Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the ideal situation for people who have a high income is to get into homeownership. We do have programs out there to deal with that. The Member is right. The way that we assess income is on household income. If one person is working in the mine, or someone has a seasonal job, you will see a major increase in the amount of rent that you are paying. The ideal solution to this problem is to get people into homeownership through our EDAP programs, or IHP programs, that we have in the department to ensure that people get into homeownership. That is the whole goal of the department, to get people out of social housing and allow the social housing to be there for social clients and the people making the high income, by way of working in the mines and that, to get them into homeownership. That is the goal we would like to meet, and what I have been trying to do working with the communities in the North Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, one of the questions that I would like to ask the department is, we have community members that have been living in social units for a number of years, some of them over 15 years. I am wondering if the department is open to transferring these older units over to renters so that they can take ownership of the units. What the Minister is telling us here is that they qualify for homeownership, but some cannot qualify due to the $200,000 houses, but these old units, 15 years or older, could be easily transferred over to community members. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have such a program in the public housing initiative which allows the clients in public housing to take over the unit that they are in, based on an appraisal done on the unit, how many years they have stayed in it, and how much they have paid in rent. There is going to be an evaluation done within the corporation.

We have done appraisals on different units in different communities, so that we allow this program to take place. But if the Member knows of clients in this situation, I am willing to sit down with him, and with my department, to see if they are able to acquire those units through our Public Housing Purchase Program for the individuals in those units to purchase those units that they have lived in for a number of years, and we are basically doing the appraisal of those units. They will take it on at a lower rate, instead of trying to build a new stick-built building where you are looking at $200,000 to $250,000 mortgage. The program is there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the fact that the Minister is willing to sit down and talk about transferring these units. The Minister also touched on the evaluation being done. I am just wondering when that evaluation is being done for the Tlicho region. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do an assessment on most of our properties in all the communities. We have a rating of all of the social housing that we have, and we know exactly what the rating is. If they have a high rating where we are looking at, we can get that for the Member, for the North Slave region, but also realizing that we have to work with the clients to ensure that we are able to find solutions to these problems. I have been working with the Member and the Tlicho Government, and I am willing to do a tour with the Tlicho Government, along with the MLA, to all the Tlicho communities, and hope to be able to discuss these types of issues, realizing that...

---Laughter

With that, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with the Member, and also giving him the information that he requested. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, working with the Member and the Tlicho Government and the people in the Tlicho and finding solutions to the Member's questions.

---Laughter

---Applause

Time for oral questions has expired. Item 11, petitions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 10, replies to opening address, on the Order Paper.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to return to Item 10, replies to opening address on the Order Paper. Are there any nays? There are no nays. We will return to item 10, replies to opening address. Mr. Dent.

Mr. Dent's Reply

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are all politicians here, and I think that we understand that this august House is also a theatre, where the public and other members are the audience. The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes made the point very well, earlier this afternoon.

Mr. Speaker, like the theatre, not everything that happens here is straightforward and sometimes, without context, people might be left wondering what is really going on. Our process here doesn't always lead to opportunities to respond and provide that balance. For instance, Ministers aren't able to jump up and respond to Members' statements, or in oral questions, your time is limited and you must be respectful of people who aren't here and are unable to defend themselves. It doesn't always lead to a good understanding of what we are actually doing here.

I would like to take this opportunity today, Mr. Speaker, to address a few issues. This week, Mr. Speaker, Ms. Lee has continually questioned me over the impending closure of one day care in the Northwest Territories; she has been very aggressive in her questions. In many cases, for me to provide direct answers, would have required me to get into a level of detail that I don't think would be fair in this very public forum.

As you, Mr. Speaker, and previous Speakers, have ruled, we should be very careful about referring to individuals in this forum, and I take the position that we should have similar respect for small non-profits, where all involved can be easily identified. I, therefore, felt somewhat constrained in responding to this issue. I have tried to take a broad view, agreeing that we need to improve our system and be fair to all operators.

Mr. Speaker, balance would be nice in how our responses are measured. On October 18th, Ms. Lee asked the Premier about the possible closure of the day care, and he responded, and I quote from Hansard on October 18, 2005:

Point of order, Ms. Lee.

