Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 05/99) - MLAs were in no hurry to wrap up the debate on education before the legislature adjourned for a one-week break Friday.

Hay River MLA Jane Groenewegen said Tuesday that, for several reasons, legislators continued to discuss the contentious education allocation of the budget rather than wrap things up.

"There was some reluctance to complete the discussion of education with some of the members not there," she said, "and we wanted to do more research, and several members are holding constituency meetings this week."

Groenwegen said she'll meet with her riding residents Thursday night and said Eduction Minister Michael Miltenberger will meet with his own Thebacha constituents Wednesday.

"It was unfortunate that with the speaker gone, it took David Krutko out of the mix," she said.

Show me the money

The topic of money and how to get it is dominating Question Period in the assembly as MLAs debate the new territorial budget.

Following in the wake of Finance Minister Charles Dent's April 19 budget speech, members continue to criticize the lack of money available for education, health and social services programs. Targeting Premier Jim Antoine on Thursday, MLAs Jane Groenewegen, Seamus Henry and Jake Ootes questioned what the government was actively doing to rectify the current predicament and to plan for the future.

"Many people across the territory are asking for more money for education," said Groenewegen. "I would like to ask the premier if cabinet can take a concise look at the budget as a whole, and examine every department with the possibility of shaving one to one-and-a-half per cent off every department to put a real boost into education."

Antoine replied that any such examination would have to be done with next year's budget in mind. He said that with the recent departure of Nunavut, the government had to focus on the new West before cuts could be made.

"We have to take a real good look at what we have in the West," he said, "our resources, and how we can best take advantage of them."

Ootes questioned the premier on the practicality of his proposed Northern Accord -- a planned agreement between the government and aboriginal groups to wrestle control of the territory's resources away from the federal government.

"There have been no agreements or arrangements to date," said Antoine in reply, before adding, "but there are positive signs...(and) we may have substantial progress before the next budget."

The MLAs then got specific with ideas on how the premier and his cabinet could tighten the government's belt. Henry suggested travelling by excursion instead of paying full fare and Groenewegen said paperwork should be decreased and more documents should be made available on-line.

Finally, Groenewegen also raised the issue of the proposed ministers' forum on health and social services. She argued it made little financial sense when many problems that require attention, and that require money, are already known. She suggested that cabinet consult more with assembly members before financing more community consultation.

But Antoine said the forum would proceed and may result in lucrative information.

"Perhaps the ministers' forum is a way of finding more dollars," he said.

Yellowknifers make claims

As Yellowknife MLAs hunt for ways to cut government costs and free up funding for education and social services, they've come up with some novel suggestions.

Yellowknife South MLA Seamus Henry suggested Friday that a lot of the unnecessary paperwork MLA Jane Groenewegen had criticized might simply be eliminated.

"The amount of paperwork is phenomenal and it is stored in warehouses on Old Airport Road and in buildings in Inuvik and Hay River and it costs money for that storage," he said, "but there are companies out there that can provide microfiche (copies) of documents."

As his part of his contribution to the belt-tightening process, Yellowknife Centre MLA Jake Ootes suggested the $5,000 maximum limit for which parties can pursue claims through small claims court should be raised.

"I've always heard that if the claim is for $5,500, you can't go there but have to get lawyers," he said.

Ootes argued that by raising the limit, more parties could pursue claims on their own and the government would save court costs.

Justice Minister Stephen Kakfwi told Ootes he was open to considering the matter while Vince Steen, minister of municipal and community affairs, said the department would investigate Henry's suggestion.