Oral questions. Final supplementary, Ms. Groenewegen.

Thank you. Mr. Arlooktoo. Two questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First on the one year delay what I indicated yesterday and I think it is clear now. A one year delay may not be a good idea because in a year the Legislative Assembly here, all the decision-makers in Nunavut and all the decision makers in the west will be right in the middle of trying to deal with all the complicated issues of division. I believe there will be very little room at the time to deal with other important issues such as this. There is enough evidence now that this is a good move. It is a money making move to the tune of $100 million over 20 years. We need to act on it now.

On the issue of consultation. The president of NTCL, Mr. Clement was contacted on several occasions. There was correspondence between the department and NTCL but understandably, I believe that NTCL being forced into a competitive process rather than being the carrier of choice or being guaranteed a contract each year is not so comfortable with the idea. We have tried to reassure them that the process will be fair, it will be open and if you look at it logically, the company has as good a chance or a better chance than any other.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Public Works and Services. Mr. Speaker, the conventional kind of method for delivering fuel in the Keewatin region provides jobs for people of that area and provides business opportunity for the company owned by people of Nunavut area. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has indicated this initiative provides a saving to the government and to the people of that area. Of course, we know that the construction of the pipeline is going to cost money. My question is, how long will it take, Mr. Speaker, for the people of that area and the government to see realized savings of the construction of a pipeline in the Keewatin area? Thank you.

The Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe once the project goes into effect, the savings realized will be immediate and they will be significant. All indications and conservative estimates we have now, say the transportation cost of fuel will be about one quarter of what they are now. The savings realized will be significant and will be more once the pipelines are paid for in five years time.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we just have recovered from the deficit elimination. I would caution the government, myself, the amount of money we spend, the expenditure. Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question to the Minister is, how many jobs will be realized from the construction of the pipeline and at this point in time, how many jobs are required to manage the conventional method of delivering fuel to the Keewatin area? Thank you.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have an accurate number of jobs that will be realized from these four infrastructure projects that are worth several millions of dollars in total in the four communities. I certainly can share that information with the Member once we complete the requests for proposals and the proposals, but these are incremental projects and jobs to what is planned. I just wanted to comment on the conventional methods of delivering fuel. Right now the conventional method in Keewatin is by tug and barge. As technologies get better and as we move forward we realize now that it is cheaper and more efficient to go through the offshore tanker route very much in the same way that we deliver goods before we used the bombardiers and the biplanes, et cetera. We have moved on and I see that in a similar light. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary to the same honourable Minister. Obviously we have not done any research in the area. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister delay the project until such time that full research is done by the government?

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is no. As I said before the government, the department and myself feel that we have more than enough information and evidence that there will be significant savings to the Government of the Northwest Territories, the government of Nunavut and the people of the Keewatin especially. This project has to and will go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Mr. Steen.

The Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe it is before the sealift delivery season in 1999.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Steen.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the government responsible for the entire Northwest Territories, it is important to remember we are still dealing with the whole of the Northwest Territories. This is one area we have been working on for a long time, the improvement of sealift, the improvement of the fuel delivery in the entire eastern Arctic. We recently completed the signing of a large contract with NTCL for the eastern Arctic for last year and this is part of the ongoing improvements we are making to how we deliver fuel in the eastern Arctic.