Point Of Order

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understood that replies to opening address is an opportunity for Members to raise issues that are of concern to their constituents, not an opportunity for a Minister to make statements about his responsibilities as a Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The Chair will allow debate on the point of order. To the point of order. Ms. Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know if this situation has ever arisen, where a reply to opening address by a Minister is being used as a forum to respond to his responsibilities as a Minister. I thought that he had to speak as the Member for Frame Lake, not as a Minister of ECE. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. To the point of order, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I understand it, a reply to opening address is for the Members to take the opportunity to address issues of concern to them. I would point out that the Member opposite has used her reply to opening address to criticize me in my position as a Minister. I have no other opportunity in this House to respond to that kind of criticism, than through the replies to opening address.

Minister's statements are required to be about one topic, and are limited to areas of responsibility of the Minister. I want to address the issues that the Member has brought up under her reply to opening address, and I am not aware of any other opportunity for us to do that in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. To the point of order, the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I see it, under section 41(1), "Every Member may make one reply to the opening address given under Rule 33 and may speak on any matter." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was about to quote the Premier's reply to Ms. Lee's question about day care on October 18, 2005, "Mr. Speaker, we want to be careful with what we do, that we are not providing an unfair advantage or amount of money for one day care that we are not giving to others."

Mr. Speaker, the position of this government is one that we must be fair and equitable to all people and all organizations in the Northwest Territories. That's our government policy. Yet, Ms. Lee has singled me out for criticism, and being incompetent for taking that approach in this issue.

Mr. Speaker, on another issue just today, the Workers' Compensation Boards across the country have been set

up similarly to follow the Meredith principles. These are a non-profit, generally, no-fault insurance companies responsible to their stakeholders, employees and workers. They have all been set up so as to eliminate political interference. That means the government can't get its hands on the accident fund or direct investments of the board. That's been found to be a good process across the country.

Mr. Speaker, here in the Northwest Territories, we have similar legislation. The Minister's powers are limited. The Minister is responsible for administering the act; the Governance Council for operations. Ms. Lee, today, criticized me for not interfering in the operation of the board. Mr. Speaker, in most jurisdictions, interference of the sort that Ms. Lee proposed would cost the Minister their position. I can just see the headlines now: "The Minister interferes to force WCB to favour one landowner over another." Of course, Mr. Speaker, there may be some who hope I make that kind of mistake and lose my position on Cabinet.

Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the hard work of Education, Culture and Employment departmental staff. Their dedication to the delivery of education and training services is remarkable, and I appreciate their daily efforts. There are a number of significant initiatives this government has undertaken, and Education, Culture and Employment staff have participated not only in a cooperative way, but often taking on a leadership role. I am proud of efforts made by staff to be respectful of their clients, to hear the concerns of communities and parents to respond to needed changes to our support programs, and to be innovative and creative. Both at headquarters and in many of our communities, ECE staff should be commended for their efforts. I would also like to thank my ministerial staff for supporting me, trying to keep me organized, and rarely telling me what I want to hear, but often telling me what they think I need to hear.

Mr. Speaker, when a Minister is called incompetent, as I have been, there is an opportunity for that Minister to refute that accusation by words and actions. I have always been a fan of actions speaking louder than words, although I have been accused by many in this House of using too many words.

When the accusation of incompetence is repeated over and over again, it starts to become more challenging for staff who are working for the Minister, and are, perhaps, unable to understand the subtleties of political life. Mr. Speaker, I am not afraid to stand up and take the heat for decisions I have made. I also believe I have treated Members fairly and respectfully, even when we've disagreed. I am not afraid to admit when I have made a mistake, and I am not afraid to say that we need to continue to make changes to our programs.

There are some, though, who say, when we have a disagreement, that I become robotic or too polite. It isn't in my nature to get emotional when I disagree with somebody. I want to be careful to make sure that I am hearing what they have to say, that I can hear the arguments, and that I can respond rationally, because I don't think that getting caught up in an emotional argument is the best way to pursue things. Too often, when that happens, when somebody is accused of making a mistake, they dig their heels in and they are afraid to admit a mistake has been made, and you wind up just fighting over that. I don't want to get into that position, Mr. Speaker.

I think we all have to be here to make sure we are representing our constituents across the Northwest Territories, and try to make this a better place for all. Mr. Speaker, I have often made this offer to the MLAs, and I will reiterate it here: my door is always open. I welcome your comments. I welcome you criticism. I welcome your suggestions for change to programs. I am prepared to work with you. I won't always agree with you, and we may not always be able to come to an agreement on how the program should change, but I will listen to you, and I promise to respond. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause