Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to welcome Mr. Todd Parsons, President of the UNW, and with him Ms. Gayla Wick, to the gallery today. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I'd like to welcome everybody that's in the gallery today. Welcome to the House. It's always nice to have an audience here. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement today I spoke of the need to connect Tuktoyaktuk to the Canadian national highway system.

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Can the Minister of Transportation inform this Assembly and the people of the Northwest Territories what progress is being made on the construction of the all-weather road from Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have discussed this issue of the Tuktoyaktuk road on a number of occasions in this House and I have indicated in those discussions that we have a document called Investing in Roads for People and the Economy, which was put together in the year 2000. It highlights a number of issues around the transportation systems, including the roads that need to be improved, the roads that have to be reconstructed, and we have made submissions to the federal government to do a number of reconstruction projects along those lines. We are now drafting a new proposal that we will be releasing in the near future that will be submitted to the federal government to continue that work.

We are also embarking on a national strategy, that the Premier is leading with his provincial counterparts, that has a national transportation system or strategy that will look at building a number of new roads, and that includes the extension of the road from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk. It is a very costly initiative. The numbers that we have to date are around $700 million. Those documents are still in draft form, and they will be released to the public I believe some time in November. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's good to hear that the draft is coming out sometime in November. I'm just wondering, can the Minister, Mr. Speaker, indicate to this House on whether they can actually put forward the road from Tuktoyaktuk to source 177? That would be the start of the highway from Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's difficult to point to exactly all the initiatives because this document is still in draft form. But I would like to assure the Member that the road to Tuktoyaktuk is included in all our discussions and both our proposals. The proposals fit together. It's all part of a bigger vision statement. There are other initiatives in new areas that we have yet to develop proposals that we're working on. The Tlicho roads, for example, that we still have to work with the chiefs and we still have to work on realignment. That proposal has to be done. We are also talking with the Mackenzie gas project proponents and we're looking at the legacy projects. Of course we're taking consideration of the road to Tuktoyaktuk and the actual stretch that the Member is talking about to a gravel source, the 22 kilometre gravel source. So it is included in all our discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just one last follow-up. A few years ago there was one kilometre built between the source itself towards Tuktoyaktuk. Another 21 kilometres will actually hit Tuktoyaktuk. So like I say, can the Minister at least with the Cabinet consider finding the funds from the federal government to complete the 22 kilometres to the gravel source that can be fully extended towards the Tuktoyaktuk-Inuvik highway? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've indicated already that we are committed to doing that and we have it included in a number of our different proposals and will continue to bring those forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat and corporate human resource services. I go back to the statement that I made earlier and getting back to retiring employees. I think there are a number of issues at play at this new corporate human resource service that I think need to be addressed, and ultimately somebody is responsible for how constituents of mine have been dealt with. I've heard other stories of other retiring employees that have waited up to six months to receive pension cheques and get service from FMBS. Mr. Speaker, like I said, somebody is responsible. I want to ask the Minister today what FMBS is doing to ensure that employees have a smooth transition into retirement, and is there a policy for retiring employees and what type of guidelines are there for that policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. A couple or three questions there. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the area of human resource service centres, as the Member has pointed out, we have realized throughout government, because of the way the human resources was decentralized, that every department had its own section, which caused us a fair bit of problems. We recognize that and put forward this plan to bring the human resource service into centres within each region and here in headquarters to work better with our employees to make sure the forms were getting done and those things were being dealt with. One of the problems we've found as a result of doing this amalgamation of the human resource services to the centres is that there have been a lot of files that needed attention and we've now put in the resources to address that backlog. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from what I've heard from constituents of mine and from others is that it's an actual disaster, the human resource service centre today, and people are having a heck of a time trying to get any service. I want to ask the Minister why it should take my constituent 13 attempts to contact FMBS to set up a simple meeting to go over their paperwork so they can retire with the dignity that they deserve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm aware of the file that the Member has spoken of and I can inform him, and I think he's aware, that that file has been taken care of and information has been sent out. As for why it took 13 calls, I can't speak to that specifically. I haven't asked for that information from the department. I was aware that the file was being looked at and being dealt with. Unfortunately, as I was saying, as a result of creating the human resource service centres, we have found a large backlog of files that were not being dealt with when all departments had control of

those areas. We are now putting in the resources towards catching up with that backlog so that we can ensure employees are being dealt with in a fair and responsible manner. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is because they went and sought the assistance of the UNW. They came to see their MLA. That is why their case is being dealt with, Mr. Speaker. How many more people are out there going through the same difficulties having to contact FMBS 13 times to try and set up a meeting? I would like to ask the Minister, in both of the cases that I have, it involves two forms -- 2386 and a submit -- very simple forms. One is a pay scale and one is a verification on years of service. Does FMBS not have a checklist for employees so that when they send the paperwork to superannuation in New Brunswick, they can't simply check off a checklist? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.