Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Member's question relates to the digital communications network and the Minister responsible for Financial Management Board Secretariat is the Minister responsible for that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Legislative Assembly undertakes to keep the public advised of certain things such as when the House will be sitting, when they can watch televised excerpts of the House sitting, the types of Acts and legislation that are coming up before the House in any given session, and I was just wondering how they determine when and where this advertising will take place to inform the public? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister for RWED. The Minister was at the meeting last night in Fort Smith and heard the presentation. I would be interested in the Minister's comments on the information he heard, especially the gaps that appear to be there in terms of jurisdictions not working together and the lack of any kind of communication network where they can transmit information. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the meeting that I attended illustrated very clearly for myself, more importantly for the public that attended that meeting, why it was so important for this government to push for the drafting, and eventual signing of the Transboundary Master Agreement. There is an agreement which we signed, and are waiting for the Government of British Columbia to sign, that is called the Transboundary Master Agreement. That agreement calls for the sharing of information of all jurisdictions, namely, the Government of British Columbia, the Alberta Government, the Government of Saskatchewan, Yukon Government with ourselves, plus certain aboriginal First Nations.

The need to share information was illustrated very clearly at the meeting yesterday where the staff from the Alberta Government conceded that, because of the particular terms of reference, they were not able to see or appreciate their responsibilities as a government, and particularly as individual staff people, extended right to the Alberta/NWT border. The staff of Environment Canada finally realized in the middle of this meeting last night that there were major concerns of events that were happening with BC Hydro last summer. Along with the record snowfalls, snow build up and spring run-off in the particular water sheds that lead from the dam, leads into the watersheds that get into the Athabasca, the Mackenzie Rivers system, and the Slave River system, that there were major concerns resulting from those developments in British Columbia that impacted on the communities in Alberta, and well into the Northwest Territories along the Slave River, Great Slave Lake, down the Mackenzie River, right into the Mackenzie Delta.

On a different level, the representative of BC Hydro and the engineer that came from the Alberta Department of Environment, provided very good information that illustrated why there were such high water levels in the spring and summer along the Slave River, the Slave Lake, and along the Mackenzie River. Those are the things that I observed as a Minister attending this particular meeting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government through DIAND and water resources people look after the water and our interest at the table. As the Minister indicated, it was very clear that there were gaps in the communication. My question to the Minister is, is there a way that we can, as a government of the Northwest Territories, insist that the federal government agency representing us ensure that they have in fact a daily working relationship and formal connections with these other jurisdictions, to ensure that we do not have to go through this again? While we wait for this bilateral agreement to be signed, or this interjurisdictional agreement to be signed, that a working relationship can be hammered out to prevent this. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it is our intent to continue to use whatever means we can to communicate our support and need for the Master Transboundary Agreement to be signed at the earliest occasion. We will be communicating that to the Government of British Columbia and to ask the federal government to use whatever means it can to expedite that process.

We will request the Minister of Environment to direct his officials to ensure that they provide clear proposals on how they will ensure the communities that are effected by the fluctuation in the water levels and water qualities in the Slave River, Mackenzie River, Great Slave water systems to be given regular updated, factual information on a timely basis, and accessing that through some coordinated effort with adjoining jurisdictions such as the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia and agencies such as BC Hydro. Thank you.