I’ll clearly say I’m not a lawyer and I can’t tell you that’s considered a reasonable practice, whether it could stand the test of judicial guidance. I can’t tell you that would stand the test of

everyday thinking. But the fact is, it could be a reality to make sure that the younger force workers are protected so that they’re not laid off and told, sorry, we’re not going to invest in 14, 15, 16 year olds, because we get more value and experience out of older workers. There are those aspects. I just want to make sure, would the Minister make sure that’s a component that they consider that reality and weigh the pros and cons of it? I’m not saying it has to be done, but I’d like to hear it evaluated.

Yes, certainly a briefing’s coming. Certainly those are the discussions I’m looking forward to discussing with the standing committee. By the sounds of it, there are some arguments that will come forward from the standing committee and I’m looking forward to hearing the arguments or support of the idea of moving forward. Again, the full document will be addressed at the standing committee and I’m looking forward to that.

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

Just to underscore the potential types of changes that can happen, small businesses have emphasized to me that this will have an impact on the younger workforce, which typically it’s their first job and that could be a shame. It will affect training.

The last point I want to emphasize is will the Minister consult with industry, reach out to the potential territorial chambers, whether it’s NWT chamber or Yellowknife chamber, to make sure they get input from these organizations? As wise as the standing committees are, they don’t know everything. The fact is that small business will give a perspective that’s probably very important to make sure that it’s considered in the evaluation and development of any future policy.

Again, those are the information that will be shared with the standing committee. We’ve consulted with various groups, the small businesses, how many small businesses will be impacted, how many businesses are supporting this initiative. Those are the stats we want to share with the standing committee. We’ve been waiting for some time now and we want to proceed with this, so we’ll gladly share that information with the standing committee.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

I also want to weigh in on this issue of the minimum wage. I’ll keep my question short. I’d like to ask the Minister of ECE,

where does the Northwest Territories rank in terms of the minimum wage in Canada? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Our minimum wage, the last time it was increased was 2003, and across the national globe we’re not the last. There are different minimum wages across Canada and we’re roughly around the tenth province or territory that has $8.25 minimum wage. The highest, I guess you can say, would be around $10 an hour. So there’s a difference in those areas. Those are the types of discussions that we’ll be having with the standing committee. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The time for oral questions has expired; however, I will allow the Member a supplementary question. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you. I’ll make this my final supplementary. Would the Minister avail himself of a recent article which I read which was in something put out by, I think, the Fraser Institute? It’s called the Fraser Forum. What it did is compiled all of the impacts of raising minimum wage in jurisdictions across Canada and it equates it to the number of jobs that were lost in those particular sectors for young workers and, in some cases, also for foreign workers who are domestic help. Most of the domestic help that comes to this country works in families’ homes caring for their children and they are paid the minimum wage in that jurisdiction. Then, of course, there are legislated deductions such as accommodation and so on. But those particular sectors, how they were impacted. I was very interested in this article and I would like to ask the Minister if he and his department would avail themselves of those statistics and that information that was compiled in considering the issue of the minimum wage. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we are open to other considerations, whether it be the Fraser Institute, the northern businesses, nationally. So we would like to compare our stats with the other jurisdictions. So I welcome those comments and we’ll certainly look into those matters before we meet with the standing committee. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

1. In 2008-2009, what trips were made to

Tsiigehtchic by the various health and social professions from the Beaufort-Delta Regional Health and Social Services Authority? Please identify the professionals by title, the date of the visit and the number of hours spent with patients.

2. In 2008-2009, for each vacant position in the

Beaufort-Delta Regional Health and Social Services Authority, how were the compensation and benefit funds allocated for those positions in the 2008-2009 budget spent?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document titled Aurora College Annual Report, 2007-2008. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table notifications that were posted in the community of Tsiigehtchic notifying the community of services from Health and Social Services in the community of Tsiigehtchic.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 1-16(4), NWT Capital Estimates 2010-2011, with Mr. Krutko in the chair.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. In Committee of the Whole we have Tabled Document 1-16(4), NWT Capital Estimates 2010-2011. What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe the wish of the committee today is to start with the NWT Capital Estimates 2010-2011 discussion, and we would like to start with the Department of ENR and then move on to the Department of Department of ITI.

Does committee agree?