Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. I will turn it over to Mr. McLeod, Premier candidate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. I guess the three areas that are in transition that I think it's very important for us to follow through on, the first one is on selective infrastructure funding. There were projects that were in the hopper, specifically the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Whati all-weather road, the Slave Geological Province overland route extension. We want to follow up to make sure those funds and infrastructure money are identified with and dealt with.

In the second bundle of infrastructure projects there is the Canyon Creek project. I would like to see that addressed.

Another area that we were not able to finalize when we came to the end of the 17^th Assembly was on energy. We had a lot of discussion on that. We had some good intentions for our government to invest some significant resources in alternative and renewable forms of energy so that we could have our citizens become more self-reliant, independent on producing their own energy and reduce the demand on energy generation and also to provide increased interest in energy conservation and energy efficiency. That's an area that's very important for the 18^th Assembly to deal with.

Of course, devolution. There is still unfinished business we need to deal with. We need to put a northern stamp on it. We need to deal with the MVRMA process. When we left it, we said we would review it after five years. Maybe the new federal government might be willing to advance it so we don't have to wait five years for a review. We still have to negotiate the management of the offshore in the Beaufort. That's a very important area.

On Nutrition North, obviously I would be prepared to take it over if the federal government is ready and willing to turn over the money, the $40 million they are going to invest in it over four years. If we can take that money and design our own program, I would be more than willing to take it over. Thank you, Speaker-elect.

Mahsi, Mr. McLeod. Next on my list is Ms. Cochrane, Member for Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. This is my last question as well. The GNWT acknowledges that land claims and self-government are critical to move forward.

How do you plan to support communities with self-government so that the transfer of programs and services is smooth and successful? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Cochrane. I will go to Mr. Bob McLeod, Premier candidate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. Self-government is a very important process. Aboriginal people have always had self-government. This is a matter of the function of the modern treaties. There is one self-government agreement that's in place right now. That's with the Tlicho. Deline has community self-government where their final agreement has been signed. We work on a government-to-government basis with the Aboriginal governments. We all sign the self-government agreements, the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Aboriginal government or the Tlicho Government. So, for us, it's in all of our interest to make sure self-government is implemented properly and that the programs are drawn down by the Aboriginal governments at a pace that they are comfortable with.

We work with them to help build capacity and to also make sure that programs are delivered and that people will continue to receive the services on the scale that the Aboriginal government would like to see it delivered. I expect services will improve as self-government comes into effect. We want to make sure that as you have a whole host of self-governments across the Northwest Territories that there is an ability to have some consistency in the level of service. As people travel around the North, they can access programs if required, and those are negotiated into the agreements going forward.

There is still quite a number of self-government agreements that have to be negotiated. I think, as a government, it's in our best interest to facilitate those negotiations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect.

Mahsi, Mr. McLeod. I will turn it over to Mr. Glen Abernethy, Premier candidate.

This is about trust again. This is about building relationships with our Aboriginal partnerships; with the Tlicho, in this example, because they are the only ones who have a finalized self-government agreement. The relationship that we need to have needs to happen before we even start drawing down programs. At this time the Tlicho has the ability to draw down a number of different program areas and the GNWT currently provides programs in those areas. We need to work with the Tlicho in this program area, to make sure that those programs are meeting the needs of the Tlicho so that when they draw down those authorities, they actually know and had some opportunity to participate in the design of the programs within their region so it's a little easier to roll them in at that particular time.

We're going to have to come up with formula financing agreements so that we can figure out how to fund the different programs that they're going to draw down, to make sure that they have the resources, that we're not shortchanging them and that they have the resources to deliver the programs to a standard that we agreed to. This is all negotiations; this is conversation; this is working together now before we even start drawing down programs, so that they know what the programs are and they're involved in the development of the programs so that they meet their needs. It's about partnerships, Mr. Speaker-elect. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Abernethy. Next on my list, Mr. O'Reilly, Member for Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. [English translation not provided.]

I have one more question for the candidates, and I neglected to thank them for putting their names forward last time, so I'd like to do that now. I held a constituency meeting last night and this issue has been raised to me in my constituency during the election. It's a territorial-level issue as well as an issue of official languages. There are many francophone parents in the Frame Lake electoral district, and Ecole Allain St-Cyr is also located there.

What specific actions will each of the candidates take to improve relations with the territorial francophone school board to expand each of the two francophone schools in the Northwest Territories and to delegate the authority over school admissions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect.

Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. I'll turn it over to Mr. Glen Abernethy, Premier candidate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. There have been a number of court challenges on this particular issue and our relationship with the French school association, or French school board. Those have, I think, come to some resolution. We have, in our capital plan, planned for the construction of a gym expansion at the school here in Yellowknife, and that is something that we actually have to now sit down with the school board and talk about.

With respect to the relationship with the school board, I think it's going to be important for the future Premier and the Minister of Education to actually sit down with the school board and have some conversations about how we can work together better, moving forward.

