Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. I guess I would have to say that if there are changes being proposed, certainly summer students who are exiting at the end of August or early September of this year wouldn’t have been able to know what those changes are. So that was what I was referencing. I’d like to know from the Minister what plans are in place to communicate these changes, he’s mentioned that they’ll be dealing with managers and the managers that hire students and so on, but what kind of a communication plan is going to be in place to communicate these changes to the students? Thank you.

As of December 1st ,

students that are interested in working for the Government of the Northwest Territories can submit applications. I’d like to point out that all summer students want to work for the Government of the Northwest Territories, but certainly in working with Education and sending out material with regard to the hiring process, we can make that information available to summer students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Without knowing what the exact plan is...I did listen to the Member’s statement very closely as to some of the desires he has for the community. The Department of Health and Social Services does not normally fund O and M for multi-purpose facilities, but it does do work on providing services in mental health and wellness. As I mentioned earlier, we are working to strengthen the after-care program in Tuktoyaktuk, and there were some vacancies with the mental health and wellness worker, but we have worked over the last three or four months to staff that and I believe that position has been filled. So, obviously, I’m open to work with the Member on what we can do to assist. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

You know, if we were doing our job...I mean, the people of Tuk wouldn’t try to take it on themselves to do this in regard to what they’re trying to do and the programs they’re trying to run if it was being provided already. Again, I’d like to ask the Northwest Territories or the people in the...to know all the substance abuse treatment programs and return to their communities, live there, no support after treatment care. Will the government commit to breaking the cycle of the program’s revolving door pattern and provide the necessary resources for the community?

Yes, I’d like to recognize the community of Tuktoyaktuk for taking the plebiscite vote and deciding to make the community dry. We have received a letter from the community with their ideas and I am willing to work with the community and travel to the community. I’ve been trying to get to Tuktoyaktuk for a while and I’d be happy to get there whenever the Member would like to see me do that.

An after-care program, Mr. Speaker, is not necessarily about building another building. The after-care program is about assisting people to handle their day-to-day life in dealing with their addiction issues. So the department is there to consider any proposals that the community may have to address that.

You know, the Minister goes on to say providing a service in regard to having a satellite person of...Might as well put them on a screen on the TV and let’s sit the person down, an individual down to try to provide a service. That’s not right. The communities are lacking infrastructure with regard to...It’s not like Yellowknife where you could go out and you could go bowling or go to a movie. The people need to be helped here with something this small. In a Member’s statement today, BHP and the City of

Yellowknife made a big donation in regard to try to do something good for the people. Why can’t we do the same thing from the government to the people of the Nunakput?

For the record, I’d like to advise the Member that I am doing that exact thing for Tuktoyaktuk, if he would hear it. I’ve said that in my answer to MLA Yakeleya. We have a million dollars to do wellness programming in the Beaufort-Delta. The Member has indicated that that is not enough. So I have been working with IRC to create an after-care program. IRC has agreed to provide $100,000 and we are going to provide $100,000 a year; that’s $200,000. That is $25,000 more than what we are providing to BHP for the centre in Yellowknife. I have said that. So, Mr. Speaker, I think it’s clear that I have heard the Member, who has been telling me a lot about a lot more things we need to do for Tuktoyaktuk. I’ve been trying to get in partnership with IRC, and we have done that and we are about to make an announcement on that.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, the stuff that I’m bringing up, Ms. Minister, this is not only Tuk I’m talking about, I’m talking about all the communities I represent. The lack of infrastructure in the community and the lack of funding and the way the flow-through dollars are given to the community. So that’s one thing that should be looked at before we start throwing numbers around. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. I didn’t hear a question there. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue I raised today in my Member’s statement was talking about how government can do business wisely by stimulating the economy, but making sure that those dollars go out to do what they’re really intended to do.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, in the U.S. they saw loopholes, in New Brunswick they found and plugged some loopholes, and I just want to make sure that the Government of the Northwest Territories is plugging some loopholes.

