Good morning, Members. Welcome back to the House. Orders of the day. Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. February 2nd to the 9th is Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Week in the Northwest Territories. This is a week when we celebrate the achievements of our northern apprentices and we thank our partners in business and industry for the investment they make in training.

A skilled and productive workforce would not be possible without the time and commitment of northern employers. Employers provide work opportunities so apprentices can develop the wide range of skills they will need to be successful journeypersons.

This week, we recognize apprentices and occupational candidates from all regions of the Northwest Territories. In particular, awards will be given to the individuals with the highest marks in their trades or occupations.

The current economy and growing resource development provides the North with many opportunities, but there are also challenges we must address if northerners are to successfully access the new jobs. Newly created jobs require highly skilled labour. Training and certifying northerners in designated trades or occupations is essential to ensure future development benefits northerners first. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is addressing this need by continuing to strengthen its commitment to apprenticeship and occupational certification.

Currently, over 450 people are registered as apprentices or candidates for occupational certification in the Northwest Territories. During the 2004-2005 academic year, 64 apprentices completed their apprenticeships and 43 were awarded in the Inter-provincial Red Seal.

This means their qualifications are recognized in every province and territory in Canada. Another 46 northerners have been certified in designated occupations. I expect those receiving certification will be an important part of our territory's future.

In the coming year, the department will continue to support the Schools North Apprenticeship Program and to develop new high school courses to better prepare students for trades and other skilled occupations. A revised building Trades Helper Program will provide youth with exposure to construction trades in order to move into apprenticeship or to work as skilled labour on jobsites. We will also be introducing Ready to Work North, a job readiness program that provides essential employability skills for those entering the workforce. Mr. Speaker, these programs, along with the Deal Yourself In marketing campaign launched in the fall, demonstrates the ongoing commitment to support the trades and occupations in the Northwest Territories.

As well, we will continue to support innovative community-based activities that give students hands-on experience with the trades. For example, in several communities, students build small houses for elders with materials provided by the NWT Housing Corporation and with training from the college and schools.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment will continue to work closely with the Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupational Certificate Board, Aurora College, and industry to work on new initiatives to meet labour market and skills training demands.

I hope everyone will join me in the Great Hall on Thursday, February 9th at 11:30 to celebrate the success of our apprentices and occupational candidates from across the Northwest Territories and to thank our partners in business and industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ministers' statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Michael Miltenberger will be absent from the House today to attend a Canada Northwest FASD meeting in Edmonton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today is on the government's involvement in childcare services in Yellowknife. As we are all aware,

Yellowknife is a very expensive city to live in. Most parents have to rely on day care and day homes to provide childcare because, in most cases, both parents have to work in order to pay the mortgage, the rent and other household costs.

I believe that government has an obligation to parents to ensure that there is adequate space and that there is a level playing field. It has come to my attention that there is not a level playing field in Yellowknife. I have a number of questions surrounding why this is the case. Day cares all receive the operator subsidy, which is dependent upon the number of spaces that they provide. There is a day care association in Yellowknife that operates from what I understand is a government-owned facility. This is not their own fault; just the reality.

I still do not understand who really does own the building. I think the GNWT owns it, but I am not quite sure. Does the GNWT own the building or does the association own the building? The reason I raise this issue is I know Public Works and Services pays all the maintenance costs, property taxes, et cetera, on the building and the association only pays the utility costs. There is no rent paid to a landlord, no property taxes paid and, like I said, I am not certain who actually owns the building.

My point is that the Government of the Northwest Territories does not treat all day care facilities fairly. There are other day cares in the city of Yellowknife that also get the operator subsidy, have to pay rent, they have to pay maintenance and utility costs and everybody has fixed costs for teachers.

I would just conclude by saying that whatever we can provide day cares is a great investment in the future. I believe that it is time to be fair to all day care providers, and I would encourage the Government of the Northwest Territories to address the inequities that have been created. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time on today's Order Paper, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Charles Dent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today about the high cost of doing business in the Northwest Territories, especially for the small businesses in the city, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when people see a long line-up for coffee at Tim Horton's or in one of the many popular mom and pop restaurants around town, people assume they must be raking in the money. Many of them are bringing in good revenue and some of the franchises are breaking national records, but, Mr. Speaker, the cost of doing business is taking away most of their profit margins making them wonder if they should continue to work 24/7 just to see more and more of their revenue be taken away by one government agency or another.

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot this government can do to ease the burden on this situation, and they are very disappointed that the latest budget did not have much in that regard. Mr. Speaker, according to the pre-budget submission by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, which works with about 230 small businesses in the North, says that the top five business burdens and business killers include a total tax burden, shortage of qualified labour, government regulations and paper burden, and ever skyrocketing WCB premiums. Mr. Speaker, WCB premiums, I can tell you, have almost tripled in the last three years, which is an issue I am going to be deal with at a separate time. Mr. Speaker, I would like to see this government reduce all of these burdens as soon as possible and I will be calling it to task during this session.

The shortage of labour, Mr. Speaker, is a huge issue. I was talking to one of the mom and pop restaurants. She was complaining that she had to go through 79 employees in the last year, and she was talking about that to a more high-end restaurant business in Yellowknife who came back to say he had to hire 250 employees just to see them go. It is a huge problem and it's about time the government spends more time trying to address that issue. If we spent as much time as we do on looking after ATCO...sorry, the Novel housing, for the small businesses, I think we might see some equity and equal opportunities for small businesses, as well as the big ones. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to raise some concern about the policies and actions of our government regarding the secondary diamond industry and see if we can find out where this government is going with regard to supporting this increasingly valuable industry.

