Thank you. I believe there were two questions. The Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs, the honourable Manitok Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am quite aware of the water problem in Fort McPherson. It seems to happen every spring, which is the smell of the water changes with the spring water and the Deputy Minister of MACA met with the mayor in Rankin Inlet just this month. I have not had a full briefing yet on this issue, so I am inviting the MLA and also the mayor to have a full briefing with my staff and probably Public Works because there has been quite a bit of consultation done with the community. With my busy schedule and other things, I have not had a full briefing on this so I am just inviting the MLA and also the mayor to meet with me and we will get a full briefing on it at the same time. Thank you.

Thank you. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Madame Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand there is a meeting that will be happening on June 2nd with David, the MLA, David Krutko, to discuss the water problem in his community and I understand that officials from my department and also Public Works will be there at that time. That is the soonest we can make it. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Members' statement I spoke about division and the role that we are in. My questions are on the division issue and they are to the chair of the Division Committee, Mr. Todd. Can Mr. Todd update this house on the current status of the formula financing for both new territories that will be taking place in meetings and negotiations today?

Thank you. The chairman of the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I can update my honourable colleague from the future capital of Nunavut, Iqaluit, on the formula financing arrangements as it relates to division. The political committee, made up of NTI, interim commissioner, the Western Coalition and ourselves, met early last month to try to reach a common position on how we would move forward with respect to the two new formulas that are necessary in the creation of two new governments on April 1, 1999. I think it would be fair to characterize those meetings as cooperative and the overall objective is the same for all parties, that is we want to ensure there is adequate funding in place to maintain the level of services that we currently have and hopefully onward into the future in the 21st century.

Each of these entities have an official that is a working official that will be part of the formula financing discussions with the federal government, who will call the meeting. The first official meeting is planned this Friday, I believe, and what will hopefully unfold there is we will be able to determine some time-lines because that is important. The criteria I suggest for what kind of formulas we want because there are a number of options out there, particularly in the new territory of Nunavut and how we are going to proceed with respect to the argument, if you want, as to how we quantify the kinds of dollars that we are going to require to meet the demands that are being placed upon us by our appropriate jurisdictions. I think I would probably be in a better position earlier next week to advise my colleague as to any further developments as it relates to these two new formulas, at the officials level, Tuesday or Wednesday. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that people in the Northwest Territories are sleeping well tonight knowing that Mr. Todd is taking care of this for us. My supplementary question, Mr. Speaker, is concerning the model that we are using for Nunavut. Is the formula financing or the costing for both new territories, is it based on the status quo for the western Arctic at the present time, or is it based on the decentralized model or the NIC model for Nunavut?

Thank you. The honourable Minister for Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I see my colleague must have an audience again today because he needs to perform, which is not out of character for him. I want to assure him that right now, this government is proceeding in an orderly way to determine the appropriate cost to the Footprints in the Snow 2 model and we are also, at the same time, costing the western government as it now exists and hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will be in a position to identify what we think these two new governments will cost, more importantly, what we think the incremental side of it will be in Nunavut with a decentralized government. We can, through the coalition that we have of collective concern, move forward to the federal government and see if they are going to pay the bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Todd. Second supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the formula financing arrangement for both new territories, of course, is crucial here. Because we want to know exactly what funds we will have available on April 1, 1999. My supplementary question to the Minister of Finance and also chair of the Division Committee is, basically, has he been in contact with Paul Martin, who is the Minister of Finance, or is he dealing with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs? What lead government department on the federal side is now involved in the formula financing arrangements for the new territories, both the east and the west?

Thank you. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have said consistently to everybody in the House, to my colleague in committee, to him privately on a number of occasions, that I have had discussions with Mr. Martin as late as January 9th with respect to how we are going to proceed forward in an orderly way to determine the appropriate funding that is required for both new territories. We are, may I remind him, in the federal election right now and it is very difficult to get everybody's attention. Hopefully, we will get it after June the 2nd and assuming that the current government will be in place, then we will be able to move onward with our agenda, both in terms of the political agenda in trying to convince the politicians what the requirement is and the technical exercise that is necessary to demonstrate need. That is what we are doing, Mr. Speaker, and I will continue to keep the House

involved, in particular, my honourable colleague involved as to how those negotiations proceed. Thank you.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Todd tells me so many different things, it is hard for me to know and remember which month he spoke to Mr. Martin last. So he has confirmed that it was five months ago. My concern, being from Iqaluit, which is the capital of Nunavut, is exactly what the gross expenditure base will be. I wonder if Mr. Todd or any of his department of officials have any idea at this present time what numbers we are looking at for the costing exercise, or a ball park figure? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Minister Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe I missed something this week? We just spent four days in caucus giving everybody a complete detailed breakdown of the cost of division and the strategy to determine what the appropriate costs are. I understand Mr. Picco was at those meetings. I suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, that while it is nice to get pressed, but I suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, that Mr. Picco and others are well aware of the exercise that is currently under-way by this government and all the parties associated with it. When we get to the final conclusion of what we think the costs are, we need to ensure that our partners in this exercise are with us. NTI, the new interim commissioner, Mr. Anawak, the Western Coalition led by Mr. Floyd Roland, when we do that, and when we accomplish that we will then move forward in an orderly, constructive, well documented way to seek federal approval for the appropriate levels of funding that is required to ensure that the adequate services and delivery of services for the people of Nunavut and in the western Arctic. Thank you.

Thank you. That was in response to the final supplementary of the honourable Member for Iqaluit. I have the honourable Member for Kivallivik, Mr. O'Brien.