Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the 3,500 or so employees in Yellowknife at $6,000 per capita doesn't compare to one employee at $17,000 per capita in Lutselk'e. That is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about taking government positions and moving them to the communities so people in those communities don't have to live in a welfare state managed by regional centres or the capital of the Northwest Territories. If we expect the mines, force the mines to break up their contract and hire people from different communities, I expect the government should be able follow suit and follow their own example by breaking up the contracts for regional institutions or territorial institutions so that people in the communities can benefit. That is what I'm talking about, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if he is not going to bring people in from those communities, would he consider putting these territorial institutions in the different communities so that those communities could benefit from our needs as well? Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a representative of a small community that doesn't see these territorial institutions being put in their communities, these benefits don't accrue to them. Only if you are sick are you sent to the hospital. Only if you get into legal trouble are you sent to institutions that will house you for awhile. So, I don't agree with that philosophy. I think that the Minister should try to break up some of these positions, farming them out to the communities so that everybody could benefit from it. Maybe service providers and product providers could be farmed out to the communities. Would the Minister consider breaking down the contracts so that small communities and small businesses could provide those services or products? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these territorial institutions that provide services to everybody in the Northwest Territories do benefit the people of the Northwest Territories. They provide valuable services. Mr. Speaker, too often we stand up here in the House saying that we don't have enough in our communities and that we regionalize it. I'd like to ask the Minister if the government has ever considered the example of the mining companies, using the people of the communities to be employed in these regional or territorial institutions that provide services to all members of our population. Similar to what the mines do, these institutions work on rotation. Has the Minister ever considered hiring people from those communities so that we could spread the wealth around? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi Cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the public service in his role as chairman of the Financial Management Board, Mr. Handley. Mr. Speaker, we recognize there are a lot of problems in the Northwest Territories. We have a social agenda for that. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, how we handle those dollars is, we give it to NGOs and for my buck there is not enough bang in our communities.

I'd like to ask the Minister, we know there are no fewer than 15 public institutions, territorial institutions, in the capital and the regional centers. I'd like to ask the Minister; what are we talking about in terms of numbers of employees and the staff benefits to our jobs and businesses that supply these institutions such as the hospitals and correctional centres. There are spin offs and opportunities for businesses in those communities so, if the Minister could give us an idea of how many people work in these institutions and the spin off benefits? I don't want an exact number, just a general number. Thank you Mr. Chairman, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to talk about something good for a change in this House.

---Applause

I would like to congratulate a constituent of mine, Grant Giroux who partnered with Carter Industries to provide a unique opportunity to work towards his journeyman certification. He started a joint venture company to provide heavy equipment training in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, in this unprecedented time of development, this kind of entrepreneurial spirit is what's going to make sure that we, as a society, benefit the most in our non-renewable resource development. They joined forces to offer people in the North a heavy equipment operation journeyman apprenticeship program; Grant, a certified heavy equipment trainer, and Carter Industries, a northern company that has been operating for over 30 years in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to also inform the House that our government has participated a great deal in this area. The departments of RWED and Education, Culture and Employment have supported this joint venture. It's this kind of collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit that's going to make their model a reality. Their motto is "Together we can Make a Brighter Future for the People and For the Business of the NWT." Mr. Speaker, they offer a program where, instead of going to Fort Smith, they will come to you. If you have a project in Lutselk'e, Wha Ti or Tsiigehtchic, and you want heavy equipment operation trainers, they will come to you. This is the beauty of this business. They will provide a service, they make money and they provide viable training and apprenticeship hours, so our northern workforce are certified and benefit to the maximum that's available to them. I would like to congratulate Carter Industries and Mr. Grant Giroux. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sometimes I think this government should use the number of hours used as a statistic instead of percentage of employees, especially in the area of affirmative action. However, Mr. Chairman, four of us, including yourself, when we exclude Cabinet, represent 28 communities. Yet, we don't have much more resources than those Members who represent one community or one community having seven Members. It takes a considerable amount of time, energy and resources to represent all those people, all those communities and all those interest groups.

