Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of agreements that were signed, namely the environmental agreement and the socio-economic agreement. As far as the environmental agreement is concerned, there is a mechanism that is laid out in the agreement, namely the establishment and setting up of a monitoring agency. I understand the parties have been working to set that up and it is targeted to be set up by the 7th of April. The agreement and the stakeholders are working well. We are on target as far as that particular agreement is concerned. As far as the socio-economic agreement is concerned regarding contracts and employment commitments, the deputy minister for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development is the person designated to be responsible for overseeing that the agreement and the commitments made in it are met. We have internal discussions right now on whether there is a more appropriate mechanism required to ensure there is compliance and that the commitments are met in a timely way and we have some effective way to monitor that. That is currently where we are. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister indicate a possible timeframe regarding the monitoring of the socio-economic agreement and the possible new mechanism that might be put in place? I agree that the deputy minister is far too busy to be able to single-handedly, effectively monitor and some other alternate mechanism is going to be required. Could the Minister indicate a possible timeframe for that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Once the session is over and the officials within the respective departments have some time to dedicate to other ongoing work in a timely way, I would be able to indicate to Members in the next couple of weeks what type of timeframe we have and whether we do require a specific mechanism within the government to ensure that we meet the commitments made within the socio-economic agreement in an effective way. For instance, the Department of Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment, as well as my department, are some of the departments that have responsibilities laid out in the socio-economic agreement. Right now, there is a working group that are detailing exactly what those commitments are, plus trying to establish exactly how we can meet those commitments. Having said that, it will be senior managers, deputy ministers, that will need to meet in order to advise myself as the lead Minister and the respective Ministers within the involved departments whether there is a better way to meet those commitments within the agreement; what better way might be recommended by them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This particular initiative has a possible 30-year life and there are other mega-projects and mining projects of a similar nature looming on the horizon. It is going to be critical as a government that we have a mechanism beyond one person to be able to monitor that something as significant as that has an influence on all areas. Would the Minister bring forward the plan when it is agreed to, so we could see the kind of structure that is going to be there to monitor the training, the economic benefits and the social impacts, given the magnitude of this project and the kind of fundamental planning that has to be done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is true that these are incredibly significant achievements that we have made. Commitments that are made by this government, by other stakeholders, have the potential to bring significant benefits to the people of the north, to the businesses and the communities that we have up here. As a Minister and as a government, we have an obligation to ensure we look at every way possible to maximize the opportunities before us and to ensure that the commitments that are made by the stakeholders are lived up to. We have an obligation to make sure members of the public and Members of the Legislature have some measurable way, some way that is provided to them, that gives them the assurance that, as a government, we are doing everything we can to maximize the opportunities and to make sure the commitments made are lived up to in the full sense. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government has boldly embraced the Internet. We have signed a multi-billion dollar contract to provide the backbone for the electronic highway in all territorial communities. I know the Internet is a very valuable source of information. It has changed many of the ways that we do business. I agree that it would be nice for every NWT community to have access to the net but, in our rush to be part of the technological revolution, I want to make sure we have thought of all the impacts. I have an area of concern that I want to raise today.

Mr. Speaker, my concern is the impact that this electronic backbone is going to have on existing service providers. As we try to provide services where there are none through this huge contract, I am not sure the government has thought about those who already provide this service in some communities. These business people have made significant investments to give people access to the electronic highway. Will they be able to compete with government-supported big business? In November, one of my colleagues asked about the impact of the digital communication network on the existing service providers in some of the communities. The Minister was unable to give a clear indication of what was happening at that time. Can the Minister tell this House what arrangements have been made to ensure existing service providers are not negatively affected as a result of the GNWTs' contract for the electronic backbone? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.