Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister responsible will deal with the issues around any sole-sourcing of contracts in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member's statement, I'm quite sceptical that this type of activity doesn't take place government-wide. I'd like to ask the Premier if he'd examine sole source contracts and negotiated contracts. The government spends $60 million a year in a non-competitive fashion. I'd like them to have a look at this. Examine where those dollars are going out, especially on contracts that continue year after year after year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I personally don't have time to look at every contract that we issue as a government. We do look at the policy and the delegation and how that performs. Mr. Speaker, every year we table a contract registry which is available and Members can have a look at it, as well. It is available to all Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to get some assurance from the Premier. I'd like to ask him, given the fact that we have this audit that's come up from the former departments that I mentioned a minute ago, the current ITI department, we have this audit in place that clearly shows that contract administration was not followed for seven years. Seven years, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Premier to have a look at this. Does the Premier agree that we should investigate this further, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the review, the audit that was done that the Member refers to goes back a number of years. Since that time, there have been measures instituted. We have a contract registry now. The Minister responsible for the department is certainly having a good look at that report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement today spoke about the problems that some seniors and disabled people on fixed incomes are faced with when they are trying to maintain their homes. I suggested the government may want to consider a portable training program that could help homeowners look after their houses, using the Aurora College's housing maintainer program, as well as trades. So would the housing Minister consider instructing his department to look at the delivery of such a program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will definitely look at that. I mentioned in my statement the other day, we have the school program in Hay River, Fort Providence and Fort Smith through the college program. By developing a curriculum into the schools and offering the students the opportunity to construct these units, I think we already have a process in place and we should implement more of those programs into the communities. That is the goal I would like to meet. There is that proposal out there, and I think if we get more of the program taken up by other communities to do that through their education boards or councils, I think we can deliver those programs in other communities.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The housing maintainers truly are the backbone and backstop to the public housing out there to make sure that they're maintained well. Mr. Speaker, in communities that don't have contractors who can maintain furnaces, who can install windows, et cetera, those citizens have trouble, especially the seniors and disabled on fixed income. I would consider this a new backbone program created through a trailer training program that could go from region to region, including Yellowknife. So specifically to a trailer training program in concert with possibly the Aurora College housing maintainer program, would the Minister specifically look at instructing his department to look at the development of a program of that nature? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again I will commit to look at that. I do have to work in conjunction with my colleague from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment because we are talking about colleges and curriculum, and I think it's important that we do a joint effort here with regard to establishing such a program.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement earlier today, I spoke about the government making aboriginal languages its priority. A question to ECE would be, will the Minister please tell this Assembly, if aboriginal languages are, indeed, the priority of this government, Mr. Speaker, why is there no scope, or sequence, to support the language curriculum for aboriginal language instructors? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can say that we now require some accountability in the aboriginal language and culture funding from each of the education authorities, so we have outlined for them the kind of programming and support that we think they can use and still qualify for the funding. So we're expecting that in each region the activities will be different, but we have outlined, for the schools, what is acceptable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, Mahsi. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, given the urgency for language revitalization, can the Minister tell this Assembly when this necessary resource will be actually put into the hands of those teachers who desperately need it? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.