Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

(English not provided)

Good afternoon, my friends. Today I'd like to send condolences to the people of Aklavik with regard to a resident of Aklavik, Lucy Greenland, who passed away on Saturday, October 16th. She was 72 years old and lived most of her life in Aklavik. Lucy was one of the remaining elders in the community who was able to speak the Gwich'in language fully and also understand it. Lucy was a very traditional person with a strong connection to her culture and the land. She was a descendant of the Kassi family of the Vuntut Gwitchin of Old Crow in the Yukon.

For someone who battled cancer three times in her life, Lucy was one of the few who never let her ailment get the best of her. Her children can be proud in acknowledging that she also was a person who was very compassionate to other people around her and from the other communities.

At this time, I'd like to send my condolences to the Greenland, the Archie and Kassi families for the loss of a mother and sister, and that her compassion will be deeply missed by all the people in the Mackenzie Delta. With that, mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement yesterday I talked about education problems associated with families choosing to relocate to the larger centres. Today, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about dilemmas families are up against when they choose to reside in very remote locations in the Northwest Territories; the remote locations that do not qualify as a community or are not located within any municipal boundaries. Mr. Speaker, there are families who choose to establish their homesteads in remote locations be it because of sheer enjoyment or economic or employment opportunities, as did Mr. David King, his wife and their six children. Most are located on our Northwest Territories highway system.

Mr. Speaker, I am talking about places like Little Buffalo River village on Highway No. 6, the Buffalo River Junction on Highway No. 5, Checkpoint on Highway No. 1, Blackstone on the Liard Highway No. 7, and Willow River also on Highway No. 1. Mr. Speaker, all of these places do not receive consideration for financial assistance should there be a family living there with children who require education. I feel that this government should develop some type of education assistance, be it gas coupons or monetary assistance, for the school year to assist them with the high transportation costs in getting their children to school every day.

Mr. Speaker, I would encourage this government to develop a policy or make changes to the current ones to accommodate or find ways to provide assistance to these northern residents. It seems impractical and unreasonable to penalize the families who live in these remote areas and not consider them a part of any municipal boundary when they do in fact contribute to the northern economic stratum despite the fact that they reside in these remote areas. I believe there must be a means to support everyone living in the territory regardless of the location of his or her residence, especially the children who at the end of the day get affected for the sole reason that they are pursuing an education for their own future and for the betterment of our territory. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in the House to speak about the April 2003 Deloitte and Touche report calling for a centralized human resource centre. It will draw significant benefits to our government. During fiscal restraints and tough times, it makes sense to consolidate programs and services, and we share that mandate across the territorial government. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke passionately about the TSC, our technological services centre, and what a great model it is and how it can work. I even saw enthusiasm in the Minister's eyes when he spoke about it yesterday.

---Laughter

I'm losing time on my clock here, Members.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I'm talking about a model and I'm talking about how we can pool our resources and get a great bang for our buck. I'm a huge proponent for a centralized model for a government human resources section. In addition, we can gain in terms of efficiencies, cost savings and a standardization of hiring practices. But if we don't have clear and fair hiring practices, who knows what the little autonomies out there in departments and agencies are doing on their own. We've all heard of the phrase Darwinian law; well, those policies and hiring practices could have evolved to who knows what by now.

Over the years the GNWT has established a number of programs and policies that are aimed to nurture a representative public service; the Affirmative Action Policy being a primary one, but policies are only effective if they are properly adhered to. So my question would be who really monitors these things unless someone complains? We need some consistency and fairness on our hiring practices. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that assembling government hiring in one centralized area will increase government accountability to implement a fair hiring practice to achieve a representative public service, but this must be done across the board. A large portion of our government public service hiring is administered outside of departments through boards, agencies and corporations. If we are looking to consolidate human resource functions where appropriate, and therein lies the critical mass and we need it to bring it together.

Mr. Speaker, Regular Members had the opportunity during the draft mains of 2004-2005 and spoke with their support in Committee of the Whole with the motion.

