Mr. Chairman, there has been concern from the city and private citizens for a number of years. As a government, we have been aware that the federal government and ourselves have no legislation or regulations in place to address that. That is the reason we have drafted the goal roster discharge control regulations. We have recently looked at arsenic emissions, which is a toxic substance under the jurisdiction of the federal government. We are looking at ways in which we could address that. We have been discussing these draft regulations with interested groups, including Royal Oak. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, there has been some work done on sulphur dioxide emissions. There has been some research done to establish what level those are, whether there is reason for concern and what measures might be taken to alleviate the concentration in the local area. Health Canada has looked at concerns regarding arsenic emissions. I am not certain if any particular research is available from the federal government on that particular substance.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be prepared to see if the Department of Health or Health Canada would look at such a concern and act on it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could the Minister indicate how the money in this particular activity, environmental protection services, is broken down between environmental protection and energy management?

Mr. Gamble will answer the question.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The area of energy management and the wise use of energy is an area where there is a significant potential for savings that does not require laying people off and cutbacks to free up money for other important programs. This is a very important area and the Minister has indicated in the House that he wants to put a priority on the development of an energy strategy. Could the Minister elaborate, as the amount of money that is currently there for energy management is quite small given the magnitude and the size of the territories and how much money we are spending on energy right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the Member is aware, we indicated we have an economic framework that we are developing, which is going to help us to rationalize in a more transparent way for the public and for Members of the Legislature, how we allocate our resources in support of the different parts of our economy. It will provide for that. In areas like this, it will show we are putting some attention on energy and energy conservation. This is one of a great many areas where we want to engage in some activity in the coming year. At this time, we are showing about $450,000 for capital and $878,000 in operations and maintenance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I recognize that the department and government have done and are doing some interesting initiatives at the community level like the heat reclamation at Fort McPherson and community energy planning in Fort Simpson. My concern is that while we are making some individual efforts in some areas, this is an area with huge potential, but seems fiscally undernourished and would benefit from, even if there is not a huge influx of new money, a broader plan that would explore some of the possibilities in terms of energy savings. As the price of oil rises and energy costs increase, it is going to be an area where there can be significant savings, as well as benefits to the environment and to communities in terms of freeing up dollars. The question would be to confirm the need for a broader energy strategy in addition to the very appropriate community

initiatives, that is going to be tied together some way, so we can look at areas where we may need more capital up front to save money in the long run. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree that if we can rationalize it, more resources should be dedicated to this particular area. In the opening remarks I made, I mentioned that we are looking for partnerships. We are going to work with other agencies, perhaps federal agencies, other departments, including municipalities to do what we can in this area. At this time, this is what we thought we could allocate. Hopefully by developing partnerships and joint action with other agencies, the total allocation will increase significantly. Thank you.