Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There has not been a comprehensive environmental review done if we were to leave the scrap metal on the land. Our preliminary thinking is that it is much better to leave it on the land than to dump it into the ocean where we can never retrieve it. If we leave it on the land, perhaps at some point in the future we will be able to deal with it. By leaving the scrap materials on the land, the impact on the environment, in our thinking, is less. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Moving from dumping to off-loading, Mr. Speaker. During the 1980s, Mr. Speaker, this government was in a frenzy in which there were many program transfers from the federal government and we set up a devolution office. Of course this lead eventually to the health transfer in 1988. I would like to ask the Premier, what is the current status of the devolution office?

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, we do not have per se a devolution office any longer. We still maintain an office in Ottawa which does a number of things, constitutional issues, other relationships with the federal government, and support when we have meetings in Ottawa. The devolution office which was set up in Ottawa does not exist. The initiatives come from Cabinet at this time. The decisions are made here on whether we proceed to take the initiative to try to wrestle some of the management responsibilities from Ottawa. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we had a devolution office in the Precambrian building they must have had a list of the things which could be transferred to this government. Are there things which were not devolved to this government that now still remain priority items which the Premier would like to see devolved to this government?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that there is such a list and a number of items are outstanding.

Beginning initiatives have taken place. There are land titles, land and water, which still exist on the list, other than what you are aware of through the northern accord.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Does the government have a priority of what it would like to have devolved to this government at present?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, our priority is to try to ensure that the past arrangements of devolution, such as health billing, are established in light of the agreements which were signed, as understood by ourselves. We are still trying to pursue the northern accord. That is the basis of where we are at this time. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Dent.

Madam Premier.

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

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs. It is with regard to the western constitutional development. Mr. Speaker, the constitutional development steering committee, working group, had a meeting on March 15. The concern which I have is that since Nunavut is going to become a reality, there is going to be constitutional development in the western Arctic. Work has to begin immediately to work towards the constitutional development. It is important that people at the community level in the western Northwest Territories be made aware of what is going on as soon as possible. What is the Minister doing to ensure that people in the western Arctic are made aware of the developments of western constitutional development that are taking place at the present time. Mahsi.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The development of the constitution for the western Arctic will eventually have to be accepted by every citizen who lives in this part of the Northwest Territories. I think it is important, right from the outset that somehow they are informed and kept informed as we go along with the process. We have good national examples in Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord where citizens were not directly involved in the development of the constitutional development. We see the results of that today. What we are working on in the west is something that could be very beneficial for everyone in the long run, if people at the community level are made aware of the process. I would like to ask the Minister if he is going to do a press release or press conference to let the public know exactly what is going on in the development of the constitution in the west. Mahsi.

Mr. Kakfwi.