Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I mentioned earlier is that there are a number of communities that have started talks on a number of different areas, and those are still sort of in limbo. We felt we should shore up whatever credibility we have to assess those discussions that are hanging in limbo, and try to cancel them or finish them off
and complete them. One that jumps to mind immediately is in the case of Norman Wells, where we have talked for over three years about transferring the natural gas system and water sewage system to them. We have been unable to complete those talks, again because of the inter-departmental difficulties experienced. Those are one of the things that we have set out to do. There are a number of other ones that have also been tackled. In regards to where do you start first, once the initiative was made public last year and following it we knew that some communities did a great deal of work. For instance, in the community of Fort McPherson a group of people on a volunteer basis have done a great deal of work in trying to take control and manage ownership of the administration of justice at the community level, both for youth and adult offenders. This is the type of thing where you cannot go to any community and say we are offering to begin talks on justice because if the interest is not there, it is not going to happen. We have gone to McPherson, Arctic Red River, Aklavik, and Tuktoyaktuk at their request. In Inuvik they asked for an explanation, a chance to meet with us and ask questions about how we are approaching the community transfer talks, and generally to find out what the parameters of it were. We have not gone into any communities which have not asked us to. We know by talking to regional directors and M.L.A.s which communities are interested and which communities want to have initial talks. This is the approach we have taken.
The Member is correct. Because of logistics and limited resources we are going to have to operate on a first come first serve basis. In the course of discussions a clearer format of how we are going to take an overall approach is going to develop, when are we going to get into talks and what is the nature of the talks going to be. In some communities they are talking about taking over the administration of the public and social housing. In other communities they are talking about taking over the administration of the funds for the hunters and trappers association. They are also talking about amalgamating and creating new councils which would have the administrative, financial capability to handle public monies and programs on behalf of all regions. In other communities they are talking about taking over social services but only certain segments of it. In other communities they are talking about taking over justice but only for youth offenders, some other communities are talking about adult offenders. The range of it is incredible. In some communities the packages are very detailed and well advanced but in other areas it is very general. The work is enormous but I think it is because there are so many communities and we are at such a varied state of being organized, or unorganized, depending on your perspective. The political stature and organization of communities are so varied. Thank you.