Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today we have heard over and over again on the great service that the NWT Literacy Council provides us in the Northwest Territories, building capacity in our communities through community-based training, professional development, community outreach, northern application learning resources, and research projects, Mr. Speaker. We have also heard, Mr. Speaker, over and over, that this government cannot or will not commit to saving this valuable resource. As I said in my Member's statement, Mr. Speaker, this issue is not about me. It's about the communities. This is very personal, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Premier, what has this government done to date to convey to the federal government our strong opposition to the recent literacy cuts? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said to an earlier question, I have written a fairly firm letter to the Prime Minister. Minister Dent has written to Minister Finley, and he has also spoken to Josee Verner, who is the Francophonie Minister. Mr. Speaker, we have written to them. I have spoken with Premiers on Monday about it. There was a conference call this morning as well where all the Premiers from across the country expressed concern. We have agreed that we will send a joint letter from all the Premiers to the Prime Minister asking him to reconsider this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all indicators suggest that the federal government will not change its mind with respect to its recent cuts in funding. In light of this, what strategies will this government put into place to show that literacy programming can continue uninterrupted for the benefit of Northwest Territories residents? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the support of all the Premiers, we will hope that the Prime Minister will show some consideration to this. I think the Member is right; up to now he has said that he's not going to step into it. But I think if we get a letter, that one is being drafted now, for the chair of the counsel and federation, then he may still be convinced.

Mr. Speaker, as well, as I said earlier, we are also asking our departments that have mandates within the areas that are affected to take a look at how we deliver our programs and are there ways of us being able to work with the groups like the Literacy Council or the French literacy group as well. Are there ways of us doing things a little bit differently? But, Mr. Speaker, we are really reluctant to just step in every time the federal government pulls out of something or they'll continue to do this to us all the time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while we're waiting for the three Premiers to develop a strategy for I guess it's the federal counterparts, I think it's important to highlight those individuals in the communities and also organizations if this government has consulted with those that are most impacted by these cuts, the aboriginal and small community governments. Have they contacted them? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, our government puts in about $2 million a year into literacy and we want to see if there's a way of doing this more effectively. In answer to the Member's question, yes, the Minister of Education has spoken to the executive director of the Literacy Council about this issue and we are continuing to be creative on how we can do I'll call it damage control in this particular case, and at the same time still try to convince the federal government to rethink what they're doing here. But we are putting $2 million to the Literacy Strategy. It is a fair bit of money and is there a way of us doing this more effectively. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we're on the right approach in dealing with this issue with the three Premiers. But at the same time, we also need to put more pressure on this issue, especially involving aboriginal government counterparts, in respect to the programs. Mr. Speaker, what programs measurement will this government take to deal with the 69 percent of aboriginal workforce, my constituents, my community members, my family, whose literacy skills are keeping them from benefiting from our current economic boom? What is the government's position?

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we're aware that there are a lot of people who do need literacy training and we are putting in, as I said, the $2 million to the Literacy Strategy. I don't know if that's enough or if we need more money in there. That's something we'll have to look at. We are continuing to deal with the federal government on it. Mr. Speaker, industry has also been a good partner. I think the Member raises a good point today and I think it's one that I'd like to take up on, and that is to talk to or communicate with some of the aboriginal leaders as well and to get them to support us in letters and verbally and so on in getting the federal government's attention on the need for literacy money, particularly in our jurisdiction. So, Mr. Speaker, I'll follow up on the aboriginal leaders. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess a question related to what I was talking about earlier in the week with respect to the affirmative action policy. But just to talk about housing and the importance of monitoring and assessing how the LHOs operate, the importance of monitoring and assessing how our education authorities are operating, how our health authorities are operating. I don't think that these duties and responsibilities that the government has to really take a grip of how much monitoring and assessing that we really need to continue to do at the regional level with every duty or responsibility that we hand down to the municipal level to ensure that there's good leadership being put in place and there's good governance ethics that are going to be followed and they're all in line with the civil society and with people's needs. I guess my question is to the Minister of Housing, the Honourable Joe Handley, with the universal agreements that the Housing Corporation has in place with the LHOs and there is a stipulation in there that the government has to monitor and assess the needs of the housing clients in the particular community. Is the emphasis going to be stronger over the next few years? I can look at the financial statements of an LHO and see some discrepancies and changes in monies moving around. People are complaining their houses aren't being repaired. Why? Well, if you look at it, the materials and supplies have been cut in half over the last two years. We didn't pick that up. That's why people are complaining and it all comes back to this House. I want a commitment from this government to put the message out there to the regional staff, to the superintendents, the DEAs...

Do you have a question, Mr. Villeneuve?

Can we be stronger in the monitoring and assessment side of government programs and services at the community level? Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, we can always be stronger on the assessment side or on any of the things that we deliver as a government, and certainly we have to respect and live within the terms of the universal partnership agreements that are there. Mr. Speaker, there are two things that I'm going to do. One is, I want to meet with all of the regional directors within the next few weeks to hear from them the kind of issues that they are running into at the community level and the regional level. Second, Mr. Speaker, I would like to meet with the leaders in the community to talk to them about having them take more responsibility, more ownership for the delivery of the programs at the community level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is good that the Minister responsible for Housing is going to bring this stuff to the forefront, but we hire policy analysts all the time. We hire program officers and all these different jobs that we look at government policies, guidelines, regulations. Why can't we hire people that specifically deal with monitoring and assessing particular duties and responsibilities that we pass down to the community level? Why can't we set the bar and say, okay, what are you guys doing on a monthly basis, on a daily basis? Why can't we get people that actually go into these communities, find out the issues with their LHOs, DEAs, with their health authorities, and deal with them on a regular basis instead of on an annual basis, semi-annual reports that come out? Can we do that? Can we hire more people that actually deal with our residents directly? Thank you.