My honourable colleague is correct. It is a safety complaint and we are concerned about safety. Here we have Fort Simpson, Cambridge Bay, have all lost them. Is he asking me as the Finance Minister, to look at revenue generation in a narrow focus just for his riding? I am saying to him that is inappropriate. The decision was made by the federal government to get out of this business for a variety of reasons. That is not a decision we made. That is a decision Doug Young made when he was Minister of Transportation when I was the Minister of Transportation. I am not prepared to look here today at one particular riding as though a way of generating revenue is for them. We have to look at the big picture here. I know Mr. Picco wants to look at the big picture. We have a responsibility, not just to people in Iqaluit, but to people in Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake, and Cambridge Bay. The kind of questioning is inappropriate.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the government of the Northwest Territories represents every person in the Northwest Territories. I did not imply that I am asking for favouritism. All I am saying is there are 5 million litres worth of fuel sold directly in the Iqaluit Airport. Maybe we could use some of this money to offset this training. This is a serious safety concern in Iqaluit because our volunteer fire department does not have the equipment to fight a fire at the airport. They do not have the training. There is a liability issue here. We have already had a crash of a CF-18 in my community. We had a 747 Jumbo Jet come down. Did that happen in any of these other communities? No. My question to the Minister is, can he tell me how I can generate revenue or off-site sales or something, so we can provide the extra $260,000? That is what I am asking.

Mr. Todd.

I like it when my colleague gets emotional. Let me explain to my colleague that if we are going to look at any revenue generation as he has asked me frequently in this House, I cannot look at it in isolation for Iqaluit. He did ask me if I would consider specifically Iqaluit revenue generation to protect his interests. No, we are not prepared to do that. We are prepared, as I have said in this House many times, after we are through this budget, to spend some time, through discussion with the Members and others, in looking at revenue options for the well-being of the total budgetary concerns this House has to take into consideration.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will have to check into that question. I do not believe so, but I will find out the answer and give it to the Member.

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

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I have received some complaints about the on-line access on e-mail because some of the departments are not keeping up-to-date with the people that are in their positions. With the revolving door we have had here the last little while, nobody seems to know where anybody is. Could we get a commitment that the Deputy Premier will instruct the various departments to keep their information up to date? Thank you.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Mr. Speaker, I had indicated earlier that is something we are doing already. We have communication coordinators appointed in each and every department and they have been working hard to get this new system in place. There may be some wrinkles in the system at this point in time but we are working on them. I can assure the Member the phone list will be as up-to-date as possible. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for division. Mr. Speaker, at the recent leaders' meeting in Cambridge Bay, a number of critical issues were agreed to but unfortunately did not get the profile they should have. Agreement was reached with reference to the decentralized model as proposed in Footprints 2 and, also agreed to by all signatories, was the infrastructure model and scheduling. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of issues we unfortunately did not get to. One of these issues brought to my attention by my constituents was who will have the mandate or the authority to negotiate leases once Nunavut is here? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the development of the new infrastructure, as it relates to the decentralized model proposed by NIC, we have no authority over that. It is being done by the federal government in conjunction with an arrangement they reached with NTI, two years ago in relationship to ownership of facilities. The interim commissioner will have the interim authority to enter into fiscal arrangements with the federal government, prior to the election of the new Legislative Assembly. So, whoever the interim commissioner is would have the legislative and legal authority to enter into fiscal commitments on behalf of the future government of Nunavut until such time as a Nunavut government is elected and its officers put in place. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister saying we will have to wait until the interim commissioner is approved and in place before these leases can be negotiated and, if that is the case, when can we expect this to occur? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Mic. off) right because I know it is a very important one for my colleague, and certainly an important one for people in the east. This an arrangement between the federal government, Public Works Canada, DIAND, and NTI. All the new infrastructure requirements for the Nunavut government in a decentralized model, offices, houses, etc. will be owned by NTI. The legal obligation to commit to monies that have to be spent prior to the election of the Nunavut government lies under the authority of the interim commissioner. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, assuming all the infrastructure that is required will not be in place by 1999 and, as a result, there will be a requirement for leases to be arranged. That is the point I am getting at. Can the Minister confirm that? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.