(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Renewable Resources and environment, regarding my earlier Member's statement, Written Question 21-12(3) asked on February 23, 1993. Did the Minister take proper consideration before he made the reply?

Mr. Allooloo.

Yes, we looked at the Member's question thoroughly. We tried to answer the way the question was posed to us. The question says that PanArctic Oil has also been told by Indian and Northern Affairs not to dispose of their equipment underground. Later on, the Member asked why have these organizations received approval for different ways of disposing of their garbage? Therefore, Mr. Speaker, since he is talking about Indian and Northern Affairs, my department had to research why the Indian and Northern Affairs did not look into letting PanArctic Oil dispose of their garbage underground. The reason they gave us was that first of all PanArctic Oil, in my response to the Member, has not proposed land burial as a method of waste disposal. They go on to say that their reason for not seeking burial on land is because of the high content of ice in the soil. If the garbage were buried in this soil, the freezing and thawing action would eventually cause the garbage to raise back out of the ground.

Mr. Speaker, our position is quite clear. In our meeting my representatives said there should not be ocean dumping.

---Applause

Also, in our statement we said the federal government has to look at their policy which allows industries to dump in the ocean. They allow them to dump garbage in the ocean, according to the current process. I have written a letter to the Minister of the Environment asking him to review his policy stating that ocean dumping is not acceptable to the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very glad to receive that response from the Minister. The written response to my written question was not understandable to me but now I have that background information. The Minister has not really responded to my earlier question. Why does the federal government allow the DEW Line people and PanArctic Oil to dispose of their garbage this way? When we first met about this there were three mandates. The first one was PanArctic's request to dump waste into the ocean, to put it underground, or take it back south where it came from in the first place. There were three choices. We were supposed to look for a fourth option as to what we could do to dispose of this garbage, whether it be dumped in the community dump. However, the fourth option has not been considered. My question was, why was the DEW Line approved in such a way, and PanArctic oil approved in another way. Why did they not allow PanArctic to dispose of their garbage as they did with the Dew Line? This was my question that he did not properly answer. Why are there differences between these two companies?

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, PanArctic oil has not had a proposal to put before the government to bury the garbage. The company has to apply to the Government of Canada to bury its garbage.

Mr. Speaker, that is why, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we have asked the permit be withheld to dump garbage into the ocean, so we can look at different options including burying it on Lougheed Island or reusing the material. The material could possibly be reused. Mr. Speaker, I have talked to the Member privately and I suggested that he and I go up to Lougheed Island this summer to look at the garbage to see if it could be reused. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

Mr. Speaker, yes, I agree with the Minister. We can go there tomorrow, if possible.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, he keeps answering in English, so I might as well ask the question in English as well. Mr. Speaker, I brought this up because many people are concerned about this. I do not know if the Minister will respond before April 15. Could you keep in contact with the Minister of the Environment of Canada to try and avoid this proposed permit? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, not only that, I have been writing to him asking his commitment to respond before April 15 and also my deputy minister is constantly in contact with the federal officials to get that point across. Mr. Speaker, every opportunity that I get I will try to convey our message to the Minister. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, there was a serious accident at the Royal Oak Mine. It occurred at 1:30 in the morning. There was a miner working in the 249 decline. The miners' lower legs were squashed between the bucket of a load/haul dump unit. It is believe that a part of the load/haul dump unit inched forward trapping the miner. The miner is currently in the Stanton Yellowknife Hospital with suspected fractures in both legs.

This is a growing concern of the department. The honourable Member is correct, there have been a number of accidents specifically related to this kind of infraction. We are doing the best we can to ensure that they are meeting industry standards in terms of safety, but at this time, that is the information I have. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Todd.

I spoke to the gentlemen responsible for mine safety in the Department of Safety and Public Services this morning at 9:00. I have asked him to provide me with an update on the degree of accidents that have happened in that mine and where they have happened, to see if there is any correlation between this accident and previous ones. Once I have that information and we have a more accurate reflection of why these accidents happen, I want to assure the honourable Member that the department of mine safety will be very active in ensuring this man, along with others, works in accordance with the safety regulations as set out in the act.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Whitford.

Thank you. Mr. Todd.

I want to assure the honourable Member that he will be kept informed of the results of our investigation and I will also undertake to provide him with the analysis that is currently being done by mine safety inspector as to the degree and extent of the accidents in this mine and in others.

Thank you. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Lewis.