Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Can the Premier advise us as to what kinds of responses Mr. Irwin made? Were they

positive, were they forward-looking or were they non-committal types of responses?

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, if I read the Minister, the Honourable Ron Irwin -- given the financial situation in Canada -- I thought he was very, very optimistic and positive about the resolutions of our problems. It may be because he was new, but he was very positive and he thought there would be -- in terms of the global issue of where we are going as a territory -- that these issues could be resolved. On the housing issue he felt there could be some solution. It may be not be through the area of the Housing Corporation or CMHC, but another avenue of addressing the issue. However, he did admit that perhaps he was not as tuned in to his department, but at the same time he felt that our concerns were legitimate, should be addressed and we should move ahead as quickly as possible. It may be that because we have two very active Members of Parliament who we communicate with and try to keep the same message going forward that he was more optimistic of resolving these problems than I thought he would be. I hope if he can come even 75 per cent of the way that would be very good for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Last week we heard on the radio that an agreement was made to resolve the health billings for doctors. Can the Premier advise us, were any other types of agreements made with the Minister?

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, there was no other arrangements or documents signed between the Government of Canada and the Northwest Territories, at that time. That was the only document that was offered for us to conclude, and that's a $ 7 million health physician arrangement that we had. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I read an article in the paper that the new Minister, Minister Irwin, was going to concentrate a lot of his efforts on one part of his portfolio, that of Indian affairs. He was going to leave the northern development issues to the various departments. Did Minister Irwin make any comment or statements to you as to how he was going to handle the development of the north?

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, he did not. He recognized the contraction, perhaps, of his portfolio and perhaps some other Ministers' involvement. Perhaps through his relationship with aboriginal bands in the past and the fact -- like I say, we have two very active Members -- he seemed to be very excited that he would be involved in the northern development part of the Northwest Territories or his portfolio. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the same issue, Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister addressed us last week he indicated that during the time he is Prime Minister he intends to complete the process of devolution, of power to the territorial government. In the Premier's conversations with the Prime Minister, was there any discussion at all about the kinds of things that could be devolved to this government?

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the address of the Prime Minister of Canada to this Legislative Assembly was well received by myself. The steps he was willing to go in devolution were not discussed at our meeting, we delved with specific areas. When he made the presentation to the Legislative Assembly it was a welcome message to me that he was willing to go as far as he did indicating he was going to be open for these discussions. Even though it was not discussed at our meeting because -- like I said, we only had under 20 minutes. He never did indicate to me that he was going to make an announcement saying he was willing to devolve further, in our meeting. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government is under tremendous pressure to devolve powers to other levels of government, including the provisions of transfers to communities and there is also some discussion about regional forms of government. Does the government have a list of the kinds of things that it would like to have from the federal government in any terms of priority so we can look at where the power sharing should go from here?

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I think it's a well-known fact that the priority to us has been the northern accord. The Minister responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs has given a definitive list after that, and I believe that's land and water, and also mining. Perhaps the Minister can specify in detail a little more exactly where those sit. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We were told 20 years ago that the northern program was going to disappear in Ottawa, but it still has a fairly big infrastructure which has to be moved. Was there any discussion about a timetable for disbanding that northern program which assumes a large number of resources?

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, it did come up in the conversation with the Minister of Indian Affairs. I believe that's the next stage we're going to go to, to work on a timetable on how that can happen. There was interest but the discussion was not very long. It was just a statement that we should proceed to set some kind of timetable, but the inclusion of all the areas was not discussed. It was just a statement to set some kind of timetable with the priorities. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.