Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 21/00) - The honeymoon officially ends tomorrow.

Members of the legislative assembly have had time to get to know each other, identify priorities, set up committees and establish strategies. Now it's time to get down to business of legislating.

The second session of the 14th NWT legislative assembly begins 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Yellowknife.

Topping the government's "To Do" list is introducing amendments to the Education Act that will incorporate changes agreed to in the new collective agreement with the NWT Teachers' Association.

Those changes include reducing the student to teacher ratio, increasing support for special needs students, a professional allowance and increased Northern allowances for educators.

Finance Minister Joe Handley said the government will also be introducing a money bill to provide additional funding. It will be the third supplementary appropriation the government has introduced this year.

Handley said an interim appropriation, to keep government running between the March 31 end of fiscal year and the introduction of the next budget, expected in the spring or summer, will be introduced next sitting. That is scheduled to run from March 21-31.

Though the public portion of government business has been on hold since the election of the premier, cabinet and speaker, MLAs have kept busy.

Cabinet ministers have been getting briefed on their portfolios, hiring staff and establishing short and long-term game plans.

The cabinet huddle came on the heels of the Fort Providence caucus session in which all MLAs established a general plan to guide them through the next four years.

Members outside of cabinet are also planning.

On Friday and Saturday regular MLAs met to, among other things, organize a new standing committee system. MLAs will introduce a motion Tuesday asking the assembly to approve the new committee set-up.

Interim chairman of the regular members Charles Dent said MLAs are looking at a three-committee system.

"Part of (the reason for the change) is the change in the numbers of regular MLAs, (there are four fewer regular MLAs this time around), part of it is how we see our role and how we will function," said Dent.

Gone will be the ordinary members' caucus, which in the last assembly MLAs used to do overall and daily planning.

MLAs will recommend the establishment of a standing committee on accountability and oversights which will be similar to the old committee on government operations, overseeing broad issues like budget operations. All regular MLAs will sit on this committee, which will also fulfil the same purpose of the old ordinary members caucus.

MLAs will also recommend establishment of a standing committee on social programs, which will assume opposition responsibility for education culture and employment, health and social services, justice and the NWT Housing Corporation.

A standing committee on governance and economic development will round out the proposed system.

Dent emphasized MLAs are establishing their roles in the government and have yet to deal as group with political issues of the day.

He also said MLAs outside cabinet no longer want to be referred to as "Ordinary MLAs."

"We don't refer to ourselves that way any more," said Dent, saying non-cabinet members will be referred to as regular MLAs.