The Member for Mackenzie Delta is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do I have any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Krutko, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Members' statements. Mr. Miltenberger.

The Member for Thebacha is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Miltenberger, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Members' statements. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past several months I have continued to ask this government about accountability, transparency, responsibility, and I have asked for more openness in the way we do business. The motion of last May asked for the publishing of the contracts issued by this government and to list them as negotiated, sole- source or tender. Mr. Speaker, the government has finally begun to do this. They have also provided the disks so that the information can be downloaded. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the government for this initiative.

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Thank you, Mr. Picco. Members' statements. Mr. Rabesca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak to the relationship between dogs and the humans in the north. In most northern communities, dogs are not allowed to run loose. However, those dogs that are allowed to run free pose no threat to members of the community. There is a very clear relationship between the dogs and the people. If a dog breaks this relationship, this trust and attacks a human, it is destroyed. No questions asked. The circumstances behind the attacks are of no account. The fact that a dog attacks a human means it must be destroyed.

A few years ago, in Arctic Red River a dog team attacked a passerby. Sadly, the whole team was destroyed because of this act. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, this eliminated the chance of this ever happening again. It is sad but, most aboriginal people know that any dog that violates a human is destroyed without question.

Mr. Speaker, that leads me to a recent case of four-year old Jordan Drybone, who was mauled by a dog this September. To-date, nothing has been done about this dog, despite calls from Jordan's mother, that the dog should be destroyed. Mr. Speaker, by-law advisory constable, Larry Weber, says nothing is being done about the dog. I find it very disturbing that Mr. Weber feels that it is the fault of the boy, that the mauling was brought on because the dog was provoked or teased. I am very concerned about the situation, Mr. Speaker. The dog is shut up behind a fence and tied up. It has very little contact with humans other than its owner. By being confined in a fenced in yard, I doubt the dog would have reacted any other way to strangers.

Mr. Speaker, if anything, the dog is provoked by being confined to a small area. It is unacceptable that nothing has been done because of this matter. It is clear the relationship between humans and a dog has been broken. It hurts me deeply that this boy will have to suffer humiliation and scars of this attack the rest of his life, perhaps never to marry, being reluctant to mingle, be discriminated against. Our policy in this House is zero tolerance towards violence. Why is it, Mr. Speaker, that this animal's welfare is being put above the human being? If any human had been acted in this manner even if provoked, this person would pay a price. Would it be different just because a tyke provoked a dog? The public and our children's safety depends on our acting to protect them and correct the situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Rabesca. Members' statements. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to talk about an aboriginal joint venture. Mr. Speaker, in the last couple of weeks I have heard lots about diamonds and I have listened with interest. You will recall that last year, I asked several questions about a diamond sorting and valuation facility and made statements that sorting and valuation should be done in Yellowknife. I am glad to see that all the Members agree that it is a worthwhile cause. Since last year, I have taken upon myself to learn more about diamond sorting and valuation. I have talked to people, I read up on it, and recently, I took a trip to Antwerp from London with other MLAs. I saw first hand that you do not need a degree or even a high school diploma to work in a diamond industry. On the contrary, it seemed as though most sorters, polishers, cutters that we saw had poor education. Mr. Speaker, we have artists of all sorts in the North. They sew with beads, silk, and moosehair. We have carvers. We have international acclaimed painters. It is easy to see that people up in the north could do sorting, policing or even cutting with enough training. Since coming back from Antwerp, I have participated in putting together a joint venture, an aboriginal joint venture between the aboriginal birthright groups in the diamond area. I say the birthright groups because they are the people of aboriginal title and other rights in the diamond area, and that is why the federal government insisted that BHP negotiate impact benefit agreements with them.

The joint venture consists of the Dogrib Nation, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and the Kitikmeot Inuit. The aboriginal joint venture recently sent a letter to the DIAND Minister and the Government of the Northwest Territories, Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. The joint venture has offered to provide a Yellowknife-based facility and services for diamond sorting and valuation to the governments and industry. They indicated this is to maximize economic opportunities for their shareholders and other residents of the Northwest Territories that diamond mining regulations should require the sorting and valuation of Northwest Territories' diamonds at a Northwest Territories community site. They have offered to construct a facility or facilities in Yellowknife that meets both government and industry layout and operational requirements. They would bring in additional expertise that would enable it to supply a range of quality technical services to governments and industry.