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to continue my statement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You can conclude your statement, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, honourable colleagues. As the government continues to move forward with their plans, hopefully someday to create a centralized human resource function or department, it is my hope that they will do this very quickly and comprehensively and include all departments, boards, agencies and even corporations and commissions where, of course, it's reasonable. They should not have a policy where a group can opt in; it should be strictly everyone must opt in. It should be a mandatory policy, Mr. Speaker.

If I may end quickly here with a very short quote from the Deloitte and Touche report, "an integrated and coordinated approach to enable the GNWT to deal with human resource issues has yet to be developed. This lack of coordination is a function of both the accountability structure of human resources management and the human resources service delivery model." So, Mr. Speaker, it's about clear accountability, and later in the day I will have questions for the Minister. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Zoe, your time for Member's statements is expired.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Zoe.

Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, in the smaller communities I represent, there is not much social housing and the majority of them look after their own housing needs, but the problem in the smaller communities, Mr. Speaker, there never seems to be enough of the HAP or IHP units to meet the demand. There also needs to be more single housing in each of the smaller communities to reduce overcrowding. Another problem I have encountered since I came into this position, Mr. Speaker, is that my constituents that were verbally informed that they have been approved for a HAP or IHP unit are getting letters later on, like four months later, stating that they didn't make the cut for a unit for that particular year and they will have to wait for the following year. Mr. Speaker, can you imagine the...(inaudible)...that these people experience when they are told they will be getting a house? Can you imagine the emotional kick in the gut when you are told sorry, you won't be getting a house this year? There has to be a better way of handling these applications so that people understand that just because their application was approved, it doesn't mean they are going to get a house.

Mr. Speaker, I am concerned with the level of cooperation and support from the district office of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation for the housing authority in Rae-Edzo. There needs to be a stronger presence. Mr. Speaker, on a positive note, I am pleased with the cooperative approach taken by the Minister and his department thus far in dealing with the concerns of my constituents and myself. It does make me think there is some hope we can improve housing conditions in the Tlicho region. Later on today, Mr. Speaker, I will be questioning the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Zoe. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to report on the results of the election held yesterday in Inuvik. Elections were held for the mayor and councillors, as well as for the district education authority. Elected as Mayor is the incumbent, Peter Clarkson.

---Applause

As well as town councillors elected were Gayle Gruben, Terry Halifax, Arlene Hansen, Karen King, Paul Komaromi, Derek Lindsay, Denny Rodgers and Clarence Wood. As well, Mr. Speaker, elections were held for the Inuvik District Education Authority and those elected to the authority were Nancy Chinna, Judy Harder, Shauna MacKay, Nick Saturnino, Gerri Sharpe-Staples, Clarence Wood and Ruth Wright. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' Statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It was only about a month ago that the First Ministers of Canada, including our Premier, Mr. Handley, came out and announced a $41 billion 10-year health care funding deal through expansion to the health care funding in this country. That was a great achievement and something that all those leaders should be congratulated on. Expectations are high now, of course, that there will be results from this breakthrough financing deal and political deal between the federal and provincial levels. I will take the signal from the Minister, Michael Miltenberger, and his address to this House earlier today that it is early days, and, indeed, a lot of the accounts in the press and from other organizations try to signal that. But I would like to flag one thing among all the different levels and layers of, as I say, expectation. There is a program that is already on the agenda or could be included in this over the next few months and years, Mr. Speaker, and that is the issue of sustainability. That just doesn't surface in any of the lines that I am seeing or hearing lately.

Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing that in my mind that was the catalyst for this deal it was the sustainability over decades and generations of this very cherished institution in Canada, our universal health care system. If I could leave one message on the table today, Mr. Speaker, it is that I would like our Minister, our Premier, and their colleagues across Canada to take a look at this issue, not just what can be delivered in the short term over the next few years on this, but how are we going to make the system work for the next generation and after that. That is what is significant to Canadians. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 3, Members' statements. The Chair recognizes Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the progress report on health and social services in the NWT by the Honourable J. Michael Miltenberger be moved into Committee of the Whole, seconded by the honourable Henry Zoe, the Member for North Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. A motion is on the floor, the motion is in order. To the motion.

Question is being called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried.

---Carried

The Minister's statement will be moved into Committee of the Whole. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.