Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'd like to recognize our two Pages from Whati, Sarah Koe-Simpson and Freda Flunkie, who have been patiently working with us and they've done some hard work for us. Mahsi.

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Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize the Pages from Hay River South who have been helping us and working in the Legislature this week; they've done a great job and we really appreciate them: Amy Carroll and Ilona Gyapay.

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Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I also would like to recognize Dennis Marchiori in the gallery. Dennis is a former employee of the Legislative Assembly and responsible for the implementation of the Human Rights Act. Welcome to the Assembly.

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Oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to address my questions to the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. I understand, through a news report last week, that the Minister is actively considering funding a university in the North. Would the Minister please tell us why he is considering a university in the North when the current college system is underfunded by this government and currently unable to do the work in the regions, especially those isolated communities, that it is mandated to perform? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to make it clear I never said that we were going to fund a university in the North. I would dearly love to see a university in the North, but if it happens it's going to be sometime down the road. What I did say was that I thought it made sense for us to see if we could get access to the millions and millions of dollars the federal government puts into research for universities by building on what we have through the college system here, not only in the Northwest Territories but in the Yukon and in Nunavut. I think that, perhaps, by building on those institutions across the three territories, we might have a way to look at accessing some of that federal money to help improve the work that the colleges do.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have high hopes and big dreams that eventually we will

have a university here in the North, but at the same time I, personally, would like to focus on the small communities. The isolated communities are always left out. Will the Minister commit to working to increase the college budgets to ensure that all adults in the Northwest Territories who do not have post-secondary or secondary education, have the ability to attend a college program and obtain their high school education, especially in those isolated communities? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a goal for this government already. It is clearly articulated in the plans that have been stated publicly by Education, Culture and Employment. Our strategic plan sets out the way in which we hope to get there and the college is clearly an important player. I have said many times in this House that I would like to be able to find ways to increase the funding so that we can ensure that in each community there's broader opportunity for post-secondary education than what we have right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Again, focusing on the small communities, will the Minister commit to ensuring that where college options do not presently exist in the communities, that adults over 22 years of age will continue to have the option to acquire their secondary schooling by attending local high schools? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In one of the initiatives that we were recently approached with by divisional education councils, they asked if ECE would start to fund full-time kindergarten. We discussed how we could find the funding to do that. One of the options that we put forward was to reduce the funding that we offer school boards for those who are 22 years of age and older by half of the amount that we would normally fund the student. The school boards, at the time, agreed that that would be an acceptable way in which to find the monies, in part, to fund kindergarten. We have found there are some DECs who have asked for some flexibility in implementing that change, and through the 2007-08 school year DECs still have the option of taking the funding for half-day kindergarten or full funding for 22 year olds. We're prepared, if that situation continues, I'm sure, to have discussions in the future about whether or not the DECs would like to continue with that flexibility.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my final question to the Minister. Would the Minister commit to working with myself, the Tlicho Government, Tlicho Community Services Agency and Aurora College to develop a stronger permanent Aurora College presence in our communities, including a regular ongoing delivery of trades programming suitable to prepare people for the work in the resource industries of the North Slave? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government and the college are always interested in expanding our program offerings into the communities, so I'd be pleased to work with the Member and the communities in his region to see what we can do to strengthen the college. One of the areas in which -- and this ties into the Member's questions -- is that one of the areas that we would like to strengthen, in particular, is the ties between school and college. I'm looking at, in the future, appointing a member to the board of Aurora College who would come from the ranks of the divisional education council chairs to try and ensure that we have a better linkage between schools and the college. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Premier and it goes back to the monies that leave the territory each and every year. I shudder to think the millions and millions of dollars, and probably somewhere in the neighbourhood of five or six hundred million, that have left the territory since this government has been in office. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Premier, there is no doubt that there is a dispute between Ottawa and the Government of the Northwest on resource revenue. Why can't this money be put aside until this dispute is resolved?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been there on that one and really haven't gotten a positive response at all. The federal government's position is wait until we have resources transferred to us. Mr. Speaker, I don't think there is a dispute with the federal government over resource revenue sharing. In fact, it's very clear from the Expert Panel the federal government set up that recommends 50 percent come to us. What there is, is a lack of clarity from the Prime Minister and his Cabinet about what they are going to do with that report, their own report that recommends 50 percent come to us.

We are not hearing anything. We are not hearing a counteroffer of any sort. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.