When it comes to school admissions, there is some legislative requirement that the individuals attending schools do have to be right-holders. So, we'd certainly have to have some conversation about that as well. I know there's a desire to allow some individuals who are not right-holders into the school. I think the court proceedings came down and said you have to be a right-holder. But is there any room for flexibility? I think we need to have a sit-down and make sure that it's still enrolling as intended and that we are meeting the needs of the French community here in the Northwest Territories.

Mahsi, Mr. Abernethy. I'll turn it over to Mr. McLeod, Premier candidate.

Thank you, Speaker-elect. I guess it's unfortunate that a lot of the relationships with the French francophone schools has been in the courts for some time. I think, for the most part, they've largely been resolved and the government will be investing in the schools here in Yellowknife. I think there's a lot of room for improvement in our relationship. I know that through the Education Minister, we can improve in that area.

As Yellowknife MLAs, we meet regularly with the other school boards, and I would suggest that we do so in this case as well. Certainly, that makes for a much better relationship, much better understanding of the issues that are faced by the francophone schools.

On the school admissions, this is something that I know has been before the courts and I know it's something that has been discussed with the Department of Education. In my view, anything you can resolve outside the courts, we should try to do so. If we can find a way to move it out of the courts into a discussion between the francophone school board and ourselves, I think we should do that. Thank you, Speaker-elect.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Next on my list is Mr. Blake from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Speaker-elect. Through our campaign, climate change has been a big topic in our territory, especially in the Beaufort-Delta.

If elected Premier, what steps would you take to address climate change? As we move forward, will you ensure there's funding available for communities like Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk that have impacts of erosion? Thank you, Speaker-elect.

Mahsi, Mr. Blake. I'll turn it over to Mr. McLeod, Premier candidate.

Mahsi, Mr. McLeod. Now I will turn it over to Mr. Abernethy, Premier candidate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. The evidence of climate change is upon us. We see it every day. On November 2, 2014, I went sailing on Great Slave Lake, which is, frankly, bizarre. We need to do something here in the Northwest Territories. That doesn't mean we haven't done anything. We have done a significant amount to reduce our carbon footprint. We have more pellet boilers I think in most organizations and we have done a lot of internal work with our lighting in a lot of our buildings. That's not enough. We have a Greenhouse Gas Strategy that has expired. It's time to come forward with a climate change strategy with two components. Mitigation is a first priority. What do we need to do to reduce our footprint, but not just the government's footprint, the territorial footprint and how we can support families, homes, businesses and others reduce their footprint and find alternative sources of energy and to reduce their carbon footprint or footprint.

On the other side, we also need to acknowledge that changes are upon us now and we need a mitigation strategy and adaptation strategy as well. We, as a government of 19 Members, have to come together. We have to work with our partners in the South, in Ottawa. We know the federal government has recently signed on to COP21, and the Prime Minister has indicated he wants to meet with Premiers in the next 90 days to start working out details that each one of the jurisdictions, provinces and territories, can undertake in order to help Canada meet its targets that it has signed on to. We need to be part of that.

I think there are great people in this room with significant background in this area who could really help us develop a strategy that is going to make a difference moving forward, and I look forward to working with Members, I look forward to working with our federal partners, and I look forward to working with business, industry, residents and people across the Northwest Territories who have some great ideas on how we can develop a really comprehensive climate change strategy focusing on mitigation and adaptation.

Mahsi, Mr. Abernethy. Next on my list, Mr. Testart, Kam Lake Member.

Mr. Speaker-elect, building on the theme of climate change, the recent Conference of the Parties meeting in Paris has resulted in a new protocol that has been signed by the federal government that calls for carbon markets to be established, and the federal government has been supportive of that, leaving it up to provinces and territories to decide. Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia have all started their own carbon markets and are participating in international markets in some cases. This is a significant question for the future of how we engage the strategy. Although both candidates have outlined some ideas about climate change, I'd like to know specifically what your thoughts are on carbon pricing and entering carbon markets and how you will go forward with that in the future.

Mahsi, Mr. Testart. First I will go to Mr. Abernethy, Premier candidate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. There have been a lot of options discussed out there, including a carbon tax. I'm a little leery of a carbon tax at this point because residents of the Northwest Territories continue to tell us the cost of living is too high and, unfortunately, in the Northwest Territories, many of our residents do still heat with diesel, and our heating season tends to be a month or two longer than other jurisdictions. We don't want to increase the cost of living, so we need to look at other alternatives to help our individuals reduce their costs. But I still think we have an obligation under this agreement signed by Canada to do some work around carbon limiting and whatnot in the Northwest Territories. There are options out there. I think we have fantastic people in this building who can help educate me and my colleagues so that we can make some informed decisions on how to move forward to address some of the carbon market, whether it's carbon sharing or other things. We need to be open to these opportunities in the North.