Mr. Speaker, the aboriginal joint venture's goal is to create infrastructure so the Northwest Territories diamonds can be processed in the Northwest Territories with a maximum of benefits for shareholders and other residents. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member for Yellowknife North is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do I have any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Erasmus, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason I helped put this aboriginal joint venture together is because I felt it could be a strong argument for the federal government to ensure the sorting and valuation is done in a Northwest Territories' community. The venture has the support of the city of Yellowknife and several prominent Yellowknife business people. I am happy to report, that today, they have put in an application for land at the Yellowknife airport for a sorting facility. Why the Yellowknife airport? Because it has less security risks, as the diamonds will not even have to leave the airport to be sorted and valuated. Mr. Speaker, I am sure all

Members here join me, in wishing the aboriginal joint venture every success. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Members' statements. Mr. Enuaraq.

Today I would like to talk about a matter of grave concern and safety to the residents of my home community, Clyde River. As the Members are no doubt aware, Clyde River relies solely on air transportation as its link to the outside world. The government has money budgeted in the near future to build a taxiway and apron in front of the new terminal building they also plan to build.

Mr. Speaker, this new construction certainly solves the community's previous problem of having to cross the runway to get to the terminal building, an important safety issue in itself. However, Mr. Speaker, it does not address the real problem at the airport in Clyde River, which is the prevailing winds in the area always resulting in the pilots having to land on a cross wind. You can ask any pilot and find out that this is not a good situation. It makes it hard for pilots to land the plane safely.

I am worried, Mr. Speaker, that it would take an accident to have this problems correctly. I strongly urge the Minister of Transportation to look into this important safety issue for my constituents and plan a course of action to address the problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Enuaraq. Members' statements. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On Monday, October 14, 1997, the Member for Baffin Central asked me what the Department of Transportation was doing to help families buy healthy foods.

As the Member mentioned, transportation to the remote, off-highway communities is limited to the air and marine modes. The operation of safe and reliable community airports makes it possible for air carriers to bring scheduled air services to these remote communities. Although the department cannot influence retail prices directly, today's scheduled air services deliver a wider variety and more regular supply of perishable, fresh foods than was possible even a few years ago.

At the beginning of this session, in a statement to the Assembly, I reported that, with the northern air carriers, the Department of Transportation is doing everything in its power to protect northern communities from the effects of NAV Canada's proposed new fees for air navigation services. An increase in transportation costs makes everything a small community needs just that much more expensive.

The Department of Transportation has a strong and productive working relationship with the Canadian Coast Guard. The department acts as the Coast Guard's delivery arm in the Northwest Territories for the maintenance and improvement of shore facilities improve the efficiency of cargo handling and help to keep down the cost of resupply.

In 1993 the Department of Transportation helped the Department of Public Works and Services restructure the fuel resupply contracts for the Keewatin region and eastern Arctic communities in 1993. The reorganization resulted in an eight percent annual saving in the cost of delivered fuel. In 1995, the department persuaded the Canadian Coast Guard to award three-year contracts for the eastern Arctic sealift. The longer term contracts resulted in savings of between two and 17 percent in dry cargo freight rates.

Whether through better physical infrastructure or the rationalization of more cost effective transportation services, the Department of Transportation is looking for new ways to bring down the cost of northern transportation. Lower transportation costs are essential to bringing a higher standard of living for the families in remote communities.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize my old teacher, Mr. Carnia, who is sitting in the gallery. He was our Grade 5 and Grade 6 teacher in Coral Harbour. We appreciate his commitment to his students during the time he was teaching in Coral Harbour and the people in Coral Harbour will always remember his smile and brown curly hair which is gone.

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Welcome to the Assembly. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Krutko.