Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning, I received a copy of a letter by the director of client services of Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Authority, from the office of the Honourable Minister Michael Miltenberger, Minister of Health and Social Services, advising of the temporary closure of the Holman health centre. The closure of the health centre commenced on

March 26, 2004, and is expected to last until April 15, 2004.

Mr. Speaker, during this time the health centre will be closed. There will be no clinics; however, a nurse will be available for emergencies only. No clients can call any hospital emergency room department. In my Member's statement on January 20, 2004, I voiced the exact same concerns about health and staffing services in that riding. I understand the department is having a difficult time recruiting nurses in the Northwest Territories. The reduction in services is continuing to be a problem. The residents of Holman should no longer have to be the ones who suffer a reduction in health services simply because their community is hard to staff.

Mr. Speaker, when will the Department of Health and Social Services find a solution to ensure the staffing requirements are met in Holman or, Mr. Speaker, will the department wait until something happens to a person before they take action? I will be following up with the Department of Health and Social Services on health care staffing shortages in that riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise and I would like to talk about the business incentive policy. That is of great concern to residents and businesses I represent in the Nahendeh riding. They have indicated to me that they want the BIP enforced and used at all times. It was put into place to recognize the high costs of our northern contractors who have to endure year-round costs where southern competitors don't pay taxes here or have overhead. The North is a great place to live, but if we don't keep and utilize the business incentive program, the whole of the NWT will just become a satellite community for southern companies.

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Government is supposed to work for the good of our people and here is an example of a good program being put by the wayside. If the business incentive policy is costing the government money, they have yet to show us.

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If this is true, then we will have to revisit how we best support and affirm our businesses by our business incentive policy. Mahsi cho.

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Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, along with a couple of my colleagues, I would like to speak about the business incentive policy in relation to importing mobile home units. Everyone knows that the cost of doing business in the North is higher. In order to create a more level playing field while at the same time developing our northern economy, our government decided that it was worth the price of a potential monetary premium to see jobs and money stay in the North.

The difficulty is that the financial resources are tight. There is a temptation to jump to the conclusion that, without the BIP, our purchase of goods and services and homes will go further. Mr. Speaker, I don't think that northern suppliers and manufacturers were given the advantage of turning their mind to the supply of these 22 units that have been discussed extensively in this House over the past few days. Yet, had the same effort been applied to dialogue with northerners to find a northern solution to this need, I think the results might have been quite substantial. It is quite a leap to go from stick built homes built on site in communities, which was something this government has insisted on for many years, to imported modular or mobile housing units.

We don't know, Mr. Speaker, if we are actually saving anything. Because the benefits of buying north are not easy to quantify, we fall into the mindset that everything from the South is cheaper and better. I don't agree with that. In our harsh conditions here in the North, where temperatures can range easily from 30 below to 30 above, a better investment of our scarce resources might have been more prudently spent on a northern product. Not to mention the benefits of keeping jobs and incomes in the North.

Mr. Speaker, I realize that it may not be possible to pull back the tender of these 22 units and still meet the pressing needs for these units in the communities that are now expecting them in a timely manner. But, I think the message to the government should be that in the future, before we spend an inordinate amount of time on how we could defend diverging from our current procurement policies, we invest an equal or greater amount of time in consulting northerners about how we could efficiently and cost-effectively deal with the need of affordable housing while adhering to this government's philosophy of building capacity, creating jobs and economy here in the North.

As one of my colleagues alluded to, we spend a lot of energy convincing large corporate clients to be good citizens. Mr. Speaker, we need to lead by example, be good corporate citizens, and practice what we preach. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to raise the important issue relevant to seniors and the contributions they make to our society. I met with the Seniors' Society last week here in Yellowknife and also another elders' committee from Lutselk'e yesterday.

