Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to the federal government, the way this project was set up was acceptable to them. They thought if they dumped scrap metal in the ocean, there would be minimal impact. That was the advice given to the federal Minister and he did not pursue it. I think the communication is good, but the officials of the department were advising their Minister that this was no big deal. To us in the Northwest Territories any ocean dumping raises a concern, and my department has been rigorously pursuing the Department of Environment as well as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. We are also trying to get a feeling from Indian and Northern Affairs on this ocean dumping to see if we can find another alternative to look after the garbage which is proposed to be dumped into the ocean. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister is aware that Ms. Mary Collins was a consultant to Petro Canada during the liquified natural gas project. Knowing she has fairly good knowledge about the activities and the sensitivity of the environment in the Arctic, will the Minister be talking to her directly and have her directly involved with the question of dumping, rather than relying solely on the Department of Environment?

Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, I have requested to talk to the Minister, Mary Collins. I have not heard back about when I will be able to talk to Minister Collins, but I will talk to her about this.

Supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to get assurance from the Minister, will he insist on talking to her directly, rather than having his department and her department talk to each other?

Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, that is what I have requested. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Personnel. Mr. Speaker, last week I asked the Minister about education leave. In reviewing unedited Hansard, he indicates "in 1992, 13 employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories were granted education leave." I would like to ask the Minister what criteria was used in making decisions on whether or not to grant education leave? Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

The question has been taken as notice. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to Mr. Arvaluk's question to the Minister of Renewable Resources, I have a question also. There has been some activity going on near Resolute Bay from Fisheries and Oceans. Have they ever been questioned as to what is happening to the ecosystem and to the animal inhabitants of that area? Have they ever studied the impact on the micro-organisms in the ocean and the impact of dumping garbage in the ocean? Have they ever been questioned about this? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people who are studying make reports annually. However, they have not completed their final report as of today, so we do not know what is going on with the ecosystem. They have not really noticed any changes which is stated in their reports. I will look into the matter, however. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I would like the Minister to look into this serious matter. At the time when PanArctic had a meeting about dumping garbage in the ocean, the director of Fisheries and Oceans could not attend the meeting. However, he did not want anyone dumping garbage into this particular ocean because some micro-organisms and marine life, such as walruses, would be affected by this dumping. Can the Minister table a report in the House to show us what kind of impact the dumping will have in the Arctic ocean? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will look into this matter. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Supplementary to my question. Can you also look into another matter? They had dumped metal waste into the ocean last year and, I guess after no opposition, they have been wanting to dump some more waste into the Arctic Ocean. Has there been any studies on how this has impacted the small animals? I would like to ask the Minister if there have been any studies completed on the impacts from previous dumping into the ocean? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.