Mr. Speaker, certainly we will be looking at this as time permits. Our statistics in terms of employment of people, whether its indigenous aboriginal persons or indigenous non-aboriginal persons, or disabled people, or women in management, are important to us, and we certainly want to have employment that reflects our population. So, yes, this will be looked at by the 15th Assembly. Thank you.

Item 7, oral questions. The Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Minister of Justice, two questions.

Mr. Speaker, in response to the first question, yes, I am aware that corrections officers do hand out medications to inmates, and to the supplementary, they are only handed out under the direction of medical staff, and only when officers have completed a training course.

Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What are the impacts of the ongoing issues at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre in the health services unit? What kind of impact is it having on Stanton Territorial Hospital? I know inmates have to go to Stanton for procedures that could and should be done at the facility, and I have also been made aware that casual nurses are actually being taken from the hospital and sent over to the facility. Thank you.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the intention is to be able to deliver the services at the facility, and we do currently have two nurses on staff to be able to provide services. I am advised by the Department of Health and Social Services that there has been no appreciable increase or noticeable increase in the patients from YCC to date. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I understand it, the audit was conduced solely by Ms. Shannon Weatherhead-McCoy, the chief of health services from Drumheller Institution in Alberta. Why wasn't the Department of Justice corrections investigator involved in this audit, as was set out in the conveyance order? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that individual was unavailable at the time that we wanted to have the audit work done. Rather than hold it up and wait until both were available, it was felt that the person from Corrections Canada was well qualified to conduct the audit or the review, and that is the reason that it went forward at the time it did. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 7, oral questions. The Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier, and it is with regard to the Member's statement by Mr. Zoe earlier today. Mr. Speaker, I can't say that I know all of the details that pertain to the incident that led to the statement by Mr. Zoe today, but I have had the opportunity to speak to those who have more knowledge about it, and my understanding is that the incident was quite serious, and one that has brought disrepute and questioned the integrity of this House. Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you that I take membership in this Assembly as a privilege that is very important and serious, and one that I have to work really hard to uphold. It is the standard that we have for all of us, and the respect and the expectations that people have of this Assembly depends on the conduct of all the Members of this House. My information is that what Mr. Zoe did in this incident has put a dark shadow on that, and one of the things that the public has said is that if anybody in the public did what Mr. Zoe did, they would be fired. So I would like to ask the Premier whether he has given any consideration to remove the portfolios from Mr. Zoe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the incident that occurred is certainly being viewed as one that we take seriously. I can let the Member know that upon hearing about it, I did call the Legion, I did talk with Mr. Zoe, I sent a letter to all of the Members advising them of the incident, and I have also spoken to many of the Members about this particular incident. Mr. Speaker, the incident is serious, and it is one that I certainly view as one that we don't want to see happening, whether it is MLAs or Ministers. I can assure the Member that I have also

included in the mandate letters to all of the Ministers concerned with regard to anything that brings embarrassment to our government. Thank you.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to add that I have a lot of respect for Mr. Zoe, as I have for Members in this House. I do believe he is a very capable Minister. I believe the issue here is something quite different, and I believe the issue has to do with leadership. I would rather like to see a situation where Mr. Zoe maintains his duties in Cabinet, but I need to be assured that there are decisions made by decision makers with the power to make sure that it doesn't happen again, and the statement today does not tell me, and does not give me the confidence that we have taken the steps necessary to make sure that it doesn't happen again. So I would like to know if the Premier would exercise his power -- and he has the power -- to discipline his Minister to make sure this doesn't happen again. What sort of disciplinary action has the Premier taken as the leader of the pack? Thank you.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I've outlined some of the actions I have taken. I am doing another letter as a reminder to all of Cabinet that we cannot tolerate these kinds of incidents. So that will be going out today or tomorrow. I assure the Member that I do view this very seriously. We maintain high ethical standards within this House and certainly within Cabinet, and if there is another such incident then, as I have told many Members, that I will then make fairly strong recommendations to this House.

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind us that it is not me who makes that decision, it is the House that has selected me as Premier, it is the House that has selected the Cabinet, and we have to work as a team in dealing with these kinds of issues. But I assure the House that we maintain the highest ethical standards that can be expected of people, and I don't intend to vary from that. Thank you.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I just want to state that I think that we have to be fully mindful of the fact that we are dealing with the public expectations and our responsibility to the public. I don't believe this is now limited to what happened in the Legion. It is not a Legion issue. It is an issue that goes to the general public. Mr. Speaker, I don't believe the public who knows about this -- and there are a lot of people in the public who knows about what happened -- are satisfied with the Premier and Members around this House exchanging letters. I think the public expects us to do more to show, and not just talk about it, but to act the talk. So I think the public has the right that concrete actions were taken, and I have to remind the Premier he has the power to take disciplinary actions, and he has the power to remove the portfolios from him. Would the Premier consider that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.