Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think our calculators work fine, but I will get a breakdown of those numbers for the Member and provide them to him. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during my questions early in this Assembly, I had requested more information from the Premier in regard to the written policy on how the Cabinet chooses to waive the BIP, or subsequent to how they choose to apply it would be sort of part and parcel to the question. My question, Mr. Speaker, is to the Premier. Following up on that note, what signal is the Premier looking for in order to bring the whole BIP to general discussion amongst Caucus Members? Thank you.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the BIP is one that has been debated a lot over the last 10 years. It has gone through several amendments, modifications and so on. There is a lot of debate about its value, what it costs us or doesn't cost us, who it works for and who it doesn't work for. During the coming year, RWED is doing an assessment to determine what it costs us in the various scenarios, and when we have that then we may chose to review the whole BIP, but at this point there is no decision made to review the whole policy. We recognize that it fits some situations better than others, but there is no commitment at this point to review that policy again. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I reaffirm that Cabinet does have to have the liberty of knowing when to waive the policy and when to apply it, I will state that upfront. I have to admit on the other side -- and I am referring to the Regular Members' side of this Assembly -- we have to wear the blindfolds of the decisions made by Cabinet, and when they decide to waive the policy the phone calls come to us, and it truly affects all of our constituents as well as our industry. My question to the Premier would be in this particular case, when Cabinet decides to use that waiving discretion, would they be able to brief Caucus on some of the pros and cons of why they chose to go in that direction, because I think that truly affects the general membership of this Assembly in a critical way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a policy is a general statement of intent, and direction, and so on from a government. It is not a commandment, it is not a law. It is statement of how we

intend to conduct business. Every policy we have in government has a statement that says that nothing in the policy shall be construed to limit the prerogative of Executive Council to make exceptions where the circumstances warrant. We have to look at the various interests and determine what the best way of doing this, does this warrant an exception. Mr. Speaker, in some cases we do that, but in other cases we most often choose not to. If we are making a lot of exceptions, we need to review the whole policy. Mr. Speaker, I wouldn't take this to Caucus. I don't think it is a matter we want to deal with in Caucus, but certainly it is an issue that we intend to fully communicate with AOC and let committee Members and Members of the Legislative Assembly, where we can, know in advance. But on the communication side, we will do everything we can to make sure that everyone knows why we are making the exception before we do it.

Mr. Speaker, in this case, we have pushed a budget very quickly, and there may be some things that we could have done better in communicating the most recent decision here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My line of questioning is focused on appreciation that we are not here to limit their discretion, but I guess the way some of us hear about this discretion that is being used is through the media. It is difficult to walk down the streets of Yellowknife without having to wear a helmet due to safety on the concerns that many citizens are very upset about the fact that you can waive or apply the policy. So without prior notice of this coming, or for us to understand some of the reasons why, it is difficult for us to defend our Executive Council or even understand why they consider their approach. Not to say we speak in favour of it, but it is a position. Therefore, I am asking the Premier, although he slightly said it, I wish him to clearly commit that he will send us some information as to why they chose to waive a policy; therefore, we will protect the general membership and our belief in the system. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to remind Members that this issue was brought up in committee. It was brought up in committee as you reviewed the mains for Housing, we did it there. If that wasn't enough and we didn't provide enough information on why we were doing it, or the rationale for it, then we would be happy to do that again if Members want, and we'd be happy to talk about how we may be able to communicate these kinds of exceptions more effectively. We want to do business with all of the MLAs cooperatively, and we want to do what is right for the majority of the people in the Territories, recognizing we are not going to please everybody all of the time. Mr. Speaker, we are trying to do what we can to make sure Members are aware of changes we are making. We will continue with that, and certainly we would appreciate any advice on how we can do this when we meet in committee at some point to discuss this further.

In terms of the impact of this, again, we'd be pleased to provide information as best we have following the awarding of this particular contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess in my old age I musn't be hearing very closely to the commitment that was made there, and I am not sure I actually heard one. I almost got the feeling that our Ghandi-style Premier has traded in his sandals for Fred Astaire tapping shoes because he tapped right through this and I didn't hear a solid commitment. Will the Premier clearly commit to us that he will brief us prior to this becoming public knowledge, therefore, we are up to speed fully on the reasons on why they chose to waive the BIP? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, this particular situation is already public knowledge, so I can't do it before that. In terms of any future exceptions to BIP or to other policies, then we will undertake to let the committees know as soon as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, in keeping with my young age. Would he consider looking at the possibility of working with the education board in the Sahtu region with regard to bringing in a curriculum around the land claims document, because it is a very important document for our children. We have a living document that will benefit and that is going to have an impact on their lives and futures. So it is something that they need to learn about in our education system. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the teachers, the schools, the divisional education council could ensure that as part of the curriculum for social studies that there is some consideration of the treaties that involve that region right now. So that would work within the current curriculum. I would be happy to work with the Member to make sure that everybody is aware in the region. I suspect they are already aware. We are also, as I would like to advise all Members, in the process of revising the kindergarten to Grade 9 social studies curriculum, and one of the aspects

that will be in the curriculum is a consideration of land claims documents for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Could we get some clarification that it includes the treaties of 1921? My grandmother's first husband, Chief Albert Wright, negotiated the treaties in 1921, so I think that should be part of the curriculum. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.