Mr. Speaker, before I answer the latter question, I would like to clarity that rather than having asked for RCMP reinforcements or initiating the request, requests for reinforcements were actually made by the RCMP commanding officer in the Northwest Territories. It was not initiated by this government; however, once that request was made to our government and to the Commissioner of the RCMP, as I said in my statement today, I determined that there was no alternative but to endorse that request.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell the honourable Member today that the Government of Canada has agreed to underwrite those expenses, but we have a strong case, we believe, based on the wording of the Police Services Agreement which governs these matters, that this is a federal undertaking. It is a matter of federal jurisdiction and labour relations, and, therefore, as per the police agreement, expenses should be borne by the federal government. I have presented that view forcefully to the Solicitor General. He disputes that view. At the moment,

it is not clear that the federal government has agreed. However, Mr. Speaker, our government is taking the firm position that these expenses are not our responsibility and will not be borne by us. Thank you.