Mr. Speaker, I’m going to ask my questions to the Minister of Finance because I think this rightly sits on his shoulders, although the Minister of ITI does manage the fund, but I think, really, the detailed work comes down to the Minister’s of Finance office and his people that would go through the due diligence of this type of lending practice.

So, Mr. Speaker, my question directly to the Minister of Finance is: what work is done to ensure that no layoffs and all Northwest Territories businesses are kept in good standing if we’re lending money to a corporation and making sure that our economy is healthy and, certainly, protected? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we work to support business, we look at revenues, we look at the security for the money that we’re going to lend. We recognize that the business sector is in trouble in the Northwest Territories. I indicated in my statement there is a 7 percent unemployment drop from one year to the next. So when it comes to the business that the Member referred to, I mean, there was a good decision made, money was lent, money that’s being repaid, the headquarters are being transferred, they’ve continued to thrive in spite of the economic recession that we’re under and, in fact, if that loan hadn’t been made, the Opportunities Fund would be losing money. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to know from the Finance Minister what loopholes can be closed under his authority to ensure that if we’re going to lend money out to these companies through this type of fund, that we make sure that they do not lay off northern employees and we have to make sure that they are certainly paying any liabilities off to partner northern companies to make sure they’re not left on the hook. While we give a big pile of cash to one company, other people are suffering. So I want to make sure these loopholes are closed. Is the Finance Minister today prepared to explain how they’re going to do this? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, when the loan was made there was rigorous due diligence done by a third party. An extensive time, effort and money was spent to do that. We’ve committed to work with committee. We sent them the request in the winter. We just got feedback on the Opportunities Fund to look for options of how we move forward. There are other applications out there and we are very concerned about making sure that we manage the public purse properly, that we do have due diligence, that we take every step necessary to support business, but in a way that’s going to allow us not to be able to recover and protect the investment so that we’re not on the hook for it. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this government’s on the hook if something happens to this loan. Mr. Speaker, all I’m asking for is if this government’s going to lend money through this flow-through Opportunities Fund, that it’s going to use due diligence to make sure that we put our finger down

and say, look, before you sign, you have to guarantee you’re not going to lay off employees as part of this recovery program, and you have to guarantee you’re ensuring that all liabilities are covered from Northwest Territories businesses’ point of view. So, Mr. Speaker, is the Finance Minister willing to take a look at the situation, to close those loopholes and, lastly, is he willing to call this company to make sure that they are not laying off northern employees, they’re considering, perhaps, southern employees or nobody, if that’s the case? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, if there are loopholes, of course, we’ll look at those. When you make a loan, that doesn’t mean you start running the business. We have conditions. There was due diligence, I think, very rigorous due diligence. In fact, I did talk to the folks in Discovery Air and, yes, there were some layoffs in the spring. Just about every business in the country has been struggling with the recession and the downturn. But in spite of that, the big indicators for us are the payments are being made, the other commitments that were agreed to are being followed through on, which is the moving of the headquarters and the staff from Ontario to Yellowknife. What we have is a thriving northern business with hundreds of employees of which, I would venture to say, without the support of the Opportunities Fund it would be debatable whether they’d be there in that form today. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not speaking to the issue of the Opportunities Fund and debating whether they deserved the loan or not. That’s not my issue. I’m not here to do the due diligence. That’s not my job. My job is to worry about people being laid off, and I think that should be your job over there too. Mr. Speaker, my job is to make sure that northern companies are being paid if government’s giving northern good money to companies to make sure they stay afloat. So, Mr. Speaker, the fact remains is this: will the Minister make sure that conditions going forward on any of these types of loans ensure that northern employment is protected and northern businesses are protected in the way that I talked about today? Thank you.

I think we’ve demonstrated our commitment to northern employment, to supporting northern business by that very loan where we now have hundreds of jobs that are still there in existence where it was debatable that they would be able to survive if we hadn’t been able to work with them to give them a loan. So, yes. I mean, when we go forward, we want to make sure we have a healthy, thriving private sector and if there’s money going to be lent

out of the fund, we’ll make sure due diligence is done, that if there are loopholes, they’ll be closed and, at the same time, that we don’t tie the hands of business by a set of restrictions that don’t allow them to do business. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.