Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is some ability to react to the market forces, but it is fairly limited. We are bound by the provisions of equal pay for work of equal value, which means that each job has to be evaluated in comparison to all of the other jobs in the public service and that the rates of pay are set according to those evaluations. But it does allow for some minor

period of time adjustments based on market forces. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a scary thought -- equal pay -- that the value we put on some of the work that is provided by the GNWT employees. Another good situation again is the nurses. I would like to ask the Minister if he would look at developing a solution over the next six months to ensure we have a chance of retaining some of our employees? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be happy to look at what we can do to retain employees. We want to keep our employees here with the government. We think that we have a fairly competitive system right now. Our nurses are, if not the best paid in all positions across the board in Canada, very close to the best paid in Canada. So compensation is not always the only thing we need to look at. There are other factors. The quality of life and the cost of living in the North are obviously issues with our employees. I want to make sure that the Member understands that some time in the next six months, we are not going to be able to change our legislation that requires us to follow a system of equal pay for work of equal value. We are going to be looking at what we can do or continue to look at what we can do within that legislation.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that explanation. Again, I say equal pay does scare me. It is just not the value we put on the services provided. That being said, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister how did they come up with the rates for a journeyperson electrician at $27 an hour compared to what? How do they come up with those rates? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is an evaluation committee that looks at each of the positions. They take a look at the responsibilities, education, training that is required, and then they evaluate the positions. By that evaluation, a point score, the point score is then translated into a salary. If employees feel that their classification is incorrect, there is a process whereby the evaluations can be appealed. Those appeals will go to a three-person committee. They will be walked through the process with a mediator. The union would be involved. We would use that committee to have a look at whether or not the job evaluation is right. Oftentimes, evaluations are changed as a result of that process.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was glad to hear that there was an evaluation committee looking at and doing a point score system. That is a great way to figure out a person's value to the GNWT. But how often does this evaluation committee review the wages of employees? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is pretty much an ongoing process, particularly when employees come forward with an appeal with the evaluation for their position. I think it is important to remember that this is a system of work of equal pay for work of equal value, is a system that we were working under when the federal government still had responsibility. We have assumed responsibility under the same conditions. One of the biggest reasons for adopting that process was to ensure that there wasn't a difference in pay for people who were in a minority. For instance, typically in governments, it has been found over the years that women have been paid less than men and people in minorities like aboriginal people have been paid less than others. So this system is set up to ensure that there can't be that kind of inconsistency. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. My question is on the socio-economic agreements in the Northwest Territories. I want to be very clear for my people in the Mackenzie Valley in terms of the socio-economic agreements, Mr. Speaker, in terms of when the diamond mines were opened down at this end of the country here, were the Mackenzie Valley communities invited to sit down and ask for a portion of the impact benefit agreements that have been negotiated as so much being enjoyed by the communities who rightly deserve them? I want to ask that. Do we have a chance to tap into the diamond mines as the request has been from some of the Members to tap into the Mackenzie gas pipeline economic funds?

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

Mr. Speaker, to my knowledge, and I wasn't involved directly in all of them at the time, but the impact benefit agreements were negotiated with those people on whose traditional lands that economic activity was taking place. The GNWT, our government, did a broad umbrella socio-economic agreement as well with

each of the mines. In those cases, we represented the interests of the people in the Territories as broadly as we could on employment opportunities, travel to work, contracting, purchasing and so on. But communities were not asked to all come in and have input into it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, for my people back home in the Sahtu region, in terms of the benefits that our impact agreements in terms of the GNWT, what type of support and tools have been given to outside the region that these diamond mines that have an impact? I really don't see the number of people from my region at those diamond mines that it should be, and outside of the Sahtu communities further north. Do we have anything, as a region, that says these are our diamonds? We also want to be beneficiaries to these diamonds in terms of employment, business. What are the numbers here for us for, the Sahtu, Gwich'in, or Beaufort-Delta? I would like to ask the Premier. Are we somehow involved in this in terms of opening up this agreement here? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, in terms of the agreement with BHP or Ekati mine, there is a provision for travel assistance, I believe, in hiring that goes way beyond the traditional boundaries for people whose traditional land the activity is taking place on. So there are provisions of points of hire from communities as far away as Inuvik and further, I believe. I am not so sure about the Diavik agreement. I believe it does give northerners preference, but it doesn't provide the same level of assistance as the Ekati mine provided. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.