Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. Mr. Speaker, a newspaper article published last Monday, March 6th, reported that a federal flight investigation is taking place regarding an incident reported from a northern community. This report claims that two airplanes passed within minimum distance safety standards earlier this year. The findings of this federal investigation will not be made public. The article states that a federal Transportation spokesman also said that no one's job is in jeopardy as a result of the investigation. The article concludes by saying that this investigation is being conducted in an effort to prevent future incidents.

It seems to me, Mr. Speaker, that if this incident has been correctly reported, the federal government is acting in a very patronizing manner by not making their findings of this investigation available to the public. In this case, the public represents the residents of the Northwest Territories and they are certainly the ones most likely to be impacted by this investigation's findings.

Regardless of what conclusion this investigation reaches, Mr. Speaker, surely the public has the right to know about the safety standards concerning aircraft flying within our borders. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that this could prove to be an unwise decision on the federal government's part. If the findings clear everyone concerned and it becomes evident that no safety standards were broken, would it not be fairer to the company and to the employees to make that publicly known?

On the other hand, Mr. Speaker, if safety regulations were broken, how can the federal government take it upon itself to keep those findings hidden from public knowledge? Either way, I think the people of the Northwest Territories deserve some kind of explanation as to why such an important investigation would be kept from public knowledge.

---Applause