Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd be happy to put this item on the agenda for our next social programs Ministers' meeting, so we can have a collective discussion about the Member's concerns and see what next steps we take. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are also going to be on the transfer of the Territorial Treatment Centre. My questions are for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you that I am quite surprised at the nonchalant and very laid back attitude of the Ministers and Cabinet at the accusation from this side that the transfer was based on nothing else but political reasons. That is a very serious allegation, and political means in this regard not being politically brave or politically strong. Political, in this context, means Ministers making a decision without merit, without administrative and bureaucratic support, without good information, but making a decision by politicians for no other reason except politicians can. I'd like to know from the Premier, is that how the Cabinet runs the government? Do they sit around the Cabinet table going, hey, we're here to make political decisions and we're just going to transfer this? Is that how the Cabinet makes decisions, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think a basic requirement here is that we recognize that we're all politicians. We all make political decisions. That's our business. If we're not in that business, we're in the wrong place. So this decision is a political decision. The decision to put money into completing Highway No. 3 is a political decision. The decision to put money into building a new school in one community over another is a political decision. These are not bureaucratic decisions. These are political decisions that we make and we vote in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Mr. Speaker, that is absolutely shameful.

That is absolutely disgusting, Mr. Speaker. That is not what I mean by a political decision. I don't mean because a politician makes a decision that's a political decision. The Premier is not listening to what I'm saying here. I mean, the Members from communities would not want Ministers making a decision about where to build housing politically. That would have to be on need. So I'd like to know, does the Cabinet not look at anything about what's needed, like Inuvik needs a new school because the building fell down? Is that a political decision, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, of course, when we make our political decisions as politicians, we take into account all of the information that's available to us and we make our decision. If the school in Tulita or the school in Inuvik needs to be repaired, then we look at our budget and we decide whether or not we can afford to make that political decision, and we use our best judgement on it. But that's the business we're in, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are elected here by the people to make decisions for the benefit of all the people in the Territories, and that's the job of the Premier. Mr. Speaker, being political in making decisions is like treating a $1.2 billion government budget

as a smorgasbord. The seven Members in Cabinet say okay, we're going to put $100,000 here, $10 million here, because we are here to make political decisions. Would the Premier not agree that all those decisions have to be done with information from the bureaucrats, from the experts, from the architects, from the accountants, from the tax people? Does the Premier not agree that that is the job of politicians, is to use good information? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, yes, I agree. We take all of the information that we have access to and we make decisions, hopefully, that are timely. I agree with the Member; they have to take into consideration our responsibility to represent all of the people in the Northwest Territories. We cannot represent some people and not others. We have always had the hard decisions of making the decision that best fits the interests of all people across the Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Then in deciding to transfer the Territorial Treatment Centre, did the Premier and the Cabinet look at the information about the transfer and what it means, and how the children in that care facility will be treated, and about how those children and the parents and the people who work there, who the Premier is supposed to serve as well, not just the people where the facility is going to. I'd like to ask the Minister what he looked at when the Cabinet made the decision to transfer that, other than political gamesmanship. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. I heard about three questions there. Mr. Premier, you can answer one or all three. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take my job very seriously. I don't get into political gamesmanship. I look at whatever information is available and continue to look at information that is brought to us all the time. That includes information that was before Cabinet when we made this decision, and information that was brought to us since that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are for the Minister responsible for FMBS, with regard to regional representation on boards and agencies. Mr. Speaker, last week I addressed the issue that I've researched the NWT Committees, Boards and Councils Handbook. Out of 35 boards and committees, there were only six with Nahendeh representation. I was just wondering if the Minister can tell me what our regional representation policy is for boards and agencies. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the area of representation from citizens across the Northwest Territories, it's by convention that when we seek positions to fill vacancies that are out there, we take a number of items into consideration. That being a balance of territorial representation, and of the expertise that's required on certain boards. Types of things of that nature are what we take into consideration. We don't have a policy that says that every board must be represented by one member from each region or, for example, every dialect of every aboriginal language that we have. We have to make a balance or distinction of trying to get a balance across the North of large communities, small communities, and north and south expertise, as well. There are a number of considerations that we do take in when we look at these issues. Thank you.