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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I will be addressing community policing concerns raised by my constituents and the residents all throughout the North. Several years ago, particularly in the 14th Assembly, the small non-tax based communities met with the special committee members to discuss this issue. All remote communities indicated that safety of residents and community policing was the highest priority. There was a case where a victim was so injured that he could not even walk to get help. Even this did not get the police to their community. That was pointed out in the final report by that committee.

Today, Mr. Speaker, these same problems still exist. The community of Nahanni Butte has lodged complaints of two incidents over the course of this summer, where the police were called and did not arrive for some 48 hours later.

Mr. Speaker, in all cases in small communities, police are never called frivolously. They were called because safety of residents and people were threatened. I recognize the enormous demands placed on our policing services in the North, and the safety of our residents is our government's number one job. I do not believe that, when assessing any emergency policing situation in our small communities, remoteness should be a factor. I do not believe, Mr. Speaker, that cost of travel should be a factor. At the very least, attention must be given as soon as possible. Our constituents must trust that we will always receive this type of attention, and that we will always be there for them, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi cho.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member's statement is about fiscal responsibility and how it relates to the repayment of corporate income tax overpayment.

As all Members of this House know, we are well aware of how this Assembly has the unfortunate task or, I should say, the burden ahead of us in the next year to repay the federal government close to $300 million for its corporate overpayment tax that dates back to 2002.

This can no longer be pushed back or ignored by this government. When the last government realized -- that is the 14th Assembly -- over four years ago that it received an overpayment of corporate income tax of over $300 million, they had some tough choices ahead of them. But they decided to spend it, Mr. Speaker. They knew that spending it wouldn't fall on their government. It would fall on the government that followed them to pay it back.

Mr. Speaker, decisions like that, treating it like an interest-free loan, was not responsible. Mr. Speaker, the government of that day, the 14th Assembly, spent like it was footloose and fancy free, spending with no regard to who has to cover the payment. I am not sure that they were hoping that; either they were thinking or hedging their bets on the fact that they would get a resource revenue agreement or whatnot, but, unfortunately, it is time to pay. If they were hoping that pennies would fall from heaven, and their bacon would be covered, well, unfortunately, it is our bacon that has to pay the piper.

Mr. Speaker, that is not fair of the last Assembly to put that burden on this government. We now have to be smart and a lot wiser with our fiscal policies. I compliment Minister Roland on his fiscal work that he has done, but we need to go one step further. Waiting for a grant from Canada, as they often talk about our resource revenue sharing agreement, is like having them dangle a carrot in front of us. It is there, but it just seems to always be out of reach.

Frankly, Mr. Speaker, I am tired of waiting for that resource revenue agreement, but we have this burden in front of us. Mr. Speaker, we need a sound fiscal policy that says when we realize we have an overpayment of some sort, we clearly set it aside and not put that burden on the next government to figure out how they should pay for it. The government of the day with the overpayment looks like the heroes, and the government that has to pay looks like zeros.

So, Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will have awe-inspiring questions for the Finance Minister. I know he will be really receptive to the points I make. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on the administration of the Student Financial Assistance program. Although I believe that the SFA in the NWT is one of, if not the best in Canada, there are still some problems with the administration of the program. Inuvik, Hay River, Norman Wells and Fort Smith are some of the larger regional centres in the NWT outside of Yellowknife, yet there are no offices in these communities that have decision-making authority. Everything has to go through an office in Yellowknife that is far removed from the regions.

Mr. Speaker, just to give you an example of what I am speaking about, I have a constituent who went to school in Fort Smith, and he was transferring to Edmonton. He had verbal approval to bring his truck and his belongings down, and they would pay his way home. He gets down to Edmonton, and he gets told that they are not going to pay his way home, because it wasn't where he was going to school. It cost $128 less to go from Edmonton to Inuvik than it would from Fort Smith to Inuvik.

I just think, Mr. Speaker, if we had regional staff who had a chance to know their clients, and they were empowered to make decisions in these kinds of cases, we might get more sensible results. Even the student financial assistance board, Mr. Speaker, has no members from outside of Yellowknife. Is Yellowknife the only community in the NWT with the college? Mr. Speaker, I am not here to knock Yellowknife, but too many decisions made for the rest of the NWT are done here, and they should be at the regions. We should have regional offices that have the authority to make decisions that are affecting these students.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I won't be following on my colleague's statement about student financial assistance.