In 1998, Mr. Speaker, a policy framework called Support to the Diamond Processing and Manufacturing Policy was approved, and since then, our government has been very aggressive on trying to build a secondary diamond industry, get some value from this resource, particularly since we don't get any direct royalty benefit from it, at least not yet, Mr. Speaker.

We've achieved a number of good things here. The Department of Education is to be congratulated for the world-renowned cutting and polishing courses it has developed. In 2002, our government certified the first Canadian Arctic diamond and launched a web site to promote this product. Industry has also shown its optimism by making investments here. Government has provided loan guarantees to help develop a secondary industry. Some of it has been very risky, very expensive, and some of it hasn't worked, but that's the cost of doing development.

We are also recognizing the tourism opportunities through another report called the Perfect Setting: Diamond Tourism in the NWT. We have the Rare in Nature campaign, and the National Round Table on Diamonds

was hosted in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker and an action plan for the Diamond Strategy was unveiled.

You know, we seem to be having some second thoughts about a few things of late, Mr. Speaker. What was known as the diamond projects unit has been shut down and functions of it have been dispersed. In 2005, the Minister intended to withdraw and release official marks that we worked very hard to do so. He has since backtracked on that. We've also decided, Mr. Speaker, after showing tremendous leadership nationally, to withdraw from the National Diamond Strategy.

So while we have made great progress in obtaining some benefits from the secondary diamond industry, we are getting signals here that we don't really know where we are going. That's what I am going to be asking the Minister about later on today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the housing situation in my constituency. During the past couple of weeks, I have been receiving inquiries about the quality of the trailers that were delivered to Deninu Kue and Lutselk'e as part of the market initiative this government has, and the quality of the onsite setup.

Some of these concerns are that the trailers have been about ice forming on the inside of all the windows. This has been a mild winter, Mr. Speaker. People are saying that during a normal minus 30 degree winter, these windows would be complete blocks of ice. Water lines are continuously freezing up, and the floors are cold and the furnaces are always running.

Issues on site setup are on issues of levelling, or lack of, Mr. Speaker. The trailers are not sitting firmly on their foundations. Tenants are saying that the whole trailer shakes when people are either coming up or going down the front steps of their houses. The trailer also vibrates and shakes when the washing machines are on spin cycle.

Mr. Speaker, I will reiterate the fact that the Housing Corporation has to be more diligent when it comes to overseeing the development of our housing projects in our northern environment. This exercise will enable our public dollars to be used for more things like education, health or infrastructure, and not for constant or continuous repairs to many of our new housing units, Mr. Speaker. Then there are repairs on these repairs, as is often the case.

Mr. Speaker, many times we have to be the big brother looking over someone's shoulder to ensure that the proper procedures and standards are adhered to from start to finish in all our housing projects, so that our new homeowners can be confident that the huge lifetime investment that this government wants them to commit to will be really worth what they are really willing to pay for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to raise an issue with regard to the Sachs Harbour water plant upgrade. In the summer of 2004, the Department of Public Works and Services contracted out the water plant upgrade in Sachs Harbour. Mr. Speaker, the Hamlet of Sachs Harbour, on numerous occasions, complained of problems with the pipeline freezing up over the 2004-2005 season, thereby the employees having to drill a hole in the lake to withdraw water for the community.

Mr. Speaker, this may have been okay in the 1970s and '80s, but here we are in 2006 where the hamlet employees once again have to drill holes to withdraw their water.

Mr. Speaker, I received notice on Monday, February 6, 2006, that the water intake, once again, froze on January 30, 2006. The hamlet has been more than patient since the upgrade started in December of 2004. On my recent trip to Sachs Harbour, January 9th to 12th, and on my subsequent return to Yellowknife, I spoke briefly with the Minister of Public Works and Services about the problems the hamlet was encountering with regard to the water treatment plant and the freezing of the intake pipeline.

Mr. Speaker, knowing that there were freezing problems over the winter of 2004-2005, and the department having to travel to Sachs Harbour on numerous occasions to identify the specific problem, what initiatives to date has the department taken to rectify the problem? Mr. Speaker, we are in early 2006 and the problem of freezing has already been encountered in the water intake. When will the department, once again, once and for all, fix the water intake problem? At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the appropriate Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, negotiated contract policies in the North are colonial, inadequate, and out of touch with the growing dynamics and needs of the Northwest Territories, especially in the small and remote communities with considerable aboriginal populations.

Our negotiated policy, Mr. Speaker, is from a colonial and paternalistic past wherein the all-powerful Commissioner, by his grace, allowed communities to negotiate a contract without a competitive bid process.

Communities I represent, Mr. Speaker, indicate they wish to be primary beneficiaries of government contracts that affect their community. This is possible by instituting a public program similar to the federal aboriginal Set-Aside

Program that allows departments to enter into local contracts with aboriginal communities and businesses.

The federal government's aboriginal Set-Aside Program has been in existence for the past 10 years. I would like to take this opportunity to explain that it provides opportunities to aboriginal suppliers and contractors. The opportunities we are talking about are not just peanuts, Mr. Speaker. In 1997, 3,200 aboriginal businesses were awarded $44 million and recently, 2004, 6,000 aboriginal businesses were awarded $245 million. Programs like this greatly assist community economic development initiatives and capacity building.

