Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member is asking that only northern contractors with residence in the North are allowed to bid, the answer would be no. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my understanding that in Quebec it is not an absolute policy to hire Quebec firms only. I will get that information and distribute it to Members. One thing we have to look at is what we are trying to achieve. It is always nice on paper to say "absolute northern contractors only," but will we be able to achieve it, and are we going to use our work force to police that and make sure that everybody does that, only tender in the Northwest Territories? Or should we use the work force we have to develop training programs and make sure our people are working? That is the question we all have to answer. We have only so many PYs, so what are we going to use them for? You know, either do something positive or just be a police force.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The past business incentive policy was to equalize and bring up to par northern businesses that have to compete with southern businesses. The business incentive policy, as far as I was concerned, was never there for training northern people, and that was the problem with that policy. We have to address the training of northern people in a different way for the simple reason that the percentage was not great enough to make sure that our people were getting trained.

We have been doing capital projects in the Northwest Territories for many years, and still the majority of the people that are working on those projects are coming from the South or from outside the community, and as far as I am concerned that is unacceptable. So we do have a plan, and we will be talking about it in this Legislative Assembly during this session, for how we are going to maximize the training, how we are going to get our people trained, how our people can take care of those jobs, so that money does not go to Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan or Newfoundland, or wherever it is going now, and stays in the Northwest Territories.

In the past Legislative Assembly, the people that know me know that I was a strong pusher for that, and I will continue to do that. We have to train our people and we have to ensure that they do have the jobs, and any policy we put in place has to reflect that. I will do that as Minister of DPW. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. By this session.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am committed to developing a range of policies that will meet the

end of what we tried to achieve in the last Legislative Assembly; that is, to maximize local labour in contracts and help Northerners to develop businesses. I think we can accomplish that with training programs in the communities by increasing the business incentive policy that now exists and making sure that people follow the rules. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any change to the legislation will be brought forward in this House, and all Members will have a chance to debate it and understand it. I think that should satisfy the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I became the Minister of Housing, one of the things which I noticed right away was the high cost of running the NWT Housing Corporation Board of Directors. It is a duplication of services. We have 11 Members in this House from the Eastern Arctic who can represent their areas quite well. I do not believe we need a board to have that input into the policy.

There are a lot of other avenues as well. There is a needs survey that is going to be done this year, which is done every three years. That needs survey is what drives your housing programs. Your communities are going to be responsible for doing it, and they are going to have input into doing it. They are going to be assisted by the NWT Housing Corporation. The communities will do the needs survey, and in that needs survey they will basically tell the Housing Corporation what types of houses they want; what types of designs they want; and how many bedrooms they need and when they need them. Everything is supposed to be delivered in a fair way to all of the communities in the Northwest Territories, whether you are in the East or the West. Everything is judged on need.

I can assure the Member that the smaller communities will get their housing, because the needs survey will indicate that they are in need of so many houses, whether it is 100 or 10, and they will get their fair share.

The amendment to legislation to protect the small communities will be done through the needs survey, because all of the communities will be treated equally. The Housing Corporation Board of Directors, right now, costs us $1.3 million, I believe, and it is a duplication of services. You have your housing authorities; housing associations that provide input at their level, up to our level; the MLAs; and the citizen who can pick up a phone and call the Minister's office. The MLAs can all call the Minister's office or walk across the street and visit the Minister and have their concerns expressed that way. I believe it is a duplication of service, and I would prefer to have the $1.3 million in my budget to deliver housing programs rather than continue to fund the board. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of the existing Board of Directors of the Housing Corporation provide only one avenue through which communities have

input into the housing policies and programs. The most important one is through MLAs through this House, with their direct access to the Minister. Direct approaches from citizens to the Ministers' offices is a common occurrence. So that approach is taken as well. The community level housing associations and authorities also provide important policy and program delivery input, as do the local community councils and other organizations.

The needs survey that is going to be done -- and it happens once every three years -- is also an important way of developing policy and programs. So there is a broad range of avenues open to the public to address policy and program issues, other than the board of directors.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. He will have it today.