Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister assure me that if consultations have not taken place that they will, and that the community leaders will be involved if there should be a change in status regarding this particular operation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again in reference to my Members' statement, I referred to consultation and empowering communities and so on. Can the Minister tell me whether there have been any discussions or dialogue with the hamlet or the community leaders regarding the change in status of the classification of this particular building? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The contract I'm referring to is the awarding of the Baker Lake group home project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minster of Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me whether or not the department applied the northern preference policy while making the selection for this award? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased to hear that. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister review the current remuneration rates of SFA to ensure that students are receiving enough to live on?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Mr.

Speaker, in reference to my Member's statement, I wish to ask the Minister if he was aware of the Baker Lake group home contract prior to the contract being awarded; and, if so, it he would kindly justify to this House the rationale behind the award. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other local bids may not have been perfect, but surely some accommodation could have been made to allow local people to run this particular group home. Mr. Speaker, another equally disturbing fact is that the party that won the award was not the low bidder, but was higher by approximately $60,000. Mr. Speaker, in times of fiscal restraint with a looming deficit of $150 million and a commitment by this government for community empowerment, how could this contract be awarded and justified? Mr. Speaker, I will ask further questions during question period regarding this issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on numerous occasions government has referred to its commitment to buy northern and hire northern through such initiatives as the business incentive policy, the architect and engineering policy with DPW and the affirmative action policy and, Mr. Speaker, in more generic terms, the northern preference policy.

Mr. Speaker, the community transfer initiative, CTI, has been established for a number of reasons, but its primary purpose was to turn over more responsibilities to the hamlets so the communities could have more say in the running of their community.

Mr. Speaker, the overall goal is to empower the communities. I applaud the previously mentioned initiatives, but they cannot be effective if there isn't open and honest dialogue. Mr. Speaker, I believe that this government must take the time to listen more attentively to the concerns and recommendations from each community. Mr. Speaker, I have some serious concerns in my riding of Kivallivik regarding how committed some government departments are in terms of the concerns and recommendations, for example, from Arviat and Baker Lake.

Mr. Speaker, a case in point was the recent awarding of a contract for the running of the group home in Baker Lake. Mr. Speaker, prior to the contract being awarded, I approached the Minister of Health and Social Services on a number of occasions regarding the community's wish to have the group home run by local people as opposed to outsiders. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, my request was not honoured as the contract was awarded without my knowledge and I found out after the fact by one of our local community members.

Mr. Speaker, the real concern here is that the contract was awarded to an outside or southern company without much thought or consideration for the other local groups that applied. Mr. Speaker, the local bids may not have been perfect, but Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to continue my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister of Public Works come back to the House with the results of this decision? Thank you.