Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Smaller pieces of metal can be disposed of in community dumps. They can be buried with whatever material such as gravel and whatever material is available in the communities. I am talking about a large mass such as a cat, truck and other vehicles, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the Minister could tell the House what means is used to get rid of the big massive metal scrap we have? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The waste management throughout the communities is a big concern to us. We did not have that kind of large scale waste until very recently. As you know, Mr. Speaker, most of the communities in the Northwest Territories are fairly new and they are to the point where the waste is a concern. We are trying to make a management plan to deal with waste in the communities. We are on formative straits at the present time, coming up with a management plan, hopefully working with the community councils and HTAs we will be able to have a plan in place to deal with that sort of thing so big metal waste such as old cats, loaders et cetera could be dealt with through the management plan which has input from the community and also from our department. Thank you.,

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I have not reviewed all of the agreements that are in existence.

Supplementary, Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Yes, we will get our officials together to deal with that.

Item 5, oral questions.

Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I see the confusion now and maybe I will try and explain it. I have all the books here, the arts and crafts book, Building on Strengths - A Community Based Approach and those are still going ahead, Mr. Speaker. Any of the mega projects that you have heard mentioned, and I think the first one that came up was the diamond mines and the road, are not being dealt with by Economic Development and Tourism, other than the fact, we have a person who is looking at the impact on the Kitikmeot to make sure we know what the impact is going to be. The numbers with regard to that venture were processed by the Department of Finance. When we look at the Hondo Oil and Gas issue, Mr. Speaker, that is being dealt with by Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. The Department of Economic Development and Tourism, to my knowledge, is not involved in any of those mega projects, as you might say, they are still concentrating on delivering to communities the programs that we have in place and reacting to projects that communities bring forward to them. We are not changing the focus one iota, Mr. Speaker. We are continuing as we were before and many of those mega projects are being dealt with by other departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, the problem with these large-scale projects is that they are not within our control. Because we do not have sovereignty and because we are not a province, most of the time the federal government is involved in some way in these kinds of projects. As I have said to the House before, it is not always our decision on what will happen, how it will happen and who will be involved. I must say, if you want to know what our strategy is, accepting those kinds of rules, our strategy is to be there, to participate, to recognize what the impact on the people of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories is going to be and to be there to represent those people and those companies to make sure some of the benefits from those large-scale projects do remain in the Northwest Territories with its people and its companies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Whitford.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly our job to be there. If something was going on and we were not there, then the very next time this House met, people would be on their feet saying "Well, what were you doing for the people of the Northwest Territories?" Our role is to be there. Should we be involved? Mr. Speaker, governments were involved in putting the rail line across Canada. Governments, whether it is provincial or federal, build roles and infrastructure. That is the normal course of events for the development of a particular area. I think that when we are talking about being involved in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, whether we are talking about road, hydro, power lines, wharfs, docks or airstrips, those things normally remain within the public domain which is the government, Mr. Speaker. So, I think there is an involvement for government. If we do not keep pace with it, if we do not try and stay with it, then all of a sudden there is a boom in a particular area of the Northwest Territories and then someone says "The runway is not long enough," and by the time we study a runway and figure out how much we are going to put in for lighting and whether or not the runway needs to

be paved in a particular area, we are going to be behind the eight ball, Mr. Speaker. If you get a community that grows in population over a year by double, then there is not enough housing, the sewer system will not handle it, the dump will not handle it and those kinds of things. Although they are at the hamlet or community level, they are still a governmental responsibility. There is still a role for government. We have to plan, we have to stay ahead, we have to be cognizant of and we have to be prepared to react very quickly to those kinds of things that may be influenced by the private sector. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.