Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Proceed, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Members. Although the land claim and the creation of Nunavut are not the same, many Inuit who are concerned about the extinguishment clause in the final agreement want to have a firm commitment about Nunavut before they can ratify the land claim agreement. For this reason the plebiscite about the boundary must be held before the land claim agreement is ratified. While the results of the plebiscite will not be binding, we can expect that the federal government will be influenced by a strong show of support for the boundary.

Another decision that was made in Iqaluit was to have the ratification vote for the land claim on June 30th, July 1st and July 2nd. This is another important step along the road to self-determination by the people of Nunavut.

Article 4 of the TFN claim deals with the creation of Nunavut and with the negotiation of a political accord by TFN and the two governments. We had a lengthy discussion about the contents of such an accord, and about the timing of the establishment of the new government for the Nunavut territory, should we be able to agree on the outstanding issues such as the financial implications of two new territories and the powers and authorities that the new territories will exercise.

There was also much discussion on the timing of the establishment of the territory of Nunavut and it was recommended that the first election of the new government would occur in 1999. This would allow for the seven year transition period beginning from the introduction of the legislation creating Nunavut into the House of Commons in 1992, and ending with the establishment of Nunavut in 1999. This transition period is essential for proper planning and preparation for the new territory.

It was agreed during this summit that the Nunavut caucus, with the assistance of TFN, will play a key role in the planning of the new territory and will participate actively in the new transition and implementation commission that will be established to negotiate the details of the new territory.

During the course of the summit we also heard from Roger Gruben, chairman of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, and from Senator Charlie Watt of Makivik Corporation. We appreciated hearing of the experiences and wisdom of these individuals in a post-claim period. Mr. Gruben spoke of the desire of the Inuvialuit to establish a Western Arctic regional municipality in the Beaufort Sea area. The Nunavut caucus can sympathize with the Inuvialuit and support them in their deliberations as part of a Western Arctic territory, but ultimately it will be up to the Western Arctic leadership to deal with the issue.

On the last morning of the summit we spoke on the responsibilities of leadership. Our leaders are working hard and are under a lot of stress. We discussed how we can work together and support one another. Our elders gave us good advice and guidance as they told of the changes that they have seen within their lifetime. They told us to learn from our mistakes and to respect ourselves and each other.

We heard from our youth. We keep saying that the youth of our society are the future of all of us, and we included them in the summit as full participants. Our women's associations spoke to us and clearly and forcefully pointed out the issue of leadership and the need to be examples for our people. They want to have an equal role in the creation of a Nunavut government and the work associated with it.

Mr. Speaker, we learned a lot from this summit. We made decisions affecting the future of Nunavut and built alliances among the leaders of Nunavut that will ensure that our plans can be realized. Also, Mr. Speaker, at the end of the conference there was a very good feeling and I would just like to quote our women's leader. At the end of the meeting they told us that they felt uplifted and lighter because of the discussions that took place regarding leadership. We need to be more responsible toward our women counterparts in the Northwest Territories. Qujannamiik.

Thank you, Mr. Allooloo. Members' statements. Item 5, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a question for the Minister of Renewable Resources in respect to pulp mills. In December 1991, the federal government announced a series of new regulations to be formed, aimed at limiting the discharge of toxic substances from Canadian pulp and paper mills. At that time the federal government had allowed a 60-day comment period in order to receive submissions about the proposed regulations. The deadline for the receipts of these submissions is February 14. Mr. Speaker, I would like to know whether our government has taken advantage of this opportunity and submitted any formal comments on these new federal regulations dealing with pollution from pulp and paper mills.

Minister of Renewable Resources, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take the question as notice.

The question is taken as notice. Oral questions. Mr. Arvaluk.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the honourable Member for giving me notice of his question. I would like to assure him and Members of this House that even though there are some difficulties with the financial situation and the negotiations surrounding the RCMP contract and restraint imposed by the federal government, I want to assure him that our objective, in working with the RCMP, is to locate a policeman in every community, and in places like Coral Harbour where there is a single member detachment, to find ways of providing back-up when those members must leave, as they have to from time to time.

I want to assure the honourable Member that I do understand there have been some difficult situations arise in his constituency and I would certainly very much like to explore with the Member and the community, what can be done locally to provide back-up in those times when the member may not be in the community. Qujannamiik.

Oral questions. Mr. Gargan.

Mr. Speaker, February 5th must have been a very busy day for the Minister responsible for the Workers'

Compensation Board. Honourable Members will recall that back in December I had posed several written questions. On February 5th, exactly one week before this House was scheduled to sit, the Minister chose to provide me with his response and sent me a package with over 100 pages to read.

---Laughter

I have gone through the material, and I am interested in the Minister's assurance that the chairman of the Workers' Compensation Board has, in his public presentation, requested input and placed considerable emphasis on his desire to meet with the groups and discuss various issues.

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Minister could tell this House how many times the chairman has met with the newly formed support group of injured workers in Yellowknife.

Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, February 5th was a very busy day. I signed all those letters, and I hope the honourable Member has had time to read them before the session opened today. It sounds like he has, Mr. Speaker.

To answer the Member's question, I am not aware of whether the chairman of the WCB has met with that group, and I will have to take it as notice.

The question is taken as notice. Oral questions. Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. A letter was sent to the Minister from Titi Kadluk, mayor of the hamlet council of Chesterfield Inlet, regarding the problem they had with the water reservoir. Has the Minister responded to that letter? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Patterson.

I will have to take that question as notice. I cannot recall if I have answered that letter or not.

The question is taken as notice. Oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Justice. I would like to know if this government has been involved in any legal action with either the Pacific pulp mill or the Daishowa pulp mill. If so, would he be able to provide us with a status report?

Minister of Justice, Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the NWT is involved with a case concerning the Daishowa pulp mill. The issue in that case is whether or not a proper environmental assessment review was conducted by the Province of Alberta before the permission was given to proceed with that mill.

Mr. Speaker, the status of that action is that the court hearing that case reserved the next step in the proceedings pending the Oldman Dam case, which touched on similar issues. Mr. Speaker, the Oldman Dam case was recently concluded in the Supreme Court of Canada and therefore the way will now be clear to address the issue in the Daishowa matter, but I would say, Mr. Speaker, that my understanding is that it is not likely to resume until sometime hence. Even with the Oldman Dam case being concluded, we may have to wait some number of months before the Daishowa matter proceeds to the next stage. Mr. Speaker, that is the only litigation that I am aware of that our government is involved in relating to pulp mill issues. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.