Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Rockhill Apartments is an issue we have worked on with the Department of Health and Social Services and we have done some work with the Housing Corporation. The initial lease was entered into on a 10-year agreement, then another 10-extension. There has been work done on it on an annual basis. Public Works and Services spends about $50,000 in trying to protect the asset. Further to that, as part of the 2006-07 as part of our main estimates, our infrastructure acquisition plan within the Department of Health and Social Services; identified in 2007-08 is some repair work for that apartment building continuing on to 2008-09. Again, the capital plan for future years always has to come back and get approval from this House for the year that we are in. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the investment that goes into the building on an ongoing basis I am sure is appreciated. Also of concern to the YWCA is the renewal of the lease. This is something that I understand we have been working on, but, of course, timing is always of some significance, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering if the Minister could advise how negotiations are going and when a conclusion might be expected, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the role of Public Works in this would be one from an asset base working with a client department, this being Health and Social Services. This is in the area of coming up with a plan of what is required. In discussions with staff between Public Works and Services and Health and Social Services, Health and Social Services has deemed this facility to have an important role within their social support system. Part of the exercise we are going through is in the area of the Homelessness Strategy. Once that unfolds a little more, we will have a better indication of what role this facility will play in that strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Charles Dent. I would just like to have the Minister clear the air on some outstanding issues for myself and some other residents here in the city of Yellowknife. It gets back to the Yellowknife Facilities Capital Planning Committee. On May 19th, there was a press release that was inadvertently issued and caused some concern in various camps about the status of the committee's work. I would like the Minister, if he could, to clarify what his position is in terms of the facility's plans for the future of education needs here in the city of Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the first week in May, I did receive the Yellowknife facilities report from the committee. The next day I received a phone call from one of the boards asking if an offer I had made previously to facilitate a bilateral meeting between the two Yellowknife school boards was still open. I confirmed that I would be prepared to have such a meeting facilitated. That was set up. It took place. At that meeting, the Yellowknife District No. 1 agreed that they would take some time to review their position and put in writing in a letter to me what they might be prepared to offer. So at that point, that was where things were left.

The press release the Member refers to, leading up to the facilitated meeting there were a number of different drafts of press releases prepared to be ready should one result or another happen. That release was never approved by me for distribution or posting on the web and should not have been there. I understand that it has caused some concern, but, Mr. Speaker, at this point I am still ready to continue to try to work with the two boards to see where we can get in this process. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's obviously clear that both boards, the YCS board and YK No. 1, have to be treated fairly and the needs have to be addressed. I would like to ask the Minister what he intends to do from today to the start of the school year to try to address the needs of both YK No. 1 board and the YCS board. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am prepared to put efforts into working with the two boards, but I think to be fair it has to be recognized that there is

not likely to be a resolution in terms of space by fall of 2006. All of the parties have agreed at this point that we are working towards the fall of 2007. I am prepared to continue efforts. I have recently received a letter from the Yellowknife Catholic Schools that calls into question their willingness or interest in continuing this process. I am going to have to check on that. If there is an interest, I would be quite prepared to put every effort into working personally to try to resolve this issue. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess the question I would have to ask the Minister is he says things are going to happen, things will be resolved. I would like to get a commitment from him that both YCS's needs and YK No. 1's needs will be resolved and I know the Minister just said it's not going to happen by this fall, but when are the issues here surrounding space in Yellowknife schools going to be settled once and for all? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I say that the issues might be resolved, I am afraid, Mr. Speaker, that I can't say that everybody is going to be satisfied with the resolution. I do believe that we have been working towards a resolution. I don't know if we are still in that position today. We may be in a situation where we haven't got an agreement to work any longer. I am going to have to confirm whether or not that's happening and then we'll follow up on it. It's my goal to try to have a decision made by the parties at one point or another. I think it's important to point out we have two elected boards in town here. The one board has a surplus of space; one board is short of space. It's in their interest and they have to find some way to work together to resolve that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister believe it's fair to allow the two elected boards, the YCS board and the YK No. 1 board, to be basically pitted against each other to figure this out? What is the Minister's role exactly in trying to rectify the situation that we find ourselves in here in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The first part of that question is asking the Minister for his opinion, but I will allow the Minister to answer on the second part. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, both the elected boards have ultimate responsibility for dealing with their constituents. If they are not satisfied with how things are happening, then they have to sit down and try to resolve that in their areas of influence.

Mr. Speaker, I am in a situation where we have, as I said, we have a board that has a surplus of space and one board that is short of space. We need to make sure that we have partners who are willing to work together and I am hopeful that we will. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Honourable Michael McLeod, with regard to the urgent situation in my Tlicho communities. The dumps are located too close to the communities and all kinds of stuff, predators, are being attracted to the dump and they are coming to the communities. My constituents are afraid to let their children or even grandchildren walk outside or even walk to school. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister responsible for MACA if he would relocate these dumps farther away from my communities than they are currently located. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.