Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today will be directed to our Premier. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today, I raised my belief, and the belief of many people I know, that an independent ombudsman office would be a great leap forward in public confidence and transparency. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Premier would be, has the government ever considered establishing an ombudsman office in the NWT to specifically deal with the types of complaints I made mention of earlier today in my Member's statement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand there are positions like that of ombudsman in several other jurisdictions. The first step we would want to do is take a look at how that system is working. Hopefully if we were to move forward, we would build on the experience of others. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Premier for his point on working towards, or encouraging, public confidence and trust. Mr. Speaker, I had a chance to speak to a provincial ombudsman office. I also had a chance to speak to the Premier privately about a sad story where an ombudsman office would have played a serious role in dealing with the concern. So the Premier knows where I am coming from when I speak to this issue. Therefore, I would like to ask the Premier would he commit to looking into and creating a discussion paper on the possibility of creating an ombudsman office and that information be released before the end of this government's term? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we will take a look at it. I will have my staff look at the experiences across the country. We will do an assessment of the costs, various options. It's possible if we were to move in this direction, we could do it cooperatively with other functions; for example, human rights. We may want to do it as a stand-alone before we move ahead. Mr. Speaker, the earliest I could see us doing this would be in time for the business planning for the upcoming budget, for the 2008-09 budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker it's quite obvious the Premier recognizes the importance of this issue and also the gravity of public confidence when something like an ombudsman is established in our public. Therefore, I ask the Premier one last question, which is if there is some difficulty in developing a discussion paper, can I get the commitment of this Premier today to include it in some type of transition document to the 16th Assembly if some of this information can't be brought forward in time before this 15th Assembly dissolves? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, yes, we will either include it in our preparations for the next fiscal year after this one, business planning, or, as the suggestion, in a transition document. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. Written questions. The Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

1. Since its inception, how many ABE students have attended the Aurora College program in Behchoko?
2. How many of these students have completed their programs? How many have received certification? At what level are these certifications?
3. What programs besides ABE have been offered to help those students currently in the workforce or who are wishing to upgrade their skills to enter the workforce?
4. The college has cited attendance being a challenge with this program. What was the average rate of attendance for this program on a yearly basis?
5. What was the average rate of attendance per program for September to December 2006?
6. Has the Department of Education or Aurora College investigated why attendance has been a problem in this program? Have they met with community leaders to develop an action plan? When and how many meetings, Mr. Speaker? If not, why not?
7. What changes has the college made to improve the level of programming in Behchoko?
8. Will the department conduct a review of the current Aurora College programming in Behchoko including courses being offered, evaluation of instructors, relevancy of the programming, et cetera?

Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Replies to opening address. Replies to budget address. Petitions. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Tabling of documents. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Charting the Next Course: Interim Report on Consultations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Notices of motion for first reading of bills. Motions. First reading of bills. Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 21, Appropriation Act, 2007-2008.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 21. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may proceed with first reading, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that Bill 21, Appropriation Act, 2007-2008, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Bill 21 has had first reading. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that Bill 21, Appropriation Act, 2007-2008, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make operations expenditures and capital investment expenditures for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Bill 21 has had second reading. Accordingly, this bill stands referred to Committee of the Whole. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters. Report of Committee of the Whole. Third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until Friday, February 9, 2007, at 10:00 a.m.

---ADJOURNMENT

The House adjourned at 15:57.