Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand that some parks employees are seasonal workers, and they put in so much overtime during the summer that they have to be kept on until past Christmas, sometimes, even though their actual job ends in October or whatever. They are still being paid because they've put in so much overtime. Perhaps if that wasn't the case, we wouldn't be needing to spend another $14,000. We could use that money for those various materials and goods for sale to tourists and park users. Is there any plan in place to offset the way that people are putting in overtime in the parks in the summertime?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Regarding the Mortgage Investment Corporation for $500,000, could we get an explanation what this Mortgage Investment Corporation does and an explanation of the $500,000 please?

Thank you, Madam Chair. The review of this supplementary appropriation is noteworthy for two reasons: first, it represents the first time that a supplementary appropriation has been reviewed by the newly-formed standing committees on Social Programs, Infrastructure and Resource Management and Development; second, for those 14 new Members on those committees, it represents the first time they have had the opportunity to perform such a review.

One prominent theme was common to all three of the envelope standing committees. Committee Members expressed serious concern about poor planning and budgeting on the government's part, especially as reflected by the use of special warrants.

Throughout the reviews, Members expressed misgivings about the nature of the supplementary funding requested by the government. Too often, the items listed appeared to reflect poor planning by government departments, rather than legitimate requests for supplementary funding to cover emergencies, unforeseen circumstances or approved new programs. For example, Members of the Standing Committee on Resource Management and Development noted that special warrants allow the government to make emergency

expenditures without approval of the Legislative Assembly. Committee Members were concerned and noted that most, if not all, of the special warrant items brought forward were not of a particularly urgent nature.

Madam Chair, Government Operations has similar misgivings. It appears that some departments may be using supplementary funding to fund items that this House may not necessarily approve of. The Members of the envelope standing committees and the Standing Committee on Government Operations intend to be very critical of any further requests for supplementary funding that represent poor planning by government departments.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations intends to arrange a meeting with the Minister of Finance in the near future. This meeting will specifically address the issue of supplementary funding and special warrants and the protocols with which these issues will be reviewed by the standing committees.

Now to cover the issues reviewed by the Standing Committee on Social Programs, I would like to ask the chairman of that committee, Mr. Enuaraq to continue.

Standing Committee On Social Programs Comments

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to indicate that I don't appreciate calls for a question that are happening so quickly. Many people don't understand what's going on here.

I, too, am concerned that a lot of people may be pulled out of the bargaining unit by being classified as essential people. I need to be reassured that this is not a ploy to do that. We have heard reports that perhaps up to 30 per cent of employees may be classified as essential or unable to participate in strikes. I need to be reassured that this is not the case. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The funds that are being expended towards this program, are those territorial government funding or is that through, perhaps, Gwich'in land claims funding or is this being done through some type of a third-party contract that the college often enters into?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education. The Minister had indicated in his presentation earlier that Aurora Campus was involved in community wellness worker training. I'm just wondering if this would only be offered at the Aurora Campus or is this being looked at throughout the Northwest Territories. I know that the community wellness strategy is a Territories-wide strategy and it would be a shame if the other communities were not allowed to train workers in this area as well. Is this initiative being looked at Territories-wide?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the course of my consultations during my campaign, I spoke to many people and some of them mentioned the possibility of starting a mining school in Yellowknife. My question is to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources. As there is only one mining school in Canada and mining plays such a very important role in our lives, I'm wondering if the Minister has ever considered putting forward some resources to starting a mining school that would train northern people to work in the northern mines. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In working with the Social Programs committee, I would ask that the Minister attempt to find a program that is a little bit simpler than the one that has been used in the past where it's difficult to qualify and many people do not want to go to upgrading if it means having to be on social assistance.

A lot of the students in Yellowknife, for instance, have said that I'm going to school to get off social assistance. I don't want to have the stigma of having to be on social assistance while I'm in school. So can we at least change the name of the allowances that the students receive instead of being on social assistance; call it some kind of an education allowance or some other type of income support. And can we make it a little bit simpler? I might suggest that we work with the people who are currently using Pathways' dollars to ensure that these programs are implemented in as many communities as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Education. This is in relation to adult education. According to studies that the GNWT has done, the majority of aboriginal people drop out of school around the grade 9 level. As a result, many of those people usually go onto social assistance, and also they are more likely to be incarcerated and place a greater burden on our resources. I would like to see more emphasis placed on adult education so that we can help these people who have dropped out of school for one reason or another. It seems that some areas are more lucky than others as far as having base-funded adult educators in their communities, and other communities have to scramble to maintain an adult educator from whatever source possible and then to get allowances for their students. I would ask the Minister if there is any way that we can place adult educators in all the communities where the numbers of student warrant it. Thank you.