This government should have similar procurement strategies for aboriginal businesses for communities with almost all aboriginal population, as it is absurd to award a contract to non-local or southern businesses with no aboriginal ownership, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the appropriate Minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi cho.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Members' statements. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to talk more about the trades certificate program in our region. There is a high interest from all leaders going and taking the initiatives to get our younger people into an education where there are programs out there that support people going into trades, upgrading their education skills, and taking the Apprenticeship Program. Even the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has a few programs with the Apprenticeship Program, offering industry and other private organizations in the construction business to take on these journeymen. However, Mr. Speaker, it seems that there is a gap between companies not really willing to take on the apprenticeship of a young person from a region, or they seem to have some difficulties in finding work. There seems to be some level of playing field that we are not on equal footing with, as with other people. We had some people from my region be deferred, as they call it, because there is not an uptake from Imperial or other oil and gas companies that outside of that came into the Sahtu and got a job just like that with the Apprenticeship Program. It seems that there is not an equal playing field for our tradespeople. There are a lot of people taking the Apprenticeship Program. However, there seems to be a gap in terms of how we get these people placed with these industries and organizations that make our successful program in terms of the leadership in education.

I am not too sure, Mr. Speaker, in terms of these impact benefit agreements, how strong they are, because we seem to be running up against labour laws that seem to override these IBA agreements, and these labour laws seem to put more weight into these workforces that they want to hit with the impact benefit agreements. I will ask the Minister what they are looking at in the future. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this week is Apprenticeship Week in the Northwest Territories. Given the nature of our economy and the importance of the trades, it is fitting that we give apprenticeship a high profile.

Mr. Speaker, the unprecedented economic growth that we have been seeing, and will continue to see in the future, would not have been and will not be possible without the essential work provided by tradespeople in this territory. In the next several years, the demand for apprenticeship and trades jobs will be larger and will increase at a faster rate than any other sector in the NWT. In 2005, we had approximately 800 individuals working in trades jobs. By 2008, 2,900 people are projected to be working in the trades. This is an increase of 265 percent. Mr. Speaker, in order to meet this demand and ensure that northerners can take advantage of this incredible opportunity, we must continue to develop tradespeople and support apprenticeship and occupational certification programs here in the Northwest Territories. These are critical strategic investments. What good are a strong resource development industry and a strong economy if we do not make sure that northern residents get the most out of the diamond mines, oil and gas development and other projects?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate every NWT resident that has completed, or is currently completing, an apprenticeship program. I would also offer encouragement to all those who have similar aspirations. We need you to make our vision of a strong and prosperous NWT a reality.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to congratulate the Hay River residents who received special recognition for their outstanding achievement in their area of work and study. They are Don Carriere of Hay River with Kingland Ford Mercury Sales automotive service technician; Cory Tybring in floor covering installing with Wesclean Northern Sales; Michael Buhler heavy duty mechanic with Finning Canada in Hay River; and Peter Lagan in Hay River with BHP Diamonds as an industrial instrument technician. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to make mention of the fact that the top two of the three top graduating apprentices in the Northwest Territories this year are from Hay River: Peter Lagan and Jason Young.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many Hay River businesses who are in the private sector, but participate in the Apprenticeship Program and sponsor these young people to realize their aspirations in the area of trades and occupations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, much of the history of the aboriginal people is through storytelling that is passed on from generation to generation. A hundred years from now, I would like to see our descendents tell a story of the brave Members of the 15th Legislative Assembly. They can speak of the Assembly, lead by Premier Handley and Finance Minister Floyd Roland, getting a deal from Ottawa that gave us our resource revenue sharing deal. This deal allowed them to enjoy the benefits that they have today: billions of dollars in our trust fund, Mr. Speaker. Not only that, the story would continue with Minister McLeod and MLA Pokiak leading the way in constructing an all-weather road from Wrigley to Tuk and then on to Paulatuk. They can tell of how it dropped the cost of living down. They can also speak on the housing mandate still being worked on.

---Laughter

They can tell of all the buildings in Inuvik still standing 100 years from now. Years from now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to see the people still talking about this Assembly and not being forgotten in two years. We have to give people years from now...We are on the verge of something big here and we can do something big for the Northwest Territories, so let's leave some history that people can speak about years from now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to talk about my concern with the Premier's letter to the producers, also known as our letter of comfort. At the very least, Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out a few things. The first one is certainty. The Premier's letter was structured to define some certainty, a level playing field and a clear understanding of what is going to happen in the GNWT, the Northwest Territories for the producers. But, at the end of the day, I am concerned because Imperial Oil fired a shot over the NWT's bow and we didn't just surrender; we truly waved the white flag and said take whatever you want.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote off the letter, "It is not the intention of the GNWT to introduce or support any new, targeted tax or royalty changes..." Why would we give that away, Mr. Speaker? Why would we tell them up front that we are not going to do this? This should be something in our play book that is kept secret until that time is necessary. Mr. Speaker, this letter is now a policy statement, whether we like it or not. So any future discussion about taxes, Imperial Oil is going to come forward to us and hold this framed letter up and say, well, geez, Mr. Premier-of-the-day, the past-Premier, Joe Handley, had said that we weren't going to raise any taxes. And, by the way, we wouldn't have spent $7 billion if we didn't know what the market was going to be up there. So, Mr. Speaker, this is not just a feel good statement. It is possibly a moment-defining policy statement for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue to quote, "In the absence of such an agreement," it says the GNWT wants you to communicate your agreement with Canada with us. So in other words, the GNWT has begged on bended knee for a tell us clause. So whatever Imperial Oil discussed with the federal government, it says tell us, just because we don't know what we are doing. We want to make sure that we are in on the deal.

