Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regards to the winter roads, the roads hopefully will be open by February 10, about a week or so. The reason for the late opening is the section between the community of Pedzeh Ki, or Wrigley, up to Tulita, the Fort Norman section. There is a lack of snow and we need snow to build the ice

crossings on the numerous creek and small river crossings in that section of the highway, winter road. As a result, we waited as long as we could, and there is still very little snow in that area, but we are going ahead. We are using all precautions to try to accommodate the Department of Oceans and Fisheries in respect to the way we build these ice roads. Thank you.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation officials have been meeting with the officials from the federal Department of Oceans and Fisheries, and are trying to come to a resolution in regards to the Act that we are trying to abide by. Yes, we are trying to meet with the federal Minister responsible for that department, Mr. Mifflin. At this point in time, I have not been able to meet with him personally but the intention here, in the future, is to try and arrange some sort of a meeting so that we can sit down and go over some of these problem areas. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the winter road system north from Wrigley to the communities of Tulita, Norman Wells, Good Hope and Deline, is a very vital link to all of us here. As we know, we have to resupply these communities with the fuel so that they have enough fuel to run throughout the year - those communities that are not reached by the tugboats. At the same time, we try to use these roads to provide resupply of building supplies, dry goods and so forth, to these communities. Yes, it is a substantially lower cost if we were able to truck all these goods in on the winter roads. As we wait for these winter roads to open, the costs are very high for bringing in the supplies otherwise. The department has not really sat down and analyzed the cost break-down of what the honourable Member is seeking but we understand that, generally, the cost would go down if the winter roads were open and we were able to resupply these communities. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I cannot commit to the honourable Member to extend that time of March 19th, the honourable Member mentioned for closure of the road. The intention of the department is to try to contact all the communities and all the different truckers that intend to resupply these communities. As soon as the road is open and the weight is allowable, then whatever resupply regarding these communities, should be ready to roll. We intend to pursue that and make sure that the five communities get resupplied in the time space that we have available to us. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Miltenberger.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the scope of the strategic planning process that the consultants are undergoing is very broad. It would take into account some of the problems that we are facing in respect to the exact same issues the honourable Member has identified in respect to our population growth, which is higher than the normal standards throughout the country. Our poorer health status indicators, and all those factors that contribute to some of the problems that we are facing in the Health and Social Services system throughout the Territories, Mr. Speaker. I would like to reiterate that there was a written question for tabling the terms of reference of the strategic planning process with the consultants, and I will be providing that as soon as possible to provide as much detail and information as Members want on this particular issue, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ng. Oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

The Minister responsible for Northern Constitutional Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the western constitutional process is still under way. The Constitutional Working Group has had a series of meetings. In fact, we had a meeting last night and we intend to have another meeting again tonight. I would like to report that this government has committed to put some funding into a consultation process, as well the federal government has also made a commitment to fund this process. Jointly, we should have some funding to go ahead and start a consultation process into the communities. In fact, the Constitutional Working Group has been working on a work plan, and we still have to sort some of that out, but the intention and the direction is to go ahead and begin consultation between now and the end of March, and hopefully into April, May and June. Like I said, we still have to sort out some of the work plans and the scheduling, timing and so forth still has to be agreed upon. Generally the direction is to go ahead.

There is concern by the federal government in regards to the Partners document that we tabled in the House in October. Their concern was with the content of it which was a model that we put forward. Throughout the last couple of months, since we tabled that document, the officials of the Aboriginal Affairs have been meeting with the federal officials trying to see what kind of commitment the federal government would have towards this document. I would like to say officially that there is support for the principles of the document from the federal officials which is a good sign.

They are concerned about the model. We said all along that this package was for public consultation and once it was out people would have opportunity to comment on it. We have heard a lot of comments on it and now with the funding that is in place, we intend to go ahead and go into the communities and explain the document and get feedback from people. The intention here is to revise this document as we get the feedback from people. That was the intention all along. Thank you.

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

Mr. Antoine.