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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.First of all, I’d like to thank the Member for asking that question, because this is a matter of follow-up from our previous visit to Fort Res and Lutselk’e. Of course, this is the responsibility of the district education authority at the community level, but I did meet with Lutselk’e and Fort Res, their DEAs, and we did talk about industrial arts and home economics. Those are the areas that we’ve been discussing, and we’ll continue to discuss that and where we go with it. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Will the Minister commit to continue to work with myself, the DEAs, the communities and, if need be, other Ministers to get this important initiative underway again if it’s further along the process as opposed to if it’s underway already? Thank you.

I agree with the Member that this is an important piece of work that is before us. Not only that, but the importance of technology programs into the schools, especially the most isolated communities. So the commitment of supporting DECs and DEAs, certainly we wish to offer more programs in these areas we fully support.

Mr. Speaker, there’s been some increase over the last year, ‘07-08 or ‘08-09, contributions to the school boards, increase in the O and M costs of funding to study facility needs in Lutselk’e. So those are areas that we’ve invested and we continue to invest in those areas. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

With respect to the immediate school year and aside from O and M, will the Minister commit to working with the Department of Public Works Minister to replace the existing equipment that’s in place as soon as possible by using some of the deferred maintenance money that has been identified for these schools? Thank you.

Mahsi. Certainly the Public Works and Services Minister...I will certainly be in touch with the department to find out the improvement of the facility, not only that, but the commitment to finding out about how this money can be used in the community. So certainly I’ll work with Minister McLeod in this area. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to identifying resources for this and get it into the capital plan as soon as possible within the GNWT’s infrastructure investment policies? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi. Since last month my Department of Education, Culture and Employment sent the school boards the document called NWT Career and Technology Student Success Initiative. This document is a ministerial handbook providing boards with information on how to apply for capital funding. So certainly this will be an area that the DEAs will work with and our Department of Education, Culture and Employment will certainly provide assistance in that area. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the commercial fishery. I speak about Hay River because I know it the best. I know there’s commercial fishery that goes on out of other areas too, including Yellowknife, but, Mr. Speaker, commercial fishing used to be a very big piece of a diversified economy in Hay River. It has dwindled down now to the point that I think we were talking this year about selling fishing licences, commercial fishing licences to people who are not even residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, there are many challenges, no doubt, with the fishing industry, but with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation I’m starting to agree with Mr. Alex Morin in Hay River: it was legislated poverty. With the costs of everything going up, diesel and labour and cost of equipment for the

fishermen, that those costs can go up, but the prices were low. No wonder the prices were low when we want to haul it all the way to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and store it in some deep freeze and then try and market it as a good and valuable product. We have an industry here which could be self-contained in the Northwest Territories but, like I said, the fishermen cannot be all things and I think that we should get away from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and this government should set up some kind of a cooperative that allows a fisherman to sell and even process their fish so that they can make a decent living on it and commercial fishing can once again become a viable industry in the Northwest Territories in its rightful place. What has the Minister of ITI got in mind to achieve that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Great Slave Lake fisheries is a very phenomenal resource for the Northwest Territories and the Department of ITI has been working very closely with the Fishermen’s Federation to find ways to make them more competitive and to increase production. More recently we’ve been working with them to examine alternative options to see how we can go forward with this. We’ve hired a management firm to undertake a strategy session and to develop strategies that we can go forward with. So we’ve been working very closely with the federation. Ultimately it will have to be a decision by the federation, but whatever decisions they make, we’re prepared to work closely with them. Thank you.

I wish I can remember how many strategies we’ve actually compiled regarding the commercial fishery on Great Slave Lake, but it’s been a few. We’ve had even someone seconded; I believe Beatrice Lepine was seconded and even looked at creating it as a specially designated type of fish that was high quality and sustainable. I don’t know where all that work...That was a year or two of work. I don’t know where all that went.

Mr. Speaker, it’s difficult to explain why the Fishermen’s Federation has never wanted to break away from FFMC, but might I speculate and say it would be very hard to depart from the devil that they knew and bite the hand that fed them, because each year when it was time to start up their fishery, that’s where they went for the advance and the funding to go buy some new nets and a bit of credit to buy some gas. So they were beholden to them because they didn’t have any other option. We need a different marketing option which ensures the best prices for the best product to the end user and that could be achieved within the mandate of this

government. Is there anything you’re looking forward to in the strategy, Mr. Speaker, that would encompass that? Thank you.

I think it’s more than having the Member buy a fishing boat, but we are looking at different ways. Certainly one of the themes that we’ve been talking about is to not only buy locally, but produce locally, and certainly we’ll be coming forward with some proposals that will allow us to go forward with using Great Slave fish much more in the Northwest Territories. So that’s one option and certainly other jurisdictions like Saskatchewan, for example, has opted out of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation model. So we are looking at all of those things and perhaps at the end of the day we may have to try to pursue all of those different avenues. I think the most important thing right now, though, is to find a way to increase the production of fish from Great Slave Lake. Thank you.

With all due respect, there’s no point in increasing the production or the harvesting of fish on Great Slave Lake if we don’t have a comprehensive plan to figure out how that translates into a good living for the people who are out there and engaged in this activity. That’s why I think the government needs to come up with a very comprehensive plan. Like I said, the fishermen cannot be the ones that are phoning up to a marketing desk and trying to find ways of processing and finding markets for that fish.

So to the issue of a comprehensive plan, and I applaud the Minister for undertaking another strategy, but the problem is that in the past every time the Fishermen’s Federation came to the government in despair, the government just threw them another bone. Oh, you want some new equipment? Oh here’s some new equipment. Oh, you want us to do another study on how to change the way we go about fishing? Oh, here is some money for a study. You want some money to subsidize your freight to market? Well, here’s a freight subsidy. And it’s never been comprehensive, it’s always been piecemeal; it’s always just throw them some quick answer. We need an in-house, made-in-the-Northwest Territories commercial fishing strategy that will allow us to have the product here, export the product and allow the fishermen to earn a good living. Does this strategy terms of reference include that? Thank you.

We’ve been working with the NWT Fishing Federation, we’ve developed a draft strategic plan. All the regional management people have met with the fishermen and have given direction to develop a final visioning and strategic plan that we would follow. There are certain steps that would have to be undertaken, like dealing with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Certainly we would have to look at existing

business models. Certainly I’d expect that there would be additional resources that would be required where we would have to get the support of the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the GNWT and does the Minister of ITI have the resources and will he commit the resources to see the revitalization of the commercial fishery on Great Slave Lake? Thank you.

We have developed the proposals and we are working to obtain the resources that will allow us to go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all I have to say I was quite amused to hear the Member’s statement, because just last Thursday in his first statement he thanked the government for some of the good work that the government has done, which included the Dementia Centre in Yellowknife and, Mr. Speaker, that is a Health and Social Services project. If he doesn’t know that, there’s a huge sign with my name on it and the government department. I’m sure there’s a thank you or acknowledgement letter somewhere, and the last time I checked I was the Minister of Health and Social Services that has been putting that project forward.

That project is on time, on budget and we’re going to create 28 beds to open in the spring. We’ve done a day centre that Members have thanked in the House publicly and we have a primary care clinic in Yellowknife that the department and myself, as the Minister, have worked hard on.

Mr. Speaker, I’m sure in the Member’s statement he read I think he’s quite confused about the difference between master plan, technical upgrades and planning study and I’d be happy to educate the Member on that in supplementaries. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.