Mr. Speaker, it's been said a number of times that this agreement can't tie our hands. Yes, it's even spelled out in this. But I'm telling you, Mr. Speaker, that I'm really concerned. It should have never been written. If we needed to write an agreement or send them a letter to make them feel good, we should have sent them a letter that basically said we will have responsible and fair taxing measures in the Northwest Territories, not unlike any other region in Canada. We will be responsible and sensitive to the lay of the land. So, Mr. Speaker, we did not have to go so far and spell it out that we would not impose any fiscal measures by adding taxes, or imply that in any way. I will have questions later for the happy Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Oral questions. Before I go on to oral questions, Members, I'd just like to draw your attention to the rules that you have set for oral questions, and that is that your questions are to be allowed one preamble and then keep your supplementary questions very brief as far as preamble is concerned. I would just ask Members to keep those rules in mind when you're asking your questions. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are on the need to lessen the burden of doing business for small communities, as I stated in my Member's statement, and my question goes to the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, I hope the Premier and Cabinet take comfort with that letter of comfort that they sent Imperial Oil. Now that we know their last-quarter profit was a record-breaking $1 billion. That's just the first quarter. I could see that this government is very anxious to give them a comfort letter, and the government is mobilizing their effort to give a let up to ATCO to get their $297 million housing project. Now I think I'd like to see some comfort on the part of this government to the small business. The Minister's of Finance budget had a mention of small businesses on page 7, Mr. Speaker, where it speaks to the fact that...The Minister states that at four percent, the small business taxation is competitive. What I can tell you, from the information from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which I believe was forwarded to Mr. Roland, it was an open letter to him and the Premier, it says that our 12 percent is not competitive. Actually, our rate is not competitive with our neighbours in Nunavut, Alberta and British Columbia, and it should really be at 12 percent. The Minister indicates that he working on a new plan for small businesses; I'd like to know if he can indicate to this House what that might be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the small corporate tax rate that we have in the Northwest Territories is one of the lowest in Canada. In fact, our small business corporate tax rate is at four percent. Ms. Lee mentioned 12 percent. That is referring to our large corporate tax rate. It was 12 percent. We previously moved it up to 14 and have announced, through the budget address, that we're proceeding to move it down to 11.5. So the small business corporate tax rate is at four percent, and we are having some discussions about how we can support the small business. Is it do we keep that area around; do we look at other programs we have in place that support northern businesses to see if there's something we could do with that? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to suggest to the Minister that the time for discussing that might be coming to an end pretty soon here. This is his third budget and it is time for him to act as soon as possible, Mr. Speaker. One of the four things that the report mentions, in terms of the burden for small businesses, is the high taxation and a shortage of skilled labour, and some of the paper burden on the government which I think the government can really take leadership on. The WCB premium, I said it's tripled in the last three years, but it increased by 25 percent each of the last three years. I'd like to know if the Minister of Finance would undertake reviewing the burden on small businesses and come back to this side of the floor within the next couple of months so we could really take an action on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the area of small businesses and our support for them is something that we are looking at. As I stated in the budget address, we need to come up with a plan as to how do we pursue this area and try to ensure that the small businesses have, indeed, a foot up here in the Northwest Territories. We don't have a lot of information at this point. There's been some preliminary discussions, but it's something we will follow up on. As we go down that path, I'd be more than willing to sit down with members in committees to give them an update. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the different tax rate for the small businesses at four percent. I don't know if that is the competitive rate with our neighbours, which we often go by. The high cost of fuel and gas, and high cost of doing business in terms of hiring labour could be compensated by government's action of reducing costs in other areas, such as WCB. Could I ask the Minister to come back because I didn't hear a commitment from him? Could he commit to coming back with some solid package to this side of the table for discussion in the next two months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the areas, again, that we have been working on and considering around the small business and support for those have been more in the area of the small business corporate tax rate, which for the Northwest Territories is four percent. For Nunavut and the Yukon it is at four percent, as well. B.C. is 4.5 percent. Other jurisdictions go from five to as high as eight percent; Alberta being lower than us at three percent. But working towards trying to ensure small businesses have a good start here in the Northwest Territories. I had already committed; we are working on a package that we can bring back to Members of this House and look to see if that is enough in the ways of trying to provide the necessary support for small business. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and it gets back to my statement that I made earlier. I believe that it's incumbent upon the Government of the Northwest Territories to ensure that it provides help to all day cares and day care providers. Mr. Speaker, I'm not advocating that arrangements currently at play with providers be rescinded or altered; however, as a government, we cannot allow day cares to suffer through prohibitive operational expenses. If what one day care gets, in what my research dictates, an $80,000 advantage, then something has to be done for the others who need help. The first question I have for the Minister of ECE is whether or not he's aware of the inequities that exist amongst Yellowknife day care providers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm aware that this government does provide opportunities to non-profit groups to lease space in what are called charity

