Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Menicoche, time for your Member's statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and colleagues. Residents of the NWT recognize some committees, boards and councils require considerable expertise and experience in this field. However, even these groups must have representation from the average residents from all of the regions. The responsibilities and functions of these groups are trusted to them by the Legislative Assembly, the GNWT; the government of the people. These responsibilities affect all of us and have deep implications. Therefore, all regions of the NWT must have adequate representation and not what is convenient, Mr. Speaker. With that, I will be asking our government, at the appropriate time, to state to this House what our regional representation policy is. Mahsi.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on September 15, 2005, I attended a graduation ceremony held in Deninu Kue to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of three students of Deninu school. Mr. Speaker, I again would like to take this time to congratulate Chantelle Beck, Raddanz Hunter, and Vanessa Sanderson for their significant achievements in reaching this important milestone. It was truly with great pleasure to have been part of such a wonderful celebration of local achievement.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to congratulate Don Catholique of Lutselk'e who graduated from Joseph Burr Tyrell High School in Fort Smith on May 27, 2005. I would encourage all of these Tu Nedhe graduates and all other NWT

graduates to continue on with their educational pursuits and aspirations.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize the people behind these achievements, the principals, teachers, the DEAs, and the many community members and organizations who have done a wonderful job in coming together to support and encourage the youth to stay in school, and for instilling value of education in all of their minds so that students of tomorrow can also look forward to finishing high school and making the wise choices which result in a brighter future for all northerners young and old.

Mr. Speaker, the residents of Deninu Kue and Lutselk'e are truly proud of seeing four more graduates coming out of these two small communities. Once again, congratulations. You have all, indeed, set a fine example for the younger people of Tu Nedhe. Thank you and mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to commend the Justice department. However, Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned with the delivery of RCMP services to the Tlicho communities. There are the same concerns that are echoed in other small communities.

Tlicho residents have told me that on average the police response is 48 minutes. That is quite outrageous in the Tlicho region.

Mr. Speaker, some of the problems with response times relate to dispatching being done out of Yellowknife headquarters. This leads directly to my next question. What are the hours of operation in the local detachment in the Tlicho region?

Mr. Speaker, I am concerned, too, that the police will sometimes not respond to a call because an actual crime has not been committed. It seems to be that that attitude is totally contradictory to the basic concept of community policing. Part of the responsibility of the RCMP is to provide a proactive presence in the communities, not just reacting to crimes in process, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am not saying the RCMP are ignoring the needs of the communities. I suspect that if anything RCMP are overworked because of the impacts of resource development in the North, and that concentration on serious crime is the only way it can be dealt with with the workload. I am sure the RCMP want to have a more proactive role in the community, Mr. Speaker, and be able to work with the people to reduce crime, rather than just reacting to immediate threats to life or property.

Mr. Speaker, we must address policing issues. Locally, residents must do everything they can to support RCMP to do their jobs. The Tlicho and the GNWT leadership have a role to play in ensuring that the RCMP have adequate resources. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Justice at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've been hearing talk of the pipeline for a long time and, as one of my colleagues asked this morning, what pipeline? It's time to quit talking, Mr. Speaker, and time to get working. Most people in the NWT stand to benefit from the construction of the pipeline, but now it seems that the project is running into one delay after another while everyone tries to think of what they can ask for next. The problem is, Mr. Speaker, that there are many excessive demands from all parties, and this is preventing the project from moving ahead and we may never see a pipeline.

There are many young people along the valley attending or planning to attend school for training to take advantage of any potential job opportunities from construction of the pipeline. As a result, many positions will be filled by well-trained and qualified northerners who are not just hired to fill a quota.

Mr. Speaker, there are many businesses along the valley that have already planned and prepared for the pipeline by increasing their capacity to absorb the potential workload. It is unfortunate, however, that the future of the pipeline still seems uncertain, and all the time, money and energy in preparing may be lost. Claimant groups are demanding to be compensated for crossing their traditional lands. I firmly believe that these groups should be compensated by the proponents of the pipeline and by the federal government. This land is their inheritance and they should not sell their birthright for a morsel of food.

People are and will be paid big bucks to negotiate on the claimant groups' behalf, so they will continue to benefit while many of their people live day to day. Many groups have formed joint ventures with some of the companies, and they will benefit from the construction of the pipeline. We even have a one-third share in the pipeline itself.

The proponents have asked for concessions on the money they plan to spend. They have potential revenues of $40 billion, yet they want the Government of Canada to give them a break. I say come on, give us a break.

Even the NWT can't get a deal like that.

The North has a lot to offer in the way of resources, and everyone is entitled to a good deal that will work for us all. A few leaders in the NWT, our Premier included, know that this project should allow us to be independent and are trying to move it forward.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays?

There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. McLeod.

We should lock all the parties in the same room until they can reach an agreement that will work for everyone.

I do not believe this project is doomed, contrary to what some people think; however, we have lived without this pipeline for years and we'll survive without it, but with so much at stake, we have to think of our children and grandchildren and we must help pave the way for their future.

Mr. Speaker, this project, along the Mackenzie Valley highway from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk, should be our legacy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, education of our children is right up there with the health of our citizens in terms of its importance in determining quality of life, and I believe that the constituents of Range Lake have every right to expect the very best out of this government. This is the best gift that life in the North has given to me, and I take my job of improving on this tradition very seriously, and I have to tell you that this Minister and this government is not doing a very good job in this regard.

Mr. Speaker, reducing the PTR and reducing special needs funding is not translating into real, tangible benefits in our classrooms. I agree with the Minister that we can't spend millions to do a formal assessment, but I would suggest that walking through our schools and talking to the parents, teachers and students should give him all the information he needs. I encourage the Minister and his officials to do more of that across the North.

Mr. Speaker, PTR, pupil/teacher ratio, of 14 students to one means absolutely nothing to students of a French immersion class of 31 in a local school. Mr. Speaker, a special needs funding increase from eight percent to 15 percent says nothing to a Grade 5 class of 28 students in Yellowknife where there are four special needs students with no assistance whatsoever.

Mr. Speaker, section 7 of the Education Act, the inclusionary schooling provision, as the Minister read yesterday, "that every student is entitled to have access to the education program in a regular instructional setting in the community in which the student resides and that an education body shall provide a student with the support services necessary to give effect in accordance with the direction of the Minister," is not worth the paper it's written on for those parents with children with autism or any other serious special need who have to line up every year through the school board to convince them that they need special needs funding, and to pray that they're going to get somebody, and to be told that they can't because there's just not enough money to go around.

Mr. Speaker, it's not just the students with special needs who are suffering. This affects the ability of all children in every classroom to learn and the ability of the teachers to teach. Mr. Speaker, I'm looking for real improvement in this area, and I suggest to you that the Minister saying he's doing a survey every five years or talking to the chairs of the boards...Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm looking for real improvement in this area and not just empty statistics, and I suggested to you that the Minister saying that he's doing a survey every five years or that he's talking to the chairs of boards twice a year is just not going to cut it. I expect nothing less than our school system knowing at any given point what the special needs of our students are and how we are meeting them all across the Territories. We wouldn't think of treating patients with illness randomly and choosing who's going to get service, and I don't know why we think it's okay for us to do that to our children with special needs and the general student population.

Turning a blind eye, closing our eyes and throwing some arbitrary sum of money aren't going to deal with this very important issue, and I expect the Minister to give us more precise information and more precise action. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause