Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 18/02) - The future of the NWT is so bright, Joe Handley may well be sporting shades rather than the traditional new shoes this week.

When the finance minister delivers his budget speech Wednesday he will be speaking to a territory enjoying one of the most prosperous periods in its history.

With oil and gas exploration taking off, a diamond staking rush under way, a Mack-enzie Valley pipeline a step closer to reality, business in the NWT is booming.

"It's an optimistic time, a time for us to roll up our sleeves and take ad-vantage of the opportunities," Handley said last Thursday.

The Wel-edeh MLA said one of the aims of the government in the coming year will be to ensure some of the prosperity rubs off on the social side.

"We have to make sure the little senior couple sitting in Deline realize some of the benefits," Handley said.

There have already been glimpses of what kind of social spending the budget will include.

Education, Culture and Employment Minister Jake Ootes indicated day-care funding will increase. Handley said the Northern Employment Program will continue.

There will likely be more money for education, as well. The government has committed to lowering the pupil-teacher ratio to 16.5:1 by next year.

Though the proposed highway toll will not reappear, look for the government to spend more on highways in the coming year.

Charles Dent knows what it is like to be in charge during the tough times.

The Frame Lake MLA was Education, Culture and Employment Minister and, after division, Finance Minister for the last government during a period of unprecedented budget slashing.

"Generally, we haven't seen any signals that there's going to be any dramatic cuts, so the issue is whether the spending is in the right places," Dent said.

Both Dent and Sandy Lee said they want to see the government move to increase the quality of education.

"I'm hoping we will see this year the funding for schools in excess of the legislation and (pupil-teacher) ratio requirements," Dent said.

Ootes' claim that the reduction of pupil student ratios is a year ahead of schedule does not jive with what Lee's seen.

"The classes are as big as ever," said the Range Lake MLA. "At Range Lake School its at 32 kids. That's almost unsafe."

For Great Slave MLA Bill Braden, housing will be the number one issue. Braden said he wants to see the Housing Corporation and Municipal and Community Affairs assist the city in developing the expensive sewer and water lines to support housing development.

"That would be my number one expectation, that we would see something there that would help us get caught up (with the housing demand)," Braden said.

Brendan Bell said his constituents will be looking for improvements to health care, particularly the release of a new action plan to be released by Minister Michael Miltenberger.

The Yellowknife South MLA said he, too, will be looking closely at pupil-teacher ratios and what the government is prepared to do, and spend, to reduce classroom sizes.

MLAs will also be raising issues particular to their constituency.

For Floyd Roland, that will means housing to go along with the new Aurora College campus in Inuvik. Construction is to begin this year, but in a tight housing market it's hard to imagine where the additional students will live, the Inuvik Boot Lake MLA said.

That's part of the larger issue of the territorial government's obligation to help municipalities, which Roland said are being "left out on a limb" when it comes to coping with development.

Roland also wants to see federal oil and gas positions that are moved north, located in areas such as Inuvik, where the oil and gas activity is occurring.

That touches on an issue Jane Groenewegen will be raising -- minimizing the development of have and have not regions.

"I want to talk about the government taking every opportunity to create equity in the pace of development that his happening in different regions," the Hay River MLA said.

There's also a chicken barn in Hay River that is causing residents some concern.

"Last year we had a very, very bad fly season and it may have something to do with having 45,000 chickens within a stone's throw of a residential area," Groenewegen said.