leases. So, yes, there are operators in Yellowknife who are taking advantage of space that they're not paying rent for, and that is providing some operators, I guess, with a bit of a leg up. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that's fair game. I think the government does do some of these charity leases and there are providers that operate out of government-owned facilities. But what I'd like to ask the Minister is if he recognizes these inequities, what are his plans to get more funding for other providers so that all have the same level of support and are working off the same page? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that in the last session, Mrs. Groenewegen asked if the government would look for places where we had opportunities for day cares to operate in government-owned facilities. So we did, with Public Works, undertake an examination of that. We have, in the past, made it a practice where there is space available to provide that space. So for instance, on the Hay River Reserve, the Aboriginal Head Start Program is operating in space there and isn't being charged rent. In Mildred Hall there's a Head Start Program this year that's not being charged rent. Our position has been that while this may not be totally equitable, it is a good use of public facilities to ensure that these good programs are able to run. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if the ones that are getting subsidized, are they for profit or are they not for profit? There is a distinction there. I would like the Minister to try to explain that distinction, profit or not profit. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the best of my knowledge, they are all non-profit associations that are in government-owned space. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for Charles Dent, the honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. A number of weeks back, the Hay River DEA provided a petition to the Minister seeking an alternative funding and government structure for the provision of education services in Hay River and for that DEA to oversee those services in a different way. That petition has been in the Minister's hands for a little while now. I would like, for the benefit of viewers and the people of Hay River, for the Minister to describe the process which he is undertaking to assess that petition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since receiving the petition, I have had a summary of the points set out in the petition prepared by the department and sent out to what we considered to be stakeholders and anybody else who has contacted the department since the petition was tabled with me, asking for them to respond formally to the points set out in the petition.

We have included a bit of a survey form with the letter making it easy for people to respond. We are hoping to have the final responses received. We expected the final responses by either yesterday or today. I would then plan on taking 30 days to review the responses to that request for consultation. I would hope to be able to talk to the DEA sometime early in March.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister able to share with the House whether those responses that have come back in from stakeholders and interested parties have been favourable towards the DEA's petition and position on what they would like to see for Hay River? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to be careful about characterizing the responses in any one way because I haven't...I have been reviewing them as they come in. I am not sure that my memory would be a valid tool to use right now to say that they were mostly one way or mostly another. I think it would be fair to say

that a number that have been received have expressed concerns about issues that the petition raises. There is a real concern around the fiscal area from the communities that are part of the DEC that are outside of the Hay River DEA. I would say that those are probably the biggest issues that have been raised today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if, in response to the Hay River petition, he is going to consider the petition on its own merit and the responses to the outline that he has put out there for Hay River only, or is he going to also include in that what kind of a precedent this may set for other DEAs and DECs throughout the Northwest Territories in terms of governance, the implications for other governance models in the Northwest Territories? Or is he going to view Hay River's concerns and petition on a stand-alone basis? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a Member of Cabinet, I have to take a broad view for the Northwest Territories, so, clearly, what we will do when we are examining the petition is take a look at the request from Hay River, the reasons for that request, and the responses from those who were consulted, as well as the broader picture. The Member has raised a good point; that we do have to take a look at precedents. We have to take a look at what any change might mean for the future. So we can't look at just today, tomorrow or next year. We have to take the long view when we are taking a look at governance schemes in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Before I go on in question period, Members, I would just like to draw your attention to the gallery and the presence of the honourable Minister Olayuk Akesuk from Nunavut with us.

---Applause

He is the Minister of Environment, the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Minister responsible for Nunavut Housing Corporation, and Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, so he is a very busy man.

---Applause

With him is David Clark. He is the President of the Workers' Compensation Board for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Welcome to the House, gentlemen.

---Applause

Oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this question will be for the Premier, just with respect to the negotiated contracts policy that we have and have been using for sometime now. I am just wondering if the Premier is in agreement that there must be a better way of doing business. I laid out, in my Member's statement, of a set-aside policy that our federal government has and have been using it with quite some success in that, over a 10-year period, they help stimulated the aboriginal small business economy, as well.

Is there another way of doing our negotiated contract policy? It is creating some to do with that, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, there are probably many ways of doing negotiated contracts, or similar ways of stimulating the local economy. Mr. Speaker, our draft negotiated policy is now at the point where, I believe, we are soon going out for consultation with the aboriginal communities. At that point, we will get their feedback. With regard to the federal Set-Aside Program, we have looked at that one. That one has its weaknesses, too, Mr. Speaker. The two weaknesses as I see, just off the top of my head, are: if a community is 80 percent aboriginal residents, then it would qualify for the set-aside policy. That project would then be tendered to aboriginal corporations across the country. So there is no protection for that community. If you go anywhere, the contract in Northwest Territories could be given to an Ontario or New Brunswick aboriginal company. I don't think that is quite what we want to do here.

The second one, of course, is that there isn't provision in that set-aside policy for RFPs. It is either tendered broadly, or tender the project to aboriginal businesses. We like to go more toward a request for proposal, so there is more flexibility in how we award the contracts. But there are many ways, Mr. Speaker, of achieving this objective. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to our negotiated policy and the federal set-aside policy, granted that it does have its weaknesses, but in the communities I represent, all they are saying is, look, we live in these communities; we have been here since time immemorial; we want opportunities, especially proximity contracts by the government. So there must be a way of massaging our new draft negotiated policy to say, okay, you guys have been here. You guys will be the primary beneficiary of our government contracts. I know that there is some objection in that. There is a public accountability aspect here, Mr. Speaker, where we have to be

accountable to the public and have other people bid on it, but there must still be a way of doing that, at the same time recognizing businesses and corporations in the smaller communities. With that, if the Premier can speak to that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. I don't know what the question was there, but the honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will provide an answer, even though there wasn't a question.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, we want to work with the aboriginal leaders and communities to have a policy that achieves what the Member has referred to. We prefer to go the route of, like I said, a request for proposal, because a request for proposal, 40 percent is the amount that is attributed to cost. The other 60 percent is on a whole host of other factors that work in the community's favour.

