Thank you, Mr. Dent. Next on the list I have Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple of comments and maybe a quick question. I like the fact that the Apprenticeship Program has not been reduced. In fact, it's been increased and I think that's a good thing. The Social Work Program that was offered at Aurora College, I understand, was cancelled because there were only six applicants. I was wondering if any of these applicants were maybe given another opportunity to go to school somewhere else, even if it means south. There is a lack of social workers in the Northwest Territories. We have six people who want to be social workers I think we should do what we can to try and encourage them, even if it means offering them a chance to go to school in the South. We shouldn't lose them while they're interested, otherwise they may find other career options. That's all I've got for now, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We tried to encourage the people who had signed up for the Social Work Program this year to consider going to the Yukon College and taking the course there. We actually had somebody go and talk to the prospective students and encourage them. We only had an uptake of a couple, I think, that actually went. We are, again this year, going to work with Health and Social Services to try and put a renewed emphasis on recruiting people to enrol in the program. So we haven't given up on it, but we couldn't proceed with the course with that level of uptake. We will continue to work with them. Actually, I'm also advised now that some of the applicants had completed some of their first-year courses, so what the college did was agree to accept them into the second year of the program and will work with them to make sure that they get any missing courses filled in over a period of time, too.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. McLeod. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple of comments on this page here, with regard to the apprenticeship training, also. One of the things during my campaign, I was hoping, with regard to apprenticeship training, that we would utilize one of the base camps in Tuktoyaktuk and the people back home really liked that idea rather than flying to Inuvik. I know, earlier this year, I was going to make a presentation to the Aurora College Board of Governors, but apparently they cancelled that. I had a bunch of numbers for them to look at, but they've postponed that to a later time this month. I will continue to make my presentation to these guys.

I'm assuming on this page here, Mr. Chairman, that it has to do with apprenticeship training. Will this department consider any opportunities for apprenticeship training outside of Inuvik, to places like Tuktoyaktuk and utilize one of those camps? That's my question for now, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The training that's offered in Inuvik is pre-apprenticeship training. It's not the apprenticeship training. That's to help people get ready to pass the trades entrance exams. The college can certainly take a look at offering that in different places, so I would encourage the Member to continue discussing with the college the use of the facilities in Tuktoyaktuk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To give you a bit of history, although I'm sure you probably know it, back in the mid-70s to early '80s, when there was a lot of activity up in the Tuktoyaktuk area, there was a thing called Tuk Tech which was utilized by a lot of people in the region. At that time everything was worked out of Fort Smith, but some of the opportunities like fourth class power engineering and hotel trades, I guess, were offered at that time. They worked really well and I'm proud to say, Mr. Chairman, that under that program, I was one of the

lucky people to get my fourth class power engineering ticket.

So again, Mr. Chairman, the opportunity for a nice sized 200-man camp that can hold at least 40 students in the region was a very good opportunity. Right now in Inuvik, they just recently finished a new college there and they're talking about residences for the college for students coming from outside Inuvik. Rather than wait for something like that, I really think, Mr. Chairman, there's an opportunity to utilize one of the camps in Tuktoyaktuk; have the program set up and get the instructors that are available and their material and it's going to work. I know the Minister, when I indicated this to him, told me to push forward with it, but will that be a real big consideration under this program? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The college has the ability to determine where they run their programs. It's administered by a board and I think that they are quite interested in offering as many programs regionally as they can. To be honest though, they're somewhat challenged because the amount of money we're handing on to them has not increased; in fact, it has gone down over the years. So they are challenged to deliver any more programming than they otherwise would.

If the Member can demonstrate to them the economies that might occur by using the camps that may be available for very little cost in Tuktoyaktuk, then there may be some opportunities there. But it is going to have to be a college decision and it's going to have to be done within whatever resources they have, because we don't have any extra money at this point to hand on. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. I have Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to touch on a few areas. I couldn't swear I'm on the right page, but it seems like there's a fair amount of latitude here. I've had a couple of letters from constituents who are interested in the NWT Literacy Strategy funding and these folks are both involved in adult literacy. They have communicated to me that this funding goes to a very good purpose and sees some very good results in our communities. I would like to ask the Minister for his commitment to Literacy Strategy funding and ask him if the budget for this item has been impacted by this year's main estimates. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe that, in terms of literacy funding, the only difference is the $300,000 that I mentioned earlier that has been cut from literacy funding. That funding was in a program called Workplace Literacy. It was a program that was application-based for employers to make application to provide literacy training in the workplace. It was not being accessed, so we have cut the program by the amount of funds that were being lapsed.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Then the Minister could confirm, through you, Mr. Chairman, that the other literacy funding has not been reduced for this upcoming fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If you'd look at the top of page 9-27, you'll see literacy funding. You'll notice that the difference between the 2004-05 main and revised estimates and the main estimates for 2005-06 is $300,000. That's the $300,000 I spoke about.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The other thing I wanted to question the Minister about is the formula funding that has been established for schools on a per-student basis and other things that are taken into account. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to ask the Minister when the formula funding was established. What year was it established in? When is the last time it was reviewed? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The School Planning and Resource Committee, or SPARC, meets annually, at least, to review the formula and propose changes or modifications to the formula. So it is regularly reviewed. I can't tell you when the formula was first put in place, but the membership on SPARC includes representatives from the divisional education councils. So the superintendents typically are involved in discussing the formula. Everybody knows we have a certain amount of dollars and the discussion is then how to best allocate it. That's the committee where the decisions are recommended from.