Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can appreciate the Minister's dilemma since the Treaty 8 people are in discussions with the federal government; but I am talking about territorial taxes, which has nothing to do with the federal government. This legislature has adopted this document which says that we shall respect aboriginal rights, treaty rights and aboriginal concerns and views when planning and making decisions, and we want to move forward. I would like to know if he, as the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, would undertake to bring this matter to Cabinet, so they can look at this and, if proper, to rectify this injustice that has been occurring since 1899, and in the case of the Northwest Territories, since 1890. Thank you.

Yes thank you, Mr. Chairman. I made a mistake with the date, in the Northwest Territories it was 1900.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In this area of the members of Treaty 8 who are paying income tax, territorial tax, I am told that this matter in previous governments was brought up and discussed. The point is that if Treaty 8 members are requesting to be exempt, then that request has to go to the federal government to deal with. It is a matter that has to be taken up between the Treaty 8 and, perhaps, the federal government and ourselves if that is the direction that members of the Treaty 8 want to take it. I think it is a matter that is a grey area, and there are many in the Northwest Territories that has to be cleared up. Certainly I would have the staff of Aboriginal Affairs take a look at it and have some good information on that, and I could provide that to the honourable Member and, as well as, bring it to the attention of the Cabinet. Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister for Transportation also has a responsibility of safety and public services. First, I will explain there were not very many boats; there were a lot more canoes today in the east. There are more heavier boats, and they are hard to bring in land. There are times when they cannot get away from the wind, especially in Pond Inlet and in other communities where there is no shelter from the wind. I had written a letter to the Minister, and I am wondering if he received this letter requesting the Minister to visit Pond Inlet to see if they could get a dock facility so that he can see this is urgently needed. I believe we have to work hard to get dock facilities in communities where they do not have any. If the Minister understands my question, would he be willing to visit Pond Inlet? Thank you. (Translation ends).

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I did receive the honourable Member's letter and the information I received from the department is that they are aware of Pond Inlet and the shore line off the community of Pond Inlet. I am told that the current is pretty strong in that area, and it will take some study to determine what type of harbour facilities could be developed there. Yes, I will take your comment to visit Pond Inlet as an invitation, and I was hoping to hit all the communities in the eastern Arctic in the future. I will take that opportunity to go up there at some point in time. The staff of the Department of Transportation is aware of your letter, and they were planning to take a look at this community to see what the possibilities are for your request. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Department of Transportation in trying to help out in the deficit situation was cut quite a bit, about 25 percent of our total budget was cut. Therefore it reduced a lot of the capital infrastructure that this department was providing. Therefore, in turn, even though we have permanent employees in this department, by the number of contracts we used to issue per year, we are able to generate the spin off of creating employment in the communities and the honourable

Member is correct in that regard. With the cut backs it has had quite a drastic effect on that. Developing our infrastructure in the Northwest Territories by looking at the highway strategy, we have to look at the training and job creation in that regard. The strategy, as I said earlier, is not really complete; we are working on it. We pretty well have to finalize and fine tune it. However, we look at some of the major areas where joint private/public venture could be contemplated. There again this government is looking at how other jurisdictions have done it.

Currently we do not have anything that is really earmarked to go that route. We are still looking at what the possibilities are. I think an attempt by this government to change the way the financial arrangements are handled in this government might open the doors to that type of possibility as well. The areas that I mentioned to the honourable Member for Inuvik, is that the highway system between here and Rae has possibilities, and if we secure partnerships and funding, perhaps we would be looking at the road into the Slave Geologic Province, those are the possibilities as well as the road down the Mackenzie Valley. These are areas where those type of arrangements could be looked at. However, that is still subject to securing funding for those types of projects. Thank you.

Yes, the intention is to consult with and engage everybody that is going to be a stakeholder in this. First of all, this will have to be a Cabinet decision paper, and we are working towards putting it before the Cabinet for approval. Afterwards we will share it with the Standing Committee on Resource Management and the stakeholders, the private sectors, different aboriginal First Nations and the different corporations that they control. Thank you.

Thank you. What we are developing at this point in time, it is quite a long way before we start approving projects, Mr. Chairman. We are developing a strategy on how to consult with stakeholders and try to get input and some ideas and direction on what possibilities are out there. Certainly we are far away before we start approving any projects and if we are going to advance that far, it will be after a lot of consultation with the Standing Committee on Resource Management. Thank you.