Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Steen.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I know that the honourable Member's concern is that to come out with the strategy on how to build roads in the North. That is the objective, to build roads in the north.

As you know, in the last session, I was asked to build roads in the north but Mr. Hartman does not have the type of resources and the funding to do so and we are putting the onus on the federal government, and they do not have the funding either so we are going to have to come up with innovative way to build roads in the north. And that is what I am trying to do here, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister of Transportation, the department is working on developing a strategy on how we can do that and if the honourable member has some suggestions and some ideas perhaps we should find a way of sitting down and sharing what we have got so far with the honourable member and maybe we could gt some movement. By working together on this strategy. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Steen.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what the honourable Member is referring to is also in the strategy. Perhaps it is in the document. It may not spell out that we are talking about oil and gas exploration. We are looking at all types of different exploration. I know that if we have a good infrastructure like the highway in the western NWT down the Mackenzie Valley, it will open up the country for all kinds of different activity, including oil and gas exploration, mineral exploration, perhaps logging, and tourism. This is a good opportunity to do that. I agree that we should do something like that and that it will help the economy in the long-run. This department is working with the new Department or Resource, Wildlife and Economic Development which is a newly formed department that we have to work together, cooperate and see how we could work together to develop some sort of a strategy on how to build roads in the north. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Steen.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have to work together in trying to develop this strategy. I do not want to be too long in trying to get it together as soon as we can. I know the department is working hard at working on strategies, along with all the other budgeting exercises that we have to do in terms of developing our business plans and trying to respond to the different standing committee requests. It has taken a lot of our departmental time. The sooner we get it done, the better for all of us, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, I, too, had the privilege of hearing the Minister say on the radio that the Department of Justice felt it was a waste of money to challenge the new gun law. Since we our government now feels that they should pursue, is this an indication that the Minister and the Cabinet has lost faith in the competency of our lawyers in the Department of Justice?

---Applause

The Minister of Justice, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has nothing to do with the relevancy of the competency of the opinions that might have come forward. There is a various amount of different opinions that are out there, and we have to weigh the different opinions and judge which ones we think are relevant and have the most chance of success, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Oral questions. Question period is over. Item 7, written questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this question is for the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, the Honourable John Todd. My concern is the ultimate removal assistance guidelines that I tried to ask about earlier.

These questions are in regard to the changes to the Collective Agreement between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Union of Northern Workers and how this agreement deals with ultimate removal of employees. Earlier this year, there were changes to the Collective Agreement between this government and the Union of Northern Workers. The ultimate removal provisions were changed so employees now pay for the move themselves and then are reimbursed according to the guidelines. I understand that the Minister's staff are currently interpreting the ultimate removal guidelines as saying employees are reimbursed for the lesser of the amount set for the community or the actual cost of their actual move. However, asking people to pay for removal upfront should encourage them to find the most economical way to move and to be thoughtful about what they take with them. This interpretation provides no incentive, Mr. Speaker, for the parting employees to be economical in their departure arrangements. My questions to the Minister are:

1. Can the Minister of Finance confirm that the ultimate removal provisions of the Collective Agreement between this government and the Union of Northern Workers were changed so employees now pay for the move themselves and then are reimbursed?

2. Can the Minister indicate whether this will cost this government more money?

3. Can the Minister confirm that his staff's interpretation of the ultimate removal guidelines is what the government intended when it negotiated this provision?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to opening address. Item 10, petitions. Item 11, report of standing and special committees. Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. Mr. Enuaraq.

Review of Bill 17

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Legislative Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 17, Business Corporations Act, and wishes to report that Bill 17 is now ready for Committee of the Whole.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to table Tabled Document 75-13(3) a letter and attachments I received today from the Dene Nation. This letter confirms the Dene Nation's strong support for the name Denendeh as the new name for the western territory.

The attachments are: a motion from the 1996 National Assembly, a motion from the December 1984 Leadership Meeting, a motion from April 1994 Dene National Leadership Meeting, and a motion from the September 1987 Dene Nation Leadership Meeting.

Each of these motions support the name Denendeh. Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Tabling of documents, Mr. Krutko.