount of information one needs to make informed decisions, and, of course, Dr. Loretta Foley whose tremendous skill at developing a strong team at the department has helped me tremendously.

I have been privileged to have an incredible personal staff. They are the true strength of my work. Janet Stewart, my executive secretary, who manages to organize and make sense of the mountains of paper that flow through our offices on a daily basis. Evan Walz, my executive assistant, without whom I would be completely and seriously lost. He does the political contact work, the follow-up work with MLAs, organizes fieldtrips, does contact work with residents and officials. Certainly, Mr. Speaker, I have to emphasize this: that he is one of the best. I am blessed to have both Janet and Evan work for me. They are true gems.

Mr. Speaker, I've used the expertise and political knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of Yacub Adam, who is here in the House today. He's a former professor of Political Science and now a consultant here in Yellowknife. He has helped me formulate an approach to some very difficult problems from time to time, and I'm very, very grateful to him.

The role of a political spouse, Mr. Speaker, is not an easy one. Above all other thank yous that I have mentioned, comes one that has the most meaning for me. This thank you is for my dear and loving wife Margaret. She has provided me the security, the foundation for my political life. She is the person without whom I can't function. Marg's support for me on the moral front when it's pressure time, my frequent absences at meetings and of being out of town has been incredible.

I have grown, Mr. Speaker, as an individual from my political experiences. I've been able to adapt to some of the barbs thrown at me from my colleagues on the other side, and it's tempting sometimes to throw something back, especially with my claw.

---Laughter

As you have all come to realize, politics is sometimes not a good vocation for anyone who is lazy, thin skinned or lacking in a sense of humour. We know politics is adversarial. Joe Clark said recently, "Politics is adversarial. It is about saying what is wrong and proposing how it could be better." But having said that, Mr. Speaker, I believe strongly that along with adversity, we must respect the need to behave like professionals, that we agree to disagree with courtesy and maintain standing and dignity in this House, and I think we have done that.

With the support of all of you, the Premier, my fellow MLAs, Cabinet colleagues, Mr. Speaker, the Clerk and his staff, my DM and the departmental staff, my personal staff and family, I feel very proud of the many important projects that have been undertaken, and the many accomplishments made throughout the North for the people of our territory.

I have two convictions in my heart that I would like to tell you. One is that the Northwest Territories is a marvelous place of opportunity, though we need understanding and continued support amongst all our people and understanding to take advantage of that which is before us. The second is how blessed we are to be a part of it.

I express optimism about the future, despite the looming debt wall. In fact, I see an exciting future and feel great optimism for the Northwest Territories, its people, economy and political development. Over the past month I have considered very carefully my own future. The decision I have made has not been easy. I have been blessed with so much good fortune throughout my life, that the daydreams of my youth have been surpassed. One moves on with nostalgia, perhaps regret and, of course, with excitement about the achievements made and the prospects of achievements still to be made. Therefore, it is with great emotion, great humility, and perhaps many regrets that I am informing you today that I propose to move on to the next exciting phase of my life. I announce that I will not be standing for election in November.

I leave politics a little greyer, like Floyd, like Vince, Joe and a few others around you; a little thinner and maybe a little wiser, Mr. Speaker. I want to try my hand at other experiences. So far in my working life I have restricted myself to eight years at whatever I was doing. That rule I applied as a reporter, as a civil servant, as a newspaper publisher, as a magazine publisher, and very soon my allotted eight years are up as a politician.

Let me assure you that my commitment to this important office will continue unabated for the remainder of my term until the day I leave. I shall look for new opportunities, but not very far from you. Marg and I will remain in Yellowknife, but of course we will holiday at our place in BC and other places. However, I will be continuing to work in Yellowknife to pursue those interests that I've always wanted to. In fact, my experiences, knowledge of the North, its people, culture, politics and economy, perhaps puts me, like the rest of you, in a special place where this experience may be of value to others.

Mr. Speaker, let me close this afternoon, by again quoting Ustinov's cutting wit on politicians like us. He had this to say: "By their very existence, politicians are unpopular the world over. They are seen as devious because of their baggage of confidences and boring because they have little to say and fail to say it well. Their only freedom is to criticize their opponents to the accompaniment of a public yawn."

I hope, Mr. Speaker, that I have, and we all have, tried to live this image down. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity to speak today. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Do we see a book about your life in the future? No. Item 9, replies to Opening Address. Item 10, petitions. Item 11, reports of standing and special committees. Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 70(5) and have Bill 15, an Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act, moved into Committee of the Whole for today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to waive Rule 70(5). Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Dent. Bill 15 is moved into Committee of the Whole for today. Thank you.

Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 13, tabling of documents. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 13, tabling of documents. Item 14, notices of motion. Item 15, notices of motions for first reading of bills. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 15, notices of motions for first reading of bills. Item 16, motions. Item 17, first reading of bills. Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Minister's Statement 44-14(6), Committee Report 12-14(6), Committee Report 13-14(6) and Bill 15, with Mr. Krutko in the chair.

I will call the committee to order. We have several matters to deal with: Minister's Statement 44-14(6), Committee Report 12-14(6), Committee Report 13-14(6) and Bill 15. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Dent.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to recommend that we consider in the following order: Minister's Statement 44-14(6), Committee Report 12-14(6), Committee Report 13-14(6), followed by Bill 15.

Does the committee agree? Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Minister's Statement 44-14(6) was referred to Committee of the Whole on Wednesday, June 4, 2003.

As Members are aware, our parliamentary procedures prohibit Members from posing questions or making statements on matters that are already standing on the Order Paper for further discussion. This is more commonly referred to as the "rule of anticipation." The intent of this rule is to prevent the time of the House being taken up with business to be discussed later in the sitting.

However, Mr. Chairman, some Members have indicated they may wish to pose oral questions or make Member's statements on the matter of physician specialist negotiations. Therefore, I would recommend that the Committee of the Whole conclude its consideration of Minister's Statement 44-14(6). Thank you, Mr. Chairman.