Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe it did. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi. If the meeting was held, was a plan of action developed?

Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take the question as notice and report back to the House. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 6, the Minister of Economic Development talked to the NWT Chamber of Commerce and for $20 you could have listened to Mr. Pollard give his vision of the economy of the Northwest Territories. Those who were at that meeting know more about where we are going, than the people in this Chamber -- that was for just $20, Mr. Speaker. We know the Minister to be a fiscal conservative, he is very careful with money and looks after it well for us. This $250 million that he told the chamber he would be quite happy to advance to the Cabinet for its consideration, what would that money be used for? There is a project right now in the Coronation Gulf which we are told is going to cost about $650 million. What did he have in mind when he said he would be prepared to convince his Cabinet colleagues that we should borrow the $250 million?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, once again I find myself in Mr. Todd's territory. He is the lead Minister in this regard, although I do not deny making those comments to the NWT Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Speaker, what I told the NWT Chamber of Commerce when I was asked about how a major project like that would be financed, was that it would have to be a cooperative effort, that it would have to be between industry, the federal government, ourselves and that there had been some interest by aboriginal organizations in taking part in the venture as well. My preference, Mr. Speaker, would be that it was a cooperative effort and therefore cooperative financing and that we collectively share in the risk. The likelihood of that may or may not come true, but I would point out that the money would be used, in my opinion, for the construction of the transportation corridor and that may include electricity running along side the highway, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

I have always been concerned about mega-projects, Mr. Speaker, and wondered about the overall value of them when they are finally analyzed. The $250 million that he was thinking about recommending to Cabinet, does that mean that this amount of money would be to offset the $650 million that the proposals call for in developing the deposit at Izok Lake and to transport it to the Coronation Gulf? Does it just deal with that project, the transportation corridor from the deposit to the water?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I will explain a bit about the $250 million. When I met with the federal Minister of Finance last August, the closest I could get to what a contribution would have to be from the Government of the Northwest Territories was $200 million. Those numbers have since been revised. So, the $250 million that Mr. Lewis has mentioned, that I have mentioned and I said to the NWT Chamber of Commerce, is not a fixed number. Mr. Todd is crunching those numbers to get them tighter than I had them last year, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, secondly with regard to the $250 million, I said to the chamber of commerce that if it could be proven to me that there would be long-term economic benefits for the Northwest Territories, that if you looked at it as a business deal, that if it was going to make our economy grow and create jobs in the Northwest Territories and allow northern companies to participate, then I would consider recommending to Cabinet that we indeed borrow the $250 million, if that figure is correct.

The $250 million that I am talking about is based upon a road from Yellowknife to Coppermine with a port. I think that the lower portion of the road, from when I turned the file over to Mr. Todd, is where our money would have to go into. There is no question that Minnova has already looked at the possibility of a line up to the Coronation Gulf. They have also looked at a road up to the Coronation Gulf. So, I would be leaning towards the Government of the Northwest Territories assisting to put the road from Yellowknife up into the Lac De Gras area, then from the large ore deposit onto the Coronation Gulf. The money that I am talking about, that I talked about last year, has nothing to do with the actual infrastructure of mines or equipment for mines, it is strictly to do with a transportation corridor which may or may not include electricity, Mr. Speaker.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think what Mr. Patterson is getting at is the perversity factor in our formula funding agreement and also the GDP cap that we have upon us, which are our two great concerns in the formula at the present time. Both of those issues will be on the agenda when our officials meet the first week of April, Mr. Speaker. We intend to again convey at the officials level to the federal government that we are having some problems in this regard. At that meeting will be the Department of Finance federally, there is usually a treasury board representative, there is a representative from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and the Yukon is usually at those meetings as well because we do them jointly, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, we heard today that Mr. Mazankowski is not going to run for the leadership and he is going to devote his efforts instead to preparing a budget. Mr. Speaker, given that our government has been hit by the pre-budget announcements made in December, I wonder if the Minister of Finance could tell us whether he will be making efforts to take up this issue of the formula and the formula review with the Minister of Finance, before yet another perhaps damaging federal budget is brought down with dire effects in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I have raised the issue already with Mr. Mazankowski. He is aware of the problems with our formula. I have raised it with Mr. Siddon, as well, who is the lead Minister when it comes to funding the Government of the Northwest Territories. Neither of them seem to be able to understand the perversity factor but, I can tell you that their department officials seem to understand it perfectly well. Will I be making another attempt to talk to him about it? Yes, Mr. Speaker, I will. I will be trying to at least talk to him on the telephone before he brings down either his budget statement or his new budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Lewis has pointed out, the Minister of Finance was musing before the NWT Chamber of Commerce recently about borrowing a mere quarter billion on the basis of spin-off economic benefits. Yet, Mr. Speaker, the Minister has told us that the present fiscal formula contains actual disincentives to economic growth. We actually get penalized if there are economic benefits from development, under our current formula. Was the Minister's speculation about borrowing for a return on economic developments premised on his successfully obtaining revisions to our fiscal formula so these disincentives to economic growth, the perversity and the GDP cap elements are removed from the formula?

Mr. Pollard.