We will put barricades on the road.
---Laughter
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good question. I think it is incumbent upon this ministry that we look at more than one option. Should we not be successful in reaching an arrangement, either with northerners or the federal government in terms of the orderly transfer of responsibility, it is important that we look at other options that may be available to us to protect the fiscal interests of not only this government, but aboriginal groups and, of course, employees and employers.
I've asked the Department of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources to develop potential options that they think we can accomplish, should we not be successful in reaching an arrangement with the federal government. Some of these options could be a Benefits Act, or amendments to the Area Development Act which would give us some authority on how that industry behaves in terms of economic components to mining, or oil and gas, for that matter. We could look at possibly asking the federal government to transfer some of the programs: the geology program or the mine recorder's office, things like that, so we have some influence over how the industry behaves.
There are a few other more dramatic steps we could take, but at this time, I haven't completely concluded the research necessary to determine whether these steps would be appropriate or if we have to put them into effect. Thank you.