Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I seek unanimous consent to finish my comments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll be speaking in favour of the motion. I think what my honourable colleague, Mr. Allen, brought forward is an ambitious idea that probably has been dreamt about for many years, since the origin of the Northwest Territories, which goes back several hundreds of years. Mr. Speaker, I truly believe nothing ventured, nothing gained. I think this is an opportunity to fully get this discussion on the table. It may not be realized by Canada through fruition, yet if we don't ask the question they can't say no. So by moving forward with this motion, at least we can deal with the question openly and honestly.

So this is truly, as I see it, the first step towards us taking control, taking management of our territory, versus a bureaucracy or a department managing the Northwest Territories for us. Mr. Speaker, some may say the impacts of us stepping forward as a province would be detrimental. I have to say from my position of being very new to the concept of us stepping forward to become a province, I can't give you all the answers here today. What I can say is there are provinces out there like Newfoundland. Newfoundland moved forward, they created an Atlantic Accord, they can have control and work with other organizations over their resources. There are other organizations...Mr. Speaker, I'm having difficulty. If you could...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to table, for the record, the Members' Conduct Guidelines for the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time I'd like to recognize my constituent assistant's parents. Although they're not constituents of mine, they hail from Capreol, Ontario, and they're here in the Northwest Territories visiting my assistant. Their names are Gerry and Mary Lynn Sorel. Formally, I have to say that I'm not supposed to mention that Julie forgot to pick up them up at the airport, so nobody tell her I said that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter

---Applause

Thank you, colleagues, for showing your support of that Minister, I am sure. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to thank the government for taking the initiative of creating this legal aid clinic. I could truly believe that there will be a new functional legal aid clinic that would bring much needed program and progress for our community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk today about the strategic plan of this government presented by the honourable Premier, Mr. Handley, on May 26th. In previous sessions, I presented the issue of legal aid as one of my highest priorities. I

repeatedly mentioned there are constituents of mine who have waited over six months to receive assistance. I believe that this period is too long to expect families in crisis to wait. I am pleased that the government agrees with my position. Mr. Handley announced that, during the presentation of the strategic plan, and I quote, "We will be seeking supplementary funding during the current session to open a separate legal aid clinic dedicated to family law." The government's position on legal aid, the steps that are being taken to lessen the waiting time to receive assistance, as well as their commitment for a fall implementation is, in my opinion, very commendable.

Mr. Speaker, I further would like to note that I will formally put this government on notice that for the next little while I will not be pounding my fist on the legislature's table, because I truly have seen positive action to deal with this crisis. So, Mr. Speaker, I will be off dealing with other burning bushes.

---Laughter

We will see what comes from there. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I will say that I truly and humbly look forward to working with the Minister of Justice because he truly is a Minister who will work with Regular Members on any legal aid progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the willingness, Mr. Minister, I can hear in your voice to address this matter. Mr. Speaker, I guess lastly, does the Minister consider it serious that a signed contract is broken? Does the Minister take that very seriously? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'd like to thank the Minister as well. Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to describe here is we have a signed contract where students are supposed to receive 10 payments, but they are receiving nine. They are officially being cut off, and it has been put into writing because technically they are one day short of attendance into the June month period. So they are attending five days, whereas they need to be attending six days to receive any money. So that was the reason they are being cut off from any future payments. Would the Minister commit today to investigating and addressing this situation that I have described here, where we have students in the middle of their exams and this support is needed at this time? Would he consider reinstating a signed contract for the original loan amount? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what efforts his department takes to warn students that the amount of their loans may be reduced later on in the year, and what do they do to notify students on a timely basis that their loan amounts may be addressed? What notice do they provide if any? Thank you.