Public accountability is always very important. No matter what happens, we will always, as a Legislative Assembly, be accountable for public money that we are spending. That one, we are not going to be able to work around, but we can do it on a request for proposal. We can do it by invitational tenders, or we can open it up to full tenders depending on what would be the most benefit for the community. But, Mr. Speaker, I understand the issue the Member is raising. I look forward to the feedback from aboriginal leaders and community leaders on the draft negotiated contracts policy we have. I would also hope that they would have a look at the federal Set-Aside Program, or other ones, and we'll approach this with an open mind. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this morning are for Mr. Bell, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, regarding the secondary diamond industry. Mr. Speaker, it is estimated that the cutting and polishing industry in Yellowknife supplies about 150 jobs to the community and a number of them are to constituents of my riding. We identified considerable growth potential in this industry, but our Minister has been putting out some signals in the last few months that really cause us to question whether or not our policies and objectives for this industry are consistent with the high hopes and the programs that we've set in place.

Mr. Speaker, we almost let go of some very hard-fought and expensive property of ours in the form of trademarks to protect and promote our product. We disbanded the unit of our government that was charged with implementing our policy and we bailed out on our commitment to the National Diamond Strategy.

Mr. Speaker, has this government abandoned its support for the secondary diamond industry? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not at all. I think, if the Member looks a little closer, he will recognize and see, and if he speaks to the factor, he will recognize and see that we have a new era of cooperation and understanding with the factories. We are working very closely with them. A case in point, the Rare Nature Campaign. In the days gone by, the factories were quite critical of our government's support for cutting and polishing. They felt that the department of RWED simply chose to support and attend the various functions that it thought had merit. Well, we have switched that. We have asked the factories to be involved in the hiring of a public relations firm. The certification money that we collect is now ploughed back into a marketing fund or a kitty. The factories have had a say in who is hired. The factories are involved in the public relations activities that we undertake, so they have much more say in how brand of marketing works. I think that is what makes sense, Mr. Speaker. They have a vested interest in seeing this work.

In terms of our organization, 1998, I think, was the year we established our diamond projects unit. This was a time when we were simply getting underway with support for the secondary industry and negotiating some socio-economic agreements. It made a lot of sense at that time. We have established a secondary industry now. It is up and running. It is working. We haven't abandoned any of the functions of that unit. We have simply decided that, in terms of diamond tourism, the best people to handle that responsibility are tourism people. We have parceled out the other responsibilities accordingly. Diamond certification now falls under minerals, oil and gas. We think this makes logical sense. The macroeconomic work that we used to do is now in our industrial economic analysis unit. So that, coupled with the need to have to fill a couple of vacancies -- we only had about four people in the unit, had two of them resign and move on to other occupations -- drove a need to respond. This is not static. It is evolving and we are moving with it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, this is all very useful and a lot of it is very new information for me and for us. I am wondering with respect to some of these major shifts in priority and emphasis, is the policy that is on the book still valid? The Minister sounds like we are rewriting or recreating policy on the fly here. I have to ask, is it time we undertake a formal review of what has been going on and where we should be going in the future, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, improving how we deliver service I think is something that

we should constantly strive to do and that is what we are doing. I think, if the Member looks at the Rare Nature Campaign, he will see that this is heads and tails above our past efforts. I think it is because we have stopped trying to do some of this stuff in house, recognizing that we don't have the expertise in this field and needed to go to a private firm to effectively deliver these types of programs.

I guess I would also indicate to the Member that, when we decided that these functions that we would still carry out would be parceled up in other areas of my department, we notified committee. I could certainly provide the Member with the same information. We are prepared to have that discussion. If the Member would like us to broaden that out to AOC, beyond the Governance and Economic Development committee, we would be prepared to do that. But I would urge the Member to sit down and speak with the factories, and talk with the factories about the change in our support for the various different programs, and talk about the success that we are having in building a brand in, the partnerships, the joint efforts with Diana Kroll, with the effort of Bryant Park, the Golden Globe Awards. It is very easy to point to specific concerns maybe with one company that a factory has over pricing of rough, but there are so many things that are working well. I think we need to focus on that. But I would urge the Member to sit down, meet and discuss these issues with the factories to get a better sense of what we are doing as a government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, the National Diamond Strategy was something that I was proud to see this Legislature and this government play a role in, but with all the resources that the Minister talks about still having to invest in is...He, last fall, wrote a letter to significant diamond retailers and our partners in the rest of Canada and said we were withdrawing our involvement and support for the National Diamond Strategy because we did not have adequate resources. Could the Minister explain for the Assembly, where is the lack of resources, then, if we can do it in all these other areas? What have we abandoned? What have we left behind by saying that we are no longer going to play a leadership role in a National Diamond Strategy, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am certainly happy that the Member was proud of that initiative. We still think that national initiative will make sense in the future. At this point, we have the only operating mines in the country, so we sat down and talked with our local industry about how we move forward, and just recognizing that we have limited resources, recognizing our participation in this National Diamond Strategy. It was probably taking one person almost full time to talk to the factories because that is what we have been doing, is consulting with industry about where we could best focus our efforts and our resources. They said to us, and they were unequivocal, if you really want to help us, let us work on branding. Let's build this Rare Nature Campaign and never mind some of these national strategies right now. Let's build up the brand name, develop and establish our brands. When we have done that and we have been successful in that, then we can talk about national initiatives and national campaigns which, I am sure, have merit. But at this point, our priority has to be around supporting and bolstering our local effort. So we were responsive and agreed with the local cutting and polishing factories that that had to be our first priority, supporting the secondary industry, and national initiatives are nice. We will get back there at some point. This was the priority that industry came forward with. That is what we are following. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in regards to the apprenticeship trades certificate. What type of working relationship does the department have with the oil and gas sectors, or the mine sectors, in terms of having the apprenticeship people work in the oil and gas mining field in terms of getting a journeyman certificate? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department works very closely with industry in oil and gas and mining, particularly through the two ASAP programs, one for mining and one for oil and gas, as well as the pipeline operator training course which also is aimed at ensuring that we have northerners trained for operating the pipeline once one is built in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what obligations in terms of having the oil and gas companies take on these apprentices who have already finished and are ready to go into the journeymen certification? What type of obligations, enforcements, working relationships do they have to take on these apprentices in our communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department works to encourage companies to take on apprentices in these industries. If funding is provided through ASEP for training programs, those programs are aimed entirely and exclusively at northerners. There are typically jobs at the end of the training programs, and the

