Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the Premier and it's in relation to the housing mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the initiative that's been undertaken under his direction to look at the government's housing mandate and how we're going to revise and redirect this very essential part of our job. It is a job, Mr. Speaker, that I hope is going to be approached with vision, with energy, and with a very long-range goal. So, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask about, I guess, the expectations and the marching orders, the starting orders for this mandate setting group. I'm wondering if it will be enabled and empowered to look across government departments, Mr. Speaker, for their involvement. For instance, there's MACA with lands, ECE with training, ITI with construction and engineering. Will this new study group be mandated to look across the government for involvement and experience and contribution to the new housing mandate? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The mandate of the committee that is looking at the Housing Corporation is to look at how the Housing Corporation can best deliver the programs that it is delivering. The committee will go and hear from people. Members have said we need to hear from local housing authorities; we need to hear from mayors and councils, band councils, from residents, from people across the Territories. They'll listen to say what changes could be made to the Housing Corporation in order to have more effective delivery of housing.

Mr. Speaker, it wasn't going to be the mandate of this committee to begin to look at organizational design and how you might move this piece from here to there and so on. I see that as being a second step, once we determine the Housing Corporation's new role. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, perhaps we need to do a little bit of housework here between the Executive and committees. I guess I'm wondering about the efficiency of sort of going around the circle twice here, if we're just going to take a look at existing programs, many of which, Mr. Speaker, I don't believe are very effective and are really not producing all that many results for us. This is why I'm looking to see, is the Executive ready to undertake a broader scope? Not just looking at how to fix or patch the Housing Corporation, but to really take a look at our long-term mandate as a government to deliver housing. So I'd ask again, Mr. Speaker, is this something that the Executive is prepared to look at to say, well, just how should we initiate this, what are our objectives through this, and can we be more efficient and more visionary about our approach?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. I see it as in two steps. First of all is, what is the mandate of the Housing Corporation; second is, how should it be structured. So, Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt at all that as the committee goes around, someone is going to ask, for example, why do we have a Housing Corporation. Why a corporation? That issue will be discussed in terms of why it's structured as a corporation. No doubt that is going to be part of it. But our initial focus is going to be on how do we best deliver the housing programs that are needed by our residents. Then the second piece of it, and it may blend into that second piece, is how do we structure or restructure an organization, or organizations that are going to be able to achieve that mandate. So, Mr. Speaker, in the end, it may look very much like it does now, or it may look quite different. So, Mr. Speaker, yes, we are going to be visionary on this and, yes, we're going to leave nothing unturned as we begin to look at it. But I see it as being two phased, and I intend that we will complete that, for sure, within the life of our government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I guess I remain to be convinced of why we should be looking at one component, largely a technical and a corporate component, of our mandate to deliver housing. We're going to set this up, lock it in place, and then go about the visionary exercise. I think it should be exactly the opposite. Let's determine what our overall government function and mandate should be, and then design the Housing Corporation to suit that need. I think the Premier is going about this entirely in reverse of really what makes good sense. Would the Premier be ready to come back to committee and rethink this direction, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we're having a communications problem here, because when I listen to Mr. Braden, I'm hearing him saying the same thing I am; that we decide what we want to do. How do we best deliver the housing programs, and then we design the corporation, the department, the body that's going to deliver it. I'm saying the same thing. But we have to know what the purpose is going to be, what the programs are going to be it's delivering, and then fit it. It would be like building a building and then trying to decide whether it should be a house or a store or an apartment or whatever. You've got to know what the purpose is first, and that's what we want to do as part of the review of the mandate. Then the structure comes after that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Third supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, we'll continue the communication game here, and I'm sure we will find a way to achieve our ends. They are, I believe, common ends. You know, one aspect again, and I'll focus very briefly, Mr. Speaker, in the visionary part of this. We're in an emerging self-government environment, Mr. Speaker, where First Nations and their own mandates and development corporations I know perceive and a want to be involved in this. Are we going to keep an eye on our mandate and how we go about it with these emerging self-government interests as well at the table? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, yes, we will. The direction to the committee is to go and speak to the local housing organizations, speak to mayors, to chiefs, to MLAs, to community organizations, to standing committees. We will speak to everybody about what the mandate of the Housing Corporation should be and, eventually, about what the structure of the organization should be. So, Mr. Speaker, yes, there will be opportunity for anyone who is interested to have input into this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I received a number of calls on this matter and it appears very clear that the passport matter isn't going away in

regards to the selection of Team NWT. Sport North was very clear early on in the process that you needed a passport to be able to be eligible for the January 6th NWT trials. Many parents ran out and got them in a timely way. So, Mr. Speaker, I'm concerned, as my colleague Mr. Villeneuve was concerned yesterday, that possibly our best athletes didn't bother trying to go to the trials because they didn't have passports or they couldn't get passports in time. So my question to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs is, when was this known, why did this change come about, and how was it communicated to the parents, coaches and athletes in relation to the NWT trials? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you. Apparently the question took him off his feet, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is, and I won't go all the way through it again, but my question is, is the fact that we had parents out there who ran out and got passports in a timely way. But I'm concerned that some of our best athletes didn't bother trying to attend the trials because they didn't have passports or they couldn't get them in a timely way. So my direct question to the Minister is, respectfully, when and why did they know about this change in relation to the NWT trials, and how was that communicated to the athletes, coaches and parents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Chairman, there is no change in the requirement for a passport. The host society has indicated that they will do their best to allow the athletes into the country with a birth certificate and a general identification card. We are still insisting that all the athletes have passports, so we have not moved on that. We are looking at a plan B and we are negotiating and talking to the host society and the state of Alaska to ensure that we can get into the country in the event that some of our athletes or some of our mission staff may not have their passport in time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.