Thank you. Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the responsibility for the appointment of these people rests with the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Sheila Copps. She is currently in the process of making decisions on the membership. I would suggest that one of the problems is that there is a side panel that is going to be part of this process that is going to address the cumulative effects in the North Slave region of the impact of these particular mines, and that is taking some time to work out.

The Minister of the Environment, the Deputy Prime Minister, is consulting with the DIAND Minister in this regard and that, I think, is what is holding it up. I think they know of the concern we have. We want this to begin as soon as possible. We have put our recommendations in and I eagerly await the decision of the Deputy Prime Minister. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Madam Speaker and I thank the Minister for the response. It seems to me it is another example, Madam Speaker, of decisions being made in Ottawa that could profoundly affect the Northwest Territories and the potential of bureaucratic battles between too many government departments. My question to the Minister, Madam Speaker, is, how much input have we had in the process of setting up an environmental review process?

Thank you. Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, last summer, we made recommendations to the federal government. We encouraged the Minister to establish the panel as soon as possible and get the process under way. Sometime, either in the last few days, certainly in the last week, Madam Premier raised the issue with the Prime Minister during their trip to China. So, we are trying to encourage the federal government to act with haste and begin this process. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you. Again to the Minister, Madam Speaker. It seems to me, again, that decisions are being made far away which have a profound impact on us. With negotiations for the mineral accord and northern accord, discussions that the Department of Renewable Resources is having with the Department of Fisheries, and I'm sure there are discussions with the Department of the Environment, is there a chance that, at some point, the people in the Northwest Territories will be able to set up their own regulatory process and control their own destiny? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

That would be, Madam Speaker, our desire. I think we concur with Mr. Ballantyne that, again, we are seeing decisions made far away. We must respect that the jurisdiction does rest with the federal government at the present time, but it does influence us, and it influences the people who are trying to do business here. We know that resupply of these particular facilities depends on the season here, depends on ice roads, et cetera, so time is always of the essence in the Northwest Territories.

Again, the government would concur with Mr. Ballantyne that bringing these processes closer to home, bringing them to the Northwest Territories, having control over our own destiny in these regards, would mean a greater impact by people of the Northwest Territories. We would make this decision ourselves and there wouldn't be all this time wasted. So, I would agree with the Member.

Supplementary, Mr. Ballantyne.

Again, I thank the Minister for that response. My last question to the Minister is, I have a real concern that organizations like the World Wildlife Federation, for instance, has direct access to the federal Minister of the Environment and can have an inordinate amount of influence on decision-making. My question to the Minister is, would the Minister assure this House that he will communicate to the federal government that the people of the Northwest Territories will decide, ultimately, what is good for them and it won't be the World Wildlife Federation that makes that decision for us. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Hear, hear.

Thank you. Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.