Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I raised the possibility that the reason the law bursary program failed to encourage any recipients to return north to article and practise law may have been related to the lack of attention the department paid to the recipients and the program in general. Can the Minister of Justice inform this Assembly whether, once the department realized the law bursary program wasn’t meeting its intent…? Did the department examine the program with a view to improving it so it would meet its objectives?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is right in saying there is no resolution. It gets talked about year after year. And in support of, and in fairness to, all seniors of the Northwest Territories, what is it going to take to arrive at that political direction? I believe it is an urgent matter of this government. It should be a very high priority.

Mr. Speaker, on the other hand, we know that we have many seniors who are over the age of 60 who live in their own accommodation independently and who would benefit greatly from some greater support. Is there a plan in the NWT Housing Corporation or a way that somehow we could close the gap between giving one segment everything and giving others such a small amount that it really isn’t going to make the difference for them with the rising cost of utilities?

Mr. Speaker, when students take up studies in the area of law or medicine, these are more costly than other academic fields. Although our SFA support is very generous, it’s not generous enough when your tuition is $10,000 a year for law school and the cost of books is $1,000 a year.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot conceive of this government discontinuing support to someone who’s already out and going to law school, wanting to complete their studies. What if other areas of scholarships or foundation support don’t come through? Is the Minister suggesting that the student, if they don’t have the financial...

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, I have a constituent who is currently in their second year, who is in law school because of the bursary program, and has not heard back from the GNWT Department of Justice about articling or summer employment opportunities. It just seems ironic that we’ve had limited success so therefore let’s just pull the rug out from under the whole thing. What about the students who are currently enrolled in law school, who are depending on the law bursary program to conclude their studies?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week during the review of the Main Estimates for the Department of Justice we discussed the government’s plan to eliminate the law bursary program for aboriginal students.

Mr. Speaker, the department’s reasoning for the reductions centred on the reality that very few of the students who had received the bursary returned to the North to work after completing law school and that the department would not be able to guarantee articling positions and summer employment opportunities.

I’m aware that the Standing Committee on Social Programs accepted at face value and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In keeping with what would be the normal turnaround time required for a piece of legislation like this, I'd like to ask the Minister: is there any way to fast-track this? If there is, when could we possibly see this legislation work concluded and this bill passed in the House?

Mr. Speaker, we’re all aware in this House of some of the pressures that have been on the resources and the capacity that we have to draft new legislation and get it enacted. I’d like to ask the Minister if all the consultation and everything has already happened that would allow this legislation to go forward and if it will be given priority status.

Mr. Speaker, as we are all aware, there are a number of issues which impact on our ability as a territory to attract and retain physicians for our communities. There is competition for doctors’ services both at the national and international levels. This means we have to be realistic in wages that we pay doctors and offer the same incentives and inducements that other jurisdictions provide.

For the most part we are competitive. We can promote the positive lifestyle and virtues of living in smaller communities all we want, but if doctors can easily make more money in another jurisdiction, we...