Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the second year in a row, the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs was unable to appear before the Standing Committee on Finance for the review of the 1995-96 main estimates. Committee Members would prefer to have dealt with this ministry in January; however, the Members of the standing committee are now prepared to perform a detailed review of the ministry and its estimates here in the House.

The Ministry of Aboriginal and Intergovernmental Affairs has many important tasks:

new constitutional challenges in Quebec; important developments in transfer payments; and, devolution of responsibility from the federal government; new developments in circumpolar cooperation; PanArctic environmental concerns; unresolved land claims; the community transfer initiative; the creation of Nunavut; and, constitutional development in the western NWT. In short, many of the most important issues facing northerners today are all part of the responsibilities of this ministry.

Many of these issues are ones where much can be done to improve the lives of northerners.

Community transfer is one which has held much hope for government services to be provided closer to the people. Providing these services with local leadership in the community, rather than from a distant territorial capital or regional office, holds the promise of being more effective, more efficient, and more in keeping with the actual needs and desires of northern residents.

Committee Members are concerned, however, that this ministry is not providing the leadership role it should be to the rest of the territorial government on these matters. The Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs should be taking the lead role on all of these issues; providing support and advice to individual department, where necessary. However, while the goals and objectives of the ministry suggest that this is indeed the case, it appears that the individual departments are doing all the work, especially in intergovernmental affairs. The perception is that the ministry has not adequately identified its priorities and it's not providing the leadership necessary in these important matters.

Returning to the example of the transfer initiative, committee Members are concerned that in the three years since this initiative was introduced, only two substantial transfers of responsibility to communities have taken place: in Cape Dorset and in Fort Good Hope. The standing committee feels that much more can be done in this area, as in other areas. Committee Members hope that the discussion we will have today will help the Minister and his ministry improve their performance on this and other initiatives.

Although the Minister did not appear before the standing committee, committee Members have considered these issues in their review of the main estimates.

Recommendation 10, included in the chapter on the Executive, recommends that the Premier ensure that sufficient resources are provided to the government's office in Ottawa to ensure that the Northwest Territories is adequately represented in discussions on important issues.

Recommendation 11 in the same chapter recommends that in the next government, the duties of this ministry should be divided, and that the next Premier should have responsibility for intergovernmental affairs.

We will address these recommendations specifically when we review the estimates of the Executive. Mr. Chairman, we have a number of specific questions for the Minister here in the House, as these are important issues which fall under his responsibility. Mahsi, Mr. Chairman.