For that reason, Mr. Chairman, I encourage the Speaker as chairman of the Board of Management to look at ways to improve our budget, so we can have people employed in each of our communities that we represent, so we could bring information from those communities and we could send information through the constituency assistants to the Members of our communities. Not only political direction but if RWED has a new program, we could inform our constituents through that office. If Education, Culture and Employment has a new program, we could inform our constituents through that office. Currently it's very difficult to do that. A lot of us at this time of the year have to consider laying off staff members that we have. We usually have one here in Yellowknife. It's not equitable to hire one staff member in Res and not one in Lutselk'e. If a person like yourself Mr. Chairman, represents three communities, you can't hire three people in each community because you don't have the budget. I think it's high time to recognize the workload that each Member has in their representation.

I don't know how many times we have said in this House we are experiencing unprecedented levels of development, political development. I have an Akaitcho Territory negotiating implementation of treaty. It's a government-to-government relationship with this government and the federal government. I represent the Metis Nation of the NWT. They are doing the same thing. I have three diamond mines in my constituency. We have a pipeline going down the Mackenzie Valley. We have all kinds of other developments. That takes our time. We just finished the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act. That took a lot of time. We had to create a special committee to review the relationship between this government and non-tax-based communities. That takes a lot of time. We just agreed to establish another community to look at harmonization a little closer. That's going to take time. That takes time away from our families and our constituents. I think it's only fair that this government recognizes it. The Members need the resources, so the Members can do the jobs they got hired and elected to do. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I certainly appreciate the support from Members on this side of the House on my request for consideration of Pages being brought in from every community in the NWT. I think it's only fair that that's done.

Mr. Chairman, in the last little while we have been arguing quite passionately over harmonization policy. I have asked every department about their employees in the communities. I won't make the Speaker and the Legislative Assembly an exception, so I will ask the Speaker how many employees does this Legislative Assembly have in our communities? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, if the Yellowknife Members want to help babysit my constituents who provide the same services that their constituents do, then maybe I will agree to that but this is just another example of the blatant inequality of how this government provides services to the communities. Why should I be responsible for babysitting my constituents so that they could provide a service in this House when five other young students are here at no expense to their Members? Not a dime, not time, no responsibility. Again, how do you justify an institution that is territorial to benefit only a select few? I'm a busy man, Mr. Chairman. I have a meeting after this. I have a person waiting for me to finish here so I can go meet with him tonight. I have meetings first thing in the morning. A Minister who's got a responsibility to a department and the entire Cabinet is very busy. Do you think they have time to babysit? Should they be responsible to take care of people that are students that provide us services? Can we expect them and ask them to do so? It's restricting me; it's restricting an opportunity for my constituents to participate in this House and the procedures of this House. I do believe that it is the Legislative Assembly's responsibility. If they are going to make that opportunity available to students in Yellowknife, then it is only right, if not a human right, if not a legislative right but it is the right thing to do to make those same opportunities for my constituent and every other constituency in Northwest Territories, not just Yellowknife.

It should have to depend on the participation of their Members. The Members are here to represent their constituents in matters of politics and all areas. We shouldn't have to take on the added responsibility that other Members get for free. I represent two communities and by extension I represent three, four political bodies. That's a lot of responsibility. Some Members represent four, five and six communities. That's a lot of responsibility. Well we have seven Members here that represent one community and they get this for free. Where is the equity in this? Where is the fairness in this? No, I don't agree with the Speaker. It should not be the responsibility of their MLAs, it should be the responsibility of the Legislative Assembly and if they intend to go along with this, then I have to assist...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, you and my colleagues would probably agree with me that there is some inequity here. We're a territorial institution, this is the house of the people. What happens in here affects everybody and why shouldn't the students in my communities or from Holman Island, Fort Smith, Wrigley, Jean Marie River, Fort Good Hope, Tu Nedhe have the same opportunity as a student that is living in Yellowknife to come here and experience how their government provides program and services to them. This house should be an example, not a restriction, to these students. Those kinds of programs make a world of difference to a little girl or a little boy. These kind of little things would motivate a student to work hard all year to achieve the grades they need so that they could qualify to come here for a week. I ask, Mr. Chairman, that the Speaker direct his staff to remedy the inequity on this issue here. I would like to have the same opportunity for my students to come here and serve us in this House, the same opportunity as a student has in Yellowknife, and why don't I have the same responsibility as a Member from Yellowknife when the students from my schools come here? I shouldn't have to take responsibility for my student, who is a Northwest Territories resident, to serve his Member here in the House. It should be the responsibility of the Legislature. They should take on that responsibility and any liability that goes along with it. That's the right thing to do, Mr. Speaker or Mr. Chairman, I mean. I apologize.