Although these meetings were bound together under different circumstances, the underlying points raised during these discussions were very similar: issues pertaining to health services, acute and outpatient care, and community health representation, just to name a few, and many other issues related to housing and seniors'

and elders' involvement in our education system. Mr. Speaker, the role of this demographic sector of our society cannot be undermined by our fiscal restraints, resource development and devolution issues. I don't think there is any other sector of our society which can make such a priceless contribution towards improving community support and assisting youth and other seniors through increased volunteerism and community involvement.

Mr. Speaker, I feel that organizations like the NWT Seniors' Society and community elders' committees should be given equal consideration by this government on all fronts related to their work, their health and their cultures and especially their relentless dedication and support that they have for us, their MLAs, to make their lives more meaningful and enjoyable and, more importantly, more memorable like those many other lives that they touch and improve every day. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few days ago in this Assembly, we learned that Cabinet has approved the forgiveness of $800,000 in taxpayers' money due to a business deal that we went into not working out. Even though we had adequate protection for the taxpayers' money, Cabinet made a decision to forego it. In more recent days, we learned that a major policy of this government, the business incentive policy, was dodged in favour of an assumption that only a southern product could be brought into the North on an economic basis. The signals that our government is sending to the business community, Mr. Speaker, are very confusing. They are destabilizing, inconsistent and, above all, they lack what is very important to any government, and that is good faith and integrity.

We are partners. We espouse this. We have fostered this attitude, but we are not living up to it. We are putting to the test the faith and the trust of our partners in the business community by such inconsistent application of our policies. Mr. Speaker, our economy, the way we manage it, is evolving, and so should our policies and the way we conduct business ourselves. We need to be open and transparent in the way we do this. We need to make sure that our rules and our principles are out there all the time for everyone to see and that we live up to them. The business community asks for nothing more than a level playing field, and we are not delivering. Where are the rules? The message that we are sending is that the exception is the rule, and that is unacceptable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize someone very important in my life, a most important teacher, my mother, Laura Lennie.

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I also recognize the NWT Suicide Prevention Steering Committee and four trainers, these people who contribute their energy and time to saving lives in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

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Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to also recognize the members of the Northwest Territories Suicide Prevention Steering Committee in the gallery with us today. They have been meeting in Yellowknife with the trainers for the last two days and are responsible for overseeing the three-week Northwest Territories Suicide Prevention Training Program and other territorial suicide prevention. This year, we have with us Sandy Little, the chairperson from Health and Social Services; Hazel Nerysoo from Fort McPherson; Helen Gruben from Tuktoyaktuk; Laura Lennie from Tulita; Judy Desjarlais from Yellowknife; Carole Lane from Yellowknife; and the trainers are Frank Hope from Inuvik; Frank Edwards from Inuvik; Linda Todd from Yellowknife; and Hazel Nerysoo, who does double duty as a trainer as well. I would like to ask you to join me in welcoming them to the Assembly and thank them for their good work.

---Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Zoe.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize one of my constituents, Mr. Ernie Smith. He is also a band councillor from Rae-Edzo. Welcome to the House. Thank you.

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Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure this afternoon to recognize Frank Sambo with whom I have a long history of friendship. As well, we were team mates in the 1989 canoe race at Aklavik and the winning team. Mr. McLeod was also representing Fort Providence. As well, I'd like to recognize Mr. Frank Pope, also a fellow Inuvik resident. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 5, 5ecognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I'm honoured to recognize two constituents: Carole Lane and Major Karen Hoeft. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'd just like to recognize Mr. Frank Pope, a former Fort Simpson resident now residing in Inuvik. Thank you very much.

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Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I'd like to recognize a constituent of mine, Susan Nerysoo, sub-chief, and also Frank Edwards, a former constituent of mine now living in Inuvik. Welcome to the House.

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Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my Member's statement, there are some concerns from my area with the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board and the round of consultations that they're doing. I would like to ask the Minister of RWED if he is aware of the concerns that Hay River has with that board not coming to Hay River to do some reviews. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.