---Laughter

Instead, with it being Friday and knowing that the Pages that have been serving us here in this House for the last week are from Inuvik, I thought I would just recognize their efforts and the time they have spent with us. I have heard from many Members how they liked the service they provided, and how polite they are. That shows you that the students from Inuvik are representing their community well here. I would like to recognize the six Pages we have here. Both Mr. McLeod and I joined our efforts together to make sure we had a full complement. They are: Hayley Rodgers; Alyssa Ross; Kaylin Horassi; Angie Donley; Jessica Wilson; and Laska Edwards. I would also like to thank Mr. McLeod's CA, Meeka Kisoun, for supporting them and making sure they met all their school work while they were down here, as well as kept them safe while they are away from their parents. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Member's statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wanted to talk about one of my favourite subjects: Hay River.

---Laughter

In a couple of weeks, I will be coming up to 31 years in Hay River. Over those years, I have been involved in many aspects of life in Hay River, so I can say, with some authority, that Hay River is a great place to live, to work, and to raise a family. There are so many things to be involved in. If volunteering is your thing, there are a host of opportunities to join the large community-minded people in Hay River. If you are a sports enthusiast, we have it all from a beautiful golf course with real greens in the summer, to our well-groomed cross-country ski trails in the winter, to hockey for all ages, to just about every other kind of organized sport that you can think of. If you are a nature lover, we have beautiful walking trails close to the picturesque Hay River, or walks along the miles of sandy shoreline of Great Slave Lake.

The cost of housing and living is probably the lowest in the Northwest Territories. We have lots of developed and serviced land for sale. We have great transportation connections -- centrally located on the South Slave highway system -- and affordable options for air travel, whether you are going north or south.

Mr. Speaker, I could go on and on. I could tell the good people of the Northwest Territories about things like our new aquatic centre, our diversified economy, our Arctic College programs, just the good people who live in Hay River. But, Mr. Speaker, I would encourage anyone who hasn't visited Hay River lately, to do so. Instead of driving right by in Enterprise, just turn left and come down. We will be hospitable and we will show you around. Check it out! It is a great community to visit. It is a great community to call home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in this House, we take pride in having a consensus style of government where the Members on both sides are supposed to work together to achieve things for the benefit of all our people. When it works, Mr. Speaker, it is really the best form of government, in terms of giving the strongest voice to the smallest constituency of the Territories. But when it doesn't work, Mr. Speaker, it functions like nothing but a majority dictatorship, where the government knows it has the numbers, and they plough through with their agenda without listening to any input from the Members on this side or the concerned public out there. People are feeling like this is what is happening lately, whether it is the issue of the day care closing, or the nonchalant and no-big-deal attitude about moving money and projects on a political whim.

Mr. Speaker, in the whole debate about Novel housing, the Minister of Housing has the audacity to get up and say, that we have no home building capacity. No one in the North could do the job. He doesn't even care enough to take a few minutes to meet with local builders with proposals.

Mr. Speaker, I suggest the Minister and Cabinet get themselves a little bit of modesty and humbleness, and start listening to the people they are supposed to serve. Mr. Speaker, since the Novel housing issues were raised in this House, I have received at least three calls from people in the North who say they can do the job. There is a business in Hay River, for example, who is actually building trailers and exporting to northern Alberta. He submitted a proposal to the Housing Minister and the Premier last year and has not heard a thing; not even a thank you note.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this government to start acting like a responsible and a responsive government, not an arrogant dictatorship of majority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Members can see, we have a lot of people in the gallery today. We have about 60 students from William MacDonald.

---Applause

I cannot name all of them, but I know they are all very special. They are a Grade 7 social studies class, Mrs. Gale Martin's class, and someone well known in this House, Mr. Radcliffe's Grade 7 class. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize Pat, my foster doll Pat from Tuk, who is sitting there with Cathy Olson. Also in the gallery, although I can't see her, is Lynda Sorensen, who is well known in the Assembly, a former Member from Yellowknife. She is visiting her family in the city. I think she is in the gallery. I would like to welcome everybody to the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize some visitors from the Alzheimer's Society of Alberta and the Northwest Territories: Linda Henry; Mabel Collinson; Lib Lowing; and Esther Braden. Welcome. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

I, too, would like to welcome all the youth who are here today. It is great to see people, that generation, paying attention to what is going on in here. I would very much like to welcome the folks from the other spectrum of the generation...

---Laughter

...our seniors. It is just a great pleasure to welcome my mother, Esther Braden.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a long-term community resident and leader, and now a resident of Weledeh, Ruth Spence.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to introduce someone in our gallery from Inuvik, Ms. Meeka Kisoun, with her baby.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anybody in the gallery today, welcome to the Legislative Assembly. It is always nice to see a full gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.