Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that the money might be a factor in something like this, but putting that aside I would like to get a more clear picture from the Minister as to what the GNWT's position is as to what this National Childcare Program should look like. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT, like most jurisdictions, is willing to accept the accountability provisions as long as there is adequate money. The problem we face right now is if the money flows to us through the CST and comes only in a per capita basis, the costs to report on what we are doing would take up an awful lot of the amount of money that we would get. As Members of this House know, if we get funding flowed to us on a solely per capita basis, we will not get enough money to make a significant difference in the childcare field. So our position is that there has to be base funding plus a per capita, and we're asking for base funding of .51 percent, which would amount to about $5 million. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I would like to know if the Minister was to get the money that he's looking for or somewhere near to that, what is the plan of this government in terms of putting in its own money? Is there any plan for the government to put in its own money? I'll leave it at that for this question. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government already puts millions of dollars into early childhood programs and we will continue to invest in early childhood. Whether or not we would increase our funding is something we would have to take a look at. Without knowing what the amount of money is that we're looking at, it's difficult to advance any plans. We are quite ready to move forward and we had hoped that we would get some signals from the federal government on Friday that would help us advance our plans so that we would be prepared to move things forward. The federal Minister has indicated that in all likelihood the money will ramp up. In other words, we won't start to see the money flow in equal amounts each year; it will be a gradual increase, which means that we will have some time to develop the plans to take advantage of the money as it starts to flow.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Your final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are so many questions to this and the details to work out and the debates to have, perhaps the Minister could make a statement in the House about where the government's position is. But in the interim, could I get the information from the Minister as to whether we're looking at a nationally run child day care program, or are we looking at tax benefits or are we looking at 50/50 funding? Putting aside the dollar commitments that the federal government is willing to give, because we do hear numbers flowing around, what is this government's position as to what this childcare program will look like that will best benefit the people of the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, childcare is an area of exclusive provincial and territorial responsibility. We're not talking about a national system, we're not talking about something that would be the same in all jurisdictions. For instance, Quebec already has a system that is the envy of everybody else in Canada and they're putting billions of dollars into that. Our system is starting from a different point, as is every other system in Canada. So what we're talking about is a program where the federal government would assist the provinces and territories to improve on the systems that we currently have. We've agreed on the vision as a national priority and what each of our systems should look like. Ours will continue to be an individual system and we will build on the strengths of the system that we have in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this goes back quite a few years, but there was a determination made sometime after the facility was built that it wasn't needed for the purpose it was designed. Therefore, it was no longer used. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister tell me what are the operating and maintenance costs associated with this facility? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, has just indicated to me that the mortgage payments are over $22,000 a month. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Yakeleya, supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister tell the Legislative Assembly what the department has considered for the use of this facility in Deline?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm aware of the interest in the region and in Deline for the use of that facility and, as a government, it's a facility that we built and we're funding to pay the mortgage on. We have looked at it with its potential for a long-term care facility and a number of months ago, as we were doing our review of facilities across the NWT, there was an initial review done of the facility where it was indicated to us that it would cost about $3 million to upgrade the facility to the current code and standards for a long-term care facility. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.