Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak in favour of the National Childcare Program. Mr. Speaker, I am very excited about the debate going on across the country that has put this issue on top of the national agenda. This is long overdue, and I strongly urge the federal government and all provincial and territorial governments, including this government, to apply all of their energy and commitment necessary to make this happen once and for all.

Mr. Speaker, a recent survey has shown that, in Canada, more than 50 percent of children are taken care of by a person or...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On the Minister’s opening statement, I have another question on the topic of insurance. The Minister’s statement speaks of increased funding of $530,000 for increased insurance cost. My question is not specific to that issue, but insurance in general. The AOC committee report spoke about the collaborative effort going on between the AOC members and the Minister to try to look at the rising cost of insurance and the whole general topic that I think we will be discussing more. My question to the Minister is whether or not there are any programs in the government...

 Thank you, Mr. Speaker.  Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and have Committee Report 11-15(3) moved into Committee of the Whole for Monday, February 14, 2005. Thank you.

Is there not room for a $1 million gym for one community that has no indoor facilities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suggest that there is a lot of gap for him to close between getting up here and making a commitment to a gym willy-nilly and to plan something like this 17 years later. I think there is a lot of room there for him to close. Mr. Speaker, I’m not talking about federal funding and all the other stuff, but doing with what you have. We are talking $1 million. The Minister of Health and Social Services is talking about healthy living, active living, kids having a place. What are they supposed to do in the wintertime? I think this is more than just the recreational…

Let me correct the hospital, to read health centre; sorry. Mr. Speaker, let me be really serious. I can see the planning process, but my understanding is that there is no gymnasium planned for Nahanni Butte until 2017. I would say, Mr. Speaker, that is taking planning a little far there. That is 12 years from now. That's not acceptable. There has to be a better way to plan this. Mr. Speaker, I remind the Minister when he was on this side of the floor, he talked non-stop about the need…

…that there is no indoor gymnasium in any community in our territory, Mr. Speaker. What is our criteria? There should be no community with no gym, and that's the case with Nahanni Butte. What are the children of Nahanni Butte supposed to do in the thick of the winter months? Mr. Speaker, apparently in the North you have to go to jail to get a good gym.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as always, there is no shortage of big issues to talk about here but, this being a Friday, I would like to join in on the actions of the Member for Nahendeh…

---Applause

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would also like to offer a few comments on the budget. Yesterday I made a statement about the fact that this is overall a good budget. It certainly is not as gloomy as the one we heard last year. It was very depressing to watch the Minister of Finance last year going on and on about what a dire situation we were in. But to his credit he’s worked hard, and Cabinet and everyone else, to get to where we are, and the fact that we got some extra money from the federal government and that took a lot of work on the part of the Cabinet Members, as well as the Premier and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister has the need to lump this project with every other capital project need and I think that is where the mistake is, Mr. Speaker. We are talking about a very few communities in the Territories with no indoor facility, and even I know, as a Member from the largest city in the Territories, that an indoor gym is more than an indoor gym in communities. That is where they have tea dances and they have their meetings and it’s where the communities gather. So I am saying don’t lump them up with the big places like Wha Ti and Gameti in this context. We are...