funding can be used to make sure that people are ready for taking on apprenticeships with a company. The pipeline operator training course; I know that I met with the group of representatives of the companies who are overseeing that course two weeks ago, and they were explaining to me some of the challenges that they're finding, not just with people not being job ready. They are finding people who are job ready, but in some cases they're finding that they can't find enough people who would otherwise be able to take the jobs on who could pass the screening, the drug screening in particular.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through the information of AHRDA there are 80 students in the Sahtu that are being funded through this education program with AHRDA. He has hit a sore point in terms of helping our students take this type of training and apprenticeship programs. What type of enforcement, or what type of laws or policy, beyond the encouragement of helping our students get into these oil and gas training programs and having the industry to really look at the seriousness of putting our people back to work, and having a drug-free workforce for the future? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that in talking to folks at the pipeline operators training course, the company representatives were very concerned about ensuring that the young people understand that the only way that they're going to get a job is if they are completely drug free when they take a drug test for employment. I talked to the companies, and their representatives tell me that they meet in communities with people, they make sure that young people who are looking at jobs are aware of this requirement. The Department of Justice and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment are working collaboratively to ensure that kids in school are aware that any kind of involvement in drugs or alcohol can seriously hurt your chances of an opportunity to get a good job, and we will continue to work really hard to make sure that more people are aware of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier today in my Member's statement, I was concerned about this one-sided letter sent to the producers. I don't see anything in there for the NWT, and I just can't allow that. Let's put the facts on the table, Mr. Speaker. A signed copy of this letter was slid under the door of AOC that evening that the letter was to be faxed out to the producers. I'm even surprised that somebody knocked on our door to let us know it was there. What about the timing? The Alaska project was already history by that time that this letter came forward. So unless the Premier knows that there was another gas field that was in the foreseeable future, the Mackenzie gas project appeared to be the only game in town. So, Mr. Speaker, I'm hoping the Premier will take these questions seriously, without trying to create some type of distraction when he made light of Mr. Braden not being able to keep up with Cabinet. Mr. Speaker, did we put our people first? I don't know. What did this letter do for the people in the NWT, and where are the benefits spelled out, to the people of the NWT, in writing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. There's a couple or three questions there. The Premier can handle one, or all three. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member tabled this letter and I trust he read it, I don't know. But if he didn't, I'll take whatever time is necessary to explain it to him. This is one piece of a big project. He asked the question, where are the benefits for the northerners. Well, Mr. Speaker, I'll tell you, there are a lot of benefits for northerners. There are jobs and business opportunities as a result of all this development. Mr. Speaker, there are taxes to be generated from this development. Mr. Speaker, there is a $500 million socio-economic impact fund. Mr. Speaker, there are the potential legacy projects we're negotiating on, on convertible housing, and on hydro. Mr. Speaker, there are lots of benefits to northerners.

Mr. Speaker, the whole purpose of negotiations is to arrive at a compromise. If everybody took what Mr. Hawkins is suggesting and said, no, we're not going to compromise anything, we would not have socio-economic benefits; we could not have the $500 million; we could not have access and benefit agreements; we would not have employment and business opportunities. We would all win, in somebody's eyes, and Mr. Hawkins' eyes, maybe, I don't know. But that is not the way to do business. This is one piece out of the whole project. Mr. Speaker, there are tremendous benefits to be had by northerners. We all have to compromise. The federal government had to compromise. Imperial has to compromise. Aboriginal leaders have to compromise as they negotiate, and so do we, Mr. Speaker. We all work together on this. We've got a huge, tremendous project that is worth billions and billions of dollars for our people here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the Premier missed the point. None of that stuff was spelled out in this letter. We talk about the effects of the pipeline when it shows up at our door, but this letter is in advance of the pipeline saying before you even get here, don't worry, we're not going to raise the taxes on you. So, Mr. Speaker, I think what we did is we traded our first class opportunity ticket for something less than coach. Why didn't the Premier tie this to some type of socio-economic agreement and make a stance on that point? He talked about jobs, potential of taxes, the $500 million,

the legacy, the benefits to northerners. Why didn't he have those things spelled out in his letter by saying if you want to do business here, we'll freeze the taxes, or we'll create a tax-friendly environment if you do this, this and this, such as build houses, guarantee that you will tie your development to northerners business? Why didn't he spell that out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, there's a whole process, and if it takes a weekend, if Mr. Hawkins wants, I'll explain to him how all these pieces fit together. But there are many pieces, Mr. Speaker, that are beyond the authority of this government. We don't decide access and benefit agreements for the aboriginal communities and leaders. They decide that themselves. I can't reference that in my letter.

Mr. Speaker, it frustrates me when people purposely take a letter and read something that isn't there. I look at it and I say, okay, what we've said is we are going to maintain a post-devolution royalty regime for three anchor fields. That's in order to give the company some assurance before they spend $7.5 plus billion on a pipeline. Let's give them some assurance.

Mr. Speaker, we say we're not going to increase taxes for the pipeline assets disproportionately to property taxes to similar properties anywhere in Canada. We're going to be competitive. That's exactly what we said in Mr. Roland's budget speech. We're going to be competitive in Canada. Mr. Speaker, we said we are not going to directly have any tax affect that would directly target the Mackenzie gas project. That's exactly the way we treat every business in the Northwest Territories. We don't target businesses and put taxes on specific projects. We're just giving them assurances that we're good, responsible people to work with. Mr. Speaker, the other is that this doesn't include everything. We've said corporate taxes; we're going to work with you to negotiate and arrangement on corporate taxes, and we're going to do that by June 2006.

Mr. Speaker, those are all fair and reasonable positions taken by our government to say we are responsible. To top it all off, Mr. Speaker, we have said that this letter is a subject through the plenary legislative authority of the NWT Legislative Assembly, and that it does not...There's nothing in this letter -- and I'll read from it, this is tabled -- "...nothing in this letter constitutes a legally binding commitment or obligation of the GNWT or confers any right on your companies." This is a letter of comfort, Mr. Speaker. It's not a contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, the Premier and I see eye to eye on only one very small element: it's not fair. So why bother sending this letter, Mr. Speaker? I say why bother to waste our time to get people to write this letter? It's not fair. We should have said something along the lines of industry and big Imperial Oil whose donut budget is probably the size of $1 billion.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, who knows how much they make? They make a lot of money. Mr. Speaker, we were the only game in town. If they wanted assurance, all we had to do is say that, Mr. Speaker, we will create a competitive tax regime; fair. So, Mr. Speaker, obviously Cabinet is concerned on this subject. Why did we miss the opportunity? We missed the point of saying tie this to northern business, tie this to northern jobs and we will create a competitive tax regime that works for everyone. So why did we waste our time sending this letter? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It might be worthwhile to go up and down the valley and talk to people in the communities and see what they say. It's fine from this position.

Mr. Speaker, this letter is sent because it is a letter, a piece of information, a commitment that is necessary from our part, a statement of comfort for the industry, so they can get on with the public hearings. The public hearings are going on now. There is lots of opportunity for people to state their views to the National Energy Board or the joint review panel. This letter does not mean that the pipeline is built, or that the conditions set for the pipeline are all laid out. Mr. Speaker, this is a letter of comfort. This moves it one step further, and I am proud that our government was able to help move this project onto the public hearing stage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know the Arctic Winter Games are coming up and that the passport issue was a big issue for a lot of residents in the NWT, especially the ones who didn't have money to apply for a passport. A month ago, it was a requirement for all athletes to acquire their passports to go to Kenai Peninsula. Last week, those who couldn't get a passport had a couple of options available to them in a much less costly manner than the original passports. Now this week, it's not even a requirement at all.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of parents and families in the regional tryouts who send their kids to these regional tryouts had to dish out $85 in order to get their applications submitted for these kids to actually get to try out in these Arctic Winter Games regionals with no guarantee that they are even going to go to the games. A lot of these families dished out a lot of money. A lot of families have two or three kids that are involved in the regional tryouts. The only guarantee is that they could get their passport if they dished out another $15. I wanted to ask the Minister responsible for sport and recreation what the government does to oversee the committee's work at the Sport North

level and Aboriginal Circle level to ensure that residents, when they are asked to pull money out of their pockets to send their kids out on some sporting event, that this money will be legitimately required and now that they have dished out the money, is there any avenue for them to get that money back if their kids haven't made it to the Arctic Winter Games? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister responsible for sports and recreation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this issue of passports was brought to the attention of the communities and the general public last spring. We had indications from the host society, from the International Committee and the United States government that there was a strong indication that it would be a requirement in order to go into Alaska to attend the Arctic Winter Games. We did put that message forward. We worked with Sport North. We did support their desire to have everybody put in their applications. The teams or people who were selected to attend the territorial trials, we wanted to have the comfort that they had their application submitted at that level. Everybody did have their applications brought forward. Now we are at a stage where there is some concern. There is a small number of people who have not received their passports yet and we are looking at what we can do for plan B. We are looking at using a general identification card or birth certificates that were required to apply for the passport.

We did not want to be in the situation, Mr. Speaker, where we had a large number of athletes travelling to Alaska and not be able to get across the border. We did not want to be in a position where we had to pay for people to come back. We wanted to have the comfort going forward that everybody had the identification and had the necessary documents, and that's why the passports were a requirement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.