Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in light of the proposed pipeline and other resource development that is happening in the Northwest Territories, we are encouraging our students and young people in communities all over the Northwest Territories to get an education. What plans does he have in terms of getting some extra funding and making sure that all people are eligible to apply for these types of funds that are meant to be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The college offers upgrading programs in almost every community in the Northwest Territories. It is largely through their work that we are able to have our residents upgraded and ready to get into college. So the government does still provide a lot of assistance to that. Also in the Northwest Territories right now, we do have for residents, particularly along the Mackenzie River, access to funding through the ASEP program which will help NWT residents get training to be able to take on jobs in the oil and gas industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister doing in terms of getting the University and College Entrance Program funding that would include the M‚tis to fit in these criteria in terms of applying for that funding? What are the conditions that we need to hear on this side to get people to be eligible for this funding, especially the M‚tis who are looking for some type of support for that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will continue to pressure the federal government to recognize what they themselves say. They say that aboriginal people include M‚tis people, and yet they are discriminating in this program by not allowing M‚tis people to apply. So I will continue to pressure the federal government and work to try and have them recognize that they must change the rules to allow M‚tis people to also access this money, and that they should put more money in so that all of the status people who are applying to it can be served. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is correct. I support it 100 percent in terms of going after the federal government to set the record straight that M‚tis are included as aboriginal people. Can the Minister commit to a time frame to finally let them know that M‚tis people can apply and are eligible for this University and College Entrance Program? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't commit because it is a federal program. It is not one that we offer. We deliver the program in order to make it easier for people to access it in the Northwest Territories. But I will commit to advising the standing committee, by the time we get into business plans, the results of the latest communication that I have with the federal government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the numbers that Mrs. Groenewegen has used do not include, in some cases, health boards in the calculation of those. For the overall reduction scenarios that we are facing and positions that we are moving from the public service through the reduction exercise are approximately 70.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, 70 reductions planned. I have recited in this House numerous times and I don't need to do it again today. Prior to the reinstatement of the court registry, Hay River was scheduled for 43.5 positions reduced in one community. Out of the 70 government-wide, Hay River was going to have 43.5, until we pulled seven back from the brink. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Finance Minister what kind of reasoning, with regard to fairness and not causing hardship in our community, is applied when these kinds of things are considered. Was it something even discussed in the Cabinet? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, of the 70 positions, 45 are not identified as Hay River. Mrs. Groenewegen is obviously including the casual positions into that equation. What we have counted as 70 positions are full-time positions. Either they have persons working there or vacant positions. In our numbers it is approximately 27 that Hay River is losing out of this scenario.

While I won't go into what discussions Ministers had around the table, the scenarios that were brought forward by each Minister and the department were discussed. Concerns were raised either requesting the Minister to come back with more information or more detail for further consideration. There was no direction given to pinpoint or select one community for taking the majority of reductions.

Unfortunately, in the Department of Justice's case, the facilities that are under that department hit a number of communities, the larger ones, and those reduction scenarios brought forward unfortunately impact the community of Hay River the most. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker it is just a little more than unfortunate, I must say, given the already relatively low number of public service jobs in Hay River; I believe there are only 281, excluding the health board positions. If you look at it on a percentage, in fact, the government was looking at almost

20 percent of the government jobs in Hay River in one fell swoop, in one year.

To keep my supplementary question brief, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Finance Minister, when he laid out the reductions that were going to be attempted to be achieved over the next three years, is it not true in fact that after the first year, given the new fiscal picture, there will not be the depth of cuts anticipated for the next two years, after this first year's exercise because of new fiscal factors? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the scenario we entered into as Members of the 15th Assembly, with the fiscal forecast as it was, we laid out our fiscal strategy which included three years of reductions. The first budget we brought in had a $10 million capping of government expenditures plus own source revenues of $10 million.

This is our second piece of that. There is a $20 million reduction scenario that we are looking at and year three of the plan would bring another $20 million in reduction. With our fiscal picture changing as it is, we may not need to see any large-scale reductions coming in the third year. This is the second year of our budget, following through with the capping growth of government at about $26 million.

When we first laid out the plan, our fiscal picture was much more difficult than it is now. As we have it now, it is getting somewhat better, but we still have to be prudent in how we manage our programs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.