Thank you. Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the industry recognize that there has to be due process in this regard. What are we doing to suggest to the federal government that this is taking too long?

Back in the summer, we gave them a list of proposed members for the panel, asked that the process get off the ground, that it gets going very quickly, and that we had no wish to hold up industry in the Northwest Territories.

Secondly, as I said in response to Mr. Ballantyne's question, Madam Speaker, the Premier is going to raise, or has already raised this issue with the Prime Minister. That is the importance we attach to it. We would hope that when the Prime Minister comes back, he is able to jar his Ministers loose and tell them we must get on with this process immediately. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for High Arctic, Mr. Pudluk.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is going to be directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I read with interest the answer to my Written Question 6-12(6) with regard to the cost of having interpreters in this House. To me, it seems very expensive. I would like to ask the Minister, is there any difference in rates paid to Inuit, Dene and French contractors who interpret for us?

Thank you. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, I'm not generally responsible for the services provided in this House. It is a matter dealt with through the Management and Services Board. What happens, though, is I am responsible for the Languages Bureau, which is involved in providing the support to the Legislative Assembly.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

Madam Speaker, supplementary. Who is responsible for the contractors?

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In terms of managing the contracts, it is the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. All right then, would the Minister then tell me the different rates paid for each language interpreter group?

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I don't have that detail on hand. It varies, depending on the contractual arrangement reached with each particular group. I will report that information to the honourable Member in a written note.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Whitford.

Thank you. Acting Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I wasn't aware that was happening. I don't believe it is a policy of this department. I will look into the matter and report back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Whitford.

Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, I'm not aware that we put any money to the food banks. I may be wrong in that though, so I will check into that as well and report back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Lewis.

Thanks very much, Madam Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Renewable Resources about trees. I addressed a question last week to Mr. Todd about very small trees; these ones are a little bit bigger than that.

---Laughter

I would like to ask the Minister, since we took responsibility for fighting fires so that the fires don't destroy trees, could he tell me what responsibility this government has for the trees in the Northwest Territories?