Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For students who take the same courses, no matter what the community is, those marks in those places represent the same achievement. That's because in Grade 12 we use Alberta departmental exams. They count for at least 50 percent to the student's mark. So whether the student is in Tulita or here in Yellowknife, they have to pass the same exam in order to pass the course. So in that way, we know that student achievement is the same.

One of the issues we think may be a problem with people thinking that achievement is less in the small communities is that oftentimes students and parents don't understand that a choice they make on a course in Grade 9 may require the student to take a course in upgrading in order to pursue the course they want in college. That's a big issue in not only the smaller communities, but in the larger communities. We have a lot of students who have to come back and take subsequent courses after graduation in order to pursue the course they want to take in college or university.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In our small communities such as Colville Lake or our larger centres like Norman Wells and Deline, some of these centres don't have chemistry labs, biology labs and physics and qualified teachers to teach it or they are overburdened by the number of students. That's what I am asking. For these students who are graduating from our smaller communities, they are only geared to go into certain trades or careers. If they wanted to be a doctor or a biologist, they have to take extra courses. In Yellowknife or Hay River, they have these facilities available. In smaller communities, we are challenged. I want to ask the Minister what is his department doing to make the same standard of education in our small communities rather than asking our students that these are the trades you can take or these are the courses you can take. If you want to get further into education, good luck in upgrading your skills to meet those requirements. What is the Minister doing to handle that issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it's important to understand that we're not talking about an issue that is only of concern in smaller communities; it's an issue that is happening all across Canada. Even in Alberta, a large number of students have to go back after they've reached the qualifications to reach a graduation certificate, a lot of students have to go back and take upgrading in order to get into the course they want to pursue in college or university. So it's not something we only see in the Northwest Territories. It happens all across Canada. It's largely because students aren't aware that choices they make early in their career, as early as Grade 8 and Grade 9, will make a difference in whether or not they will need to go into upgrading to go onto college.

Mr. Speaker, what do we do in the Northwest Territories to try to ensure people have the best opportunity? We try to make sure we have a much higher proportion of teachers to students in the smaller communities than we do in the larger communities. We make sure high schools receive disproportionate funding, extra funding, over what would be seen in larger communities to be sure they can provide the programs. We are working with the schools to make sure that better distance education opportunities are provided so that students can access programs that they might not be able to access otherwise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recently had a conversation with a teacher in one of my communities. Mr. Speaker, that teacher was culture shocked having to come into a classroom in the Sahtu and being faced with three or four grades to teach in the same room. So it's a little bit different in the small communities than in the larger centres.

Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is, on measuring success by having the students enrolled in SFA, it doesn't show if the students are entering university or taking upgrading prior to entering university or college, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister give a reply to the House here on the success in terms of our students finishing Grade 12 and going right into a college program or university program or a technical school rather than having SFA and then going into upgrading to see if they qualify for the courses they want? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The numbers that I gave the Member in the first answer are the ones that I would again use, because student financial assistance is only intended for students who want to enter a degree or certificate program. So it's not provided for upgrading. There are two exceptions and that is we offer students who are enrolled in a teacher education program, one year access to programming, as well as to nursing students. So the numbers in those two would be, in a typical year, less than 30 of the total number I have reported here. So it's still a significant number who are successful in moving directly into the programs at college.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the real Minister of Transportation and they involve some more questioning, Mr. Speaker, on the status of the Deh Cho Bridge. Mr. Speaker, in his sessional statement a little while ago, the Premier did say that the federal government must step up to the plate and provide its share of the funding necessary for this important piece of the national highway system. Mr. Speaker, we have already filed with the federal government, I think about four years ago, a great plan, a very good plan, called Corridors for Canada, which outlined this bridge. We talked to Finance Canada, to Transportation, to Northern Affairs, to the Prime Minister. Mr. Speaker, we now know through the most recent federal budget that there is some $33 billion committed to Canada under the Canadian infrastructure initiative and $25 million for the next seven years to each province and territory in transportation money. My question is, Mr. Speaker, what course of action are we taking this time to get Ottawa's buy-in for the Deh Cho Bridge project, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, my first job as Minister was to go down to Ottawa and pound on the doors and meet federal Minister Cannon and advise him that this was one of our priority projects. The Deh Cho Bridge is a top priority, in fact. So over the course of Christmas and spring, our deputy minister had gone to Ottawa as well and talked with them. Of course, the federal budget unfolded, Mr. Speaker, and they did announce all kinds of money, and bureaucratically, even though they announced it, Mr. Speaker, they still had to work out the details. So that is where we are at right now. However, most significantly in this fiscal year, they did announce $80 million for P3 projects. I have been advised, Mr. Speaker, that the Deh Cho Bridge project has been short-listed. In fact, it is one of the P3 projects that the federal government has been looking at provincially and across Canada. So we are very high on their agenda in terms of the P3 funding, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answer. Also in this sessional statement, the Premier made further reference to this project very optimistically and enthusiastically when he said the schedule is to complete all necessary documentation soon. This construction is anticipated in summer. Now I won't read a commitment into that, Mr. Speaker, but, as I say, it's very enthusiastic and optimistic. I am kind of curious now with the information that Mr. Menicoche has provided, just how advanced is this proposal, Mr. Speaker. Summer is not that far off. If we are going to get construction started this quickly, I am reading that things really are well advanced, especially in the federal government. I would like to know the Minister's confirmation of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. What we had done as our government...because the devil is in the details and federal funding, as well we are looking at ever-increasing costs of putting off the bridge project, that it's something we are looking at and as much federal government commitment as possible. Mr. Speaker, it's kind of like we don't want to put the cart before the horse in this case, but we are proceeding very often, like Mr. Braden indicated, Mr. Speaker, and that's how we are proceeding. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, is a start to this project, as the Premier has suggested, is it contingent on the P3 approval that we are anticipating from Ottawa? Yes or no?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That's a very good question.

---Laughter

I will do my best to answer it there, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we are looking at advancing the bridge project up to and including construction this fiscal year. It's good economics right now. Prices have stabilized and so we are looking at advancing with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation up to construction this year, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Okay. Mr. Speaker, as my colleague has pointed out very, very well, Mr. Ramsay asked about the criteria and the conditions for our own approval here. I know that when this project was advanced three or four years ago, that two significant criteria were a $6 a ton charge for consumer and industrial goods crossing the bridge and for the GNWT's 35-year commitment to make a contribution equivalent to what we are spending now to build the ice bridge and run the ferry; two very significant parts of the fiscal threshold for us. Are those considerations still intact or have they been subject to change or are they going to be changed substantively in this deal, Mr. Speaker?