Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could not quite hear the full question. If I could have the Member repeat it please. Thank you.

Thank you. Your first question, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have staff working on a negotiated contracts policy for this government. It will be going to Cabinet very shortly, then to committee, then to this Legislative Assembly, then to the public in general. That should happen all within the next ten days. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the interest of open government and to make sure our communication lines are open, all metis locals, band councils, hamlet councils and organizations in the Northwest Territories, for example the

NWT Construction Organization, will be informed as well. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is to the Premier. A couple of weeks back I had the opportunity to learn first hand some of the employment and financial benefits that the 50th Space Wing situated in Colorado Springs bring to the Northwest Territories. It is a direct impact on the NWT economy, as I mentioned, in jobs. We had the construction of the DEW line station in the early 1950s, and then it was replaced by the early warning system. Today, the maintenance of that particular facility employs approximately 200 northerners. Also, the 50th Space Wing, they maintain and control the global positioning satellite systems which aids hunters, trappers, prospectors and surveyors in helping them in many cases to get to safety.

On that visit I became aware of some of the requirements to construct a ground based radar system. It was suggested that it would be best located north of 60. My question to the Premier is, would the Premier tell us about his findings on this particular topic and also if he would support this initiative that could bring some additional jobs to the north in the way of employment and also the location of this particular system and construction in the north? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a large meteor shower will bombard the earth in the very near future.

-- Laughter

The specific cloud is called a leonit meteor storm. It is forecasted to arrive April 1, 1999. No, it is forecasted to arrive in 1999, Mr. Speaker. When it does, the incidence of meteors will increase ten thousand fold. The shower will particularly threaten all man made objects in orbit around the earth today. In order to take evasive action with satellites such as turning the antennas to present the smallest cross sections or change in orbit, the operators need to know more about the shower. They need to be able to predict the storms as accurately as possible. The world leading experts in this field are Canadian scientists. They operate from a number of universities. In order for them to better gather data to support their work they need to have a radar deployed, ideally north of 68 degrees, to be able to track the leonit storm continuously.

The radar is a BHF radar. The data it would gather would help with the predictive models for meteor showers. There is an urgency, Mr. Speaker, in this requirement. Ideally, the radar should be purchased and used in England in 1997 and set up north of the 68 degrees in 1998-99. The SWR 503 by Rathion Canada is ideally suited to the task. The radar cost is in the vicinity of $2 million. The total cost of the project is estimated at $5.5 million. Mr. Speaker, a fraction of this would be spent in the Northwest Territories. A number of NWT sites, such as Inuvik, are well suited to this project. And, Mr. Speaker, many times this government has said that we will facilitate and work to attract investment in the Northwest Territories, so it goes without saying that very shortly I will be writing a letter in support of this project to try to get as much benefit to the Northwest Territories as possible. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is the same old question again. I am getting used to answering it. