Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table the following document, tabled document 84-12(2), a listing of graduates from various Northwest Territories communities over the past five year period. This document was prepared by the Department of Education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister responsible for Education. As I mentioned earlier, I have been attempting to carry out some research into graduation patterns across the Northwest Territories. The department has been able to supply a listing of the total number of graduates from communities across the Northwest Territories, and I will table that later this afternoon.

However, I was amazed when someone told me that the department is unable to provide a breakdown, as to which of these students received an advanced diploma, and which received general diplomas. I was also surprised that neither the department, nor Akaitcho Hall, were able to supply the number of students from each community who were presently attending high school here in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I feel that this is fairly important information for the school system to be keeping. My question is, can the Minister indicate whether my understanding is correct? Is their record keeping so inadequate in the Department of Education, that even the most simple statistical breakdown is not available? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister request that his department undertake a review of the quality of academic preparations provided to the post-secondary students in Coppermine and Cambridge Bay to ensure that they are receiving the best possible preparation for high school? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question will be for the Minister of Education. Recently, I have done some research into the number of northern students graduating from high schools across the Northwest Territories. I have discovered that students from some communities have been far less successful in achieving graduation, than those from other communities. For instance, I was dismayed to learn that over the past five years, only seven students from Cambridge Bay have graduated and there have been only two students from Coppermine in the past five years.

In contrast, there have been 13 graduates from Tuktoyaktuk, and the same number from Fort Simpson. I know that there are many bright and hard working youngsters in both Coppermine and Cambridge Bay. I have wondered whether the difference in graduation rates exist because they are receiving less than adequate preparation for high school in these communities? My question is, can the Minister assure this House that he does not support the concept of double standards where students in some communities receive better access to an elementary and junior high education than others?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister responsible for Government Services and Public Works. For the past several months, I have been attempting to acquire a copy of certain leases which the government has entered into with private property holders in my constituency. Senior officials in the Department of Public Works have repeatedly stated that the government has not been inclined to permit the release of these leases to Members of the Legislative Assembly, or that their policy on this matter is under review. I find this response absolutely unacceptable. The public, and its representatives in this House, should have every right to know how the government is spending its money when it enters into leasing arrangements. Mr. Speaker, my question is, will the Minister responsible for Government Service and Public Works advise the House whether he has established a policy which prohibits the release of leasing information to the public, or members of this House?

The standing committee felt that other reasons existed for the establishment of a regional presence by the Workers' Compensation Board just as it is important to ensure that trying to live and work in regional settings across the NWT understand the board. It is also important for the board to be familiar with the character and issues of the regions, this is particularly critical with respect to the boards current direction toward involvement in work place safety education.

The committee was concerned that the awareness of regional character and familiarity with work place issues of importance to residents outside Yellowknife is not currently present within the Workers' Compensation Board. The committee believed there is significant benefits to be gained by any territorial board that takes the time and makes the commitment to visit northern communities outside its home base. The opportunity to associate faces to voices heard over the telephone, to meet and communicate with community leaders and to obtain the first hand awareness of local plans and projects that will involve workers, are all factors that would enhance the performance of the Workers' Compensation Board.

A two way exchange of information in the establishment of relationships builds trust and confidence at the local and regional level and would go a long way to removing perceptions that the Workers' Compensation Board is a monolithic, distant administrative body.

The standing committee felt this as summed up well with comments made by the NWT Association of Municipalities during their public hearings: "I think that the WCB, which is appointed by the territorial government, had best be looking at its own organization. The Association of Municipalities moves its board around three times a year and even moved our annual general meeting this year. I think that, as an association, we recognize that here is our headquarters, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with spending the extra dollars to move the board around to get that kind of input."

The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions agrees that the benefits of first-hand experience outside the confines of Yellowknife and the Fort Smith Region, would greatly assist policy formulation and administrative decision-making within the board.

Motion To Accept Recommendation 7, Carried

Mr. Chairman, I move that the Workers' Compensation Board develop a strategy for meeting outside Yellowknife on several occasions over the course of each year to conduct business and acquaint itself with the issues and people of the regions.

Mr. Chairman. A properly funded outreach program utilizing the office of the workers' advisor would undoubtedly make progress toward increasing general awareness of the board and the principles on which workers' compensation is based. It would not, in most cases, address the needs of injured workers who have questions about information requirements or time lines; persons who do not speak or write English or employers who wish clarification on board policy. It is not sufficient to take the approach that these individuals should pick up the phone and call Yellowknife. Enhanced communication and understanding can be facilitated by ensuring that there is a regional resource person in place to assist perspective clients and to respond to general information with the press. Generally people feel more comfortable in asking and more confident in trusting a member of their own community or region than an official telephone in the capital city several thousands of kilometres away.

The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was of the opinion that the volume of requests for assistance or information in any one region would not justify the establishment of regional offices or the allocation of full-time personnel. However, the standing committee believed that there could be considerable promise in the concept of establishing agreements which would ensure that a resource person was available on an as needed basis in regional centres or larger communities. One approach might be for the Workers' Compensation Board to establish agreements with regional health boards and in some cases hospital boards to identify a senior nursing professional or other senior health care officials who could serve as a regional resource. Through a moratorium of understanding the health or hospital board would build a Workers' Compensation Board on a fee for service base for hours spent by the regional resource person in dealing with workers' compensation matters. This would have the advantage of placing in each region at minimal administrative costs, a knowledgeable resource person capable of serving as an information conduit and providing interpersonal support of both workers and employers.

Motion To Accept Recommendation 6, Carried

I move that the Workers' Compensation Board establish memoranda of understanding with regional health boards and hospital boards to provide resource and supportive services to regional clientele.

Mr. Chairman, part five, a regional presence for the Workers' Compensation Board. The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was concerned about the failure of the board to establish a profile outside of Yellowknife. The committee was made aware of the argument that because the majority of reported claims are

received from the Fort Smith region, the board must maintain its central location. However, it may be useful to know that the 1991 annual report tabled in the Legislative Assembly on June 22, 1992, showed that the proportion of claims from the Fort Smith Region has decreased from 67 per cent of the total in 1989, to 59 per cent of the total in 1991. Increases in the relative number of claims from the Kitikmeot and Baffin Regions were observed over the course of the same period. Only time will tell whether this is a signal of a shift in the proportional distribution of claims reported by the region.

The client service audit completed by the Workers' Compensation Board in February of 1991 indicates that, for the most part, there are few differences in the levels of satisfaction reported by workers and employers in various regions. However, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was concerned that workers in locations outside of Yellowknife may know less about the board and its services. Certainly the fact that northern communities outside Yellowknife has been almost non-existent by members of the board, and rare at best by staff, has provided little opportunity for this agency to develop a profile across the Northwest Territories.

The standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions has noted that one of the central goals of the Workers' Compensation Board is to communicate and promote an understanding of workers' compensation. The standing committee feels that new approaches will be necessary in order for the board to fulfill that goal in locations outside Yellowknife or the rest of the Fort Smith Region. The standing committee was concerned that in many communities across the Northwest Territories, neither the role nor the procedures of the Workers' Compensation Board are well understood. The organization is seen as large, depersonalized, and Yellowknife-based.

Part of the stated responsibility of the workers' advisors on workers' compensation matters, is to travel to communities outside the larger centres, and the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was concerned to learn that no specific budget had been allocated for this purpose. Discussion with the workers' advisor during public hearings revealed that outreach travel to smaller communities had not been possible to date. Recommendation 5, Mr. Chairman:

Motion To Accept Recommendation 5, Carried

I move that the role of the workers' advisor be clarified with respect to responsibilities for communicating and promoting and understanding of workers' compensation in communities across the Northwest Territories; and further, that adequate funding be allocated to support activities undertaken in this area by the workers' advisor.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today because I am thoroughly frustrated and dismayed with this government. Not only have the infrastructure needs of the Kitikmeot been overlooked in the Government Leader's New Directions initiative, but now contracts that should have come to local firms in my constituency have gone to companies from outside our region. I am speaking about a contract which was awarded to a Yellowknife firm for the building of the extension of the health centre in Coppermine. I am also aware that a contract for the extension of the school facilities went to a Yellowknife firm as well.

Mr. Speaker, this is despite the fact that there is a well respected and dependable company in Coppermine that has over 10 years of experience and a record of 80 per cent northern hiring in Coppermine. These decisions fly in the face of all the economic development strategies that this and the previous governments have brought forward. This government may speak nobly about now directions and about reshaping northern government. I am quickly coming to learn that this is just a lot of talk. I am quickly losing confidence with the sort of decision-making that we are seeing today, and I would like to point out they should do away with this old boys' club that the previous government had, and let us start treating everybody in the Territories more humanly. Thank you.