Mr. Chairman, we travelled to Norman Wells, Fort Smith and Inuvik -- at least I did -- to discuss this bill. When we met in Fort Smith, we arrived during the evening and waited most of the evening for people to show up to discuss the access bill and the Arctic College Act, but we really didn't have anybody that evening. We tried again the next morning; no one showed up, or in the afternoon, either. I can say that in Norman Wells we had people make presentations but they were mostly on the access bill itself. In Inuvik, we had no presentations, even though the Science Institute was there and Arctic College was also there. We didn't really get any kind of concern expressed with regard to the bill itself, so we went ahead with discussing it.

The only thing I want to say is that, again, some of the Members are saying that we really don't have an argument that says we shouldn't do it, so they support the bill as is. I would like to tell the Members that everything that happens henceforth or from now is that...The purpose of the bill itself hasn't changed any; the Minister would still decide on the naming of Arctic College. I haven't heard anything to suggest that the Minister has indicated, in any way, shape or form, that he's willing to amend the act to reflect the committee's recommendation.

The other thing is that during the next few months...More and more, we see the need for the Science Institute to do work in the areas of radiation levels, baseline studies, studies on animal habitats and also studies on plants, those kinds of things; the level of pollution that's occurring and also the pulp mills down south. It hasn't helped a bit.

My feeling is it still should be separate from Arctic College. I also feel that the Science Institutes in the rest of the country are big organizations that operate based on a large budget. They get donations and they also raise money. I don't know whether or not, by amalgamating it and making the Science Institute part of the Arctic College budget, it would be up to the Science Institute then to justify the monies. I think that's what was said last week when we dealt with the access bill. Nobody supported it because of the amount of money that's going to be used. And in this case, I think the amount of money the Science Institute gets and their accountability will be lost to Arctic College.

We see a situation in which you have a concern, then you express it to the Minister. The Minister, in turn, advises the Arctic College board and the board will decide whether or not it is important enough for the Science Institute to address. While the arrangement now is that under the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories, the Legislative Assembly has some direct input into the way the Science Institute can conduct itself.

I think that's very important because if we start having 52 communities and all the 52 communities have certain concerns -- for example in Fort Providence, we getting more kids who are having kidney problems. What's wrong? Nobody has an answer for it. What about lead contaminants? This is really a complicated type of technology. Lead in water is very hard to detect. We need that professional help on those areas. I don't see Arctic College overly expressing themselves over those kinds of concerns.

I just don't know. My concern is we have one Arctic College in the west -- that's the intent of the legislation -- and one in the east and we want to include the Science Institute. I know we don't even influence the Arctic College budget. It comes under Arctic College as an information item. We don't see the details of the budget itself. So I could imagine what it would be like if part of the budget of the Science Institute is part of the Arctic College budget. How do you know how much they get? Or whether or not they exist?

I have some real serious reservations about the act being passed as it is. I think I speak for most people in the Mackenzie Valley and the Slave River area, that we are, in the next few years, going to be seeing a lot of changes as a result of pollution, the ozone and everything else. I think all the Members should be concerned about that. We can express our concern in the House, but it's really up to Arctic College to determine whether or not it even warrants the Science Institute to study it or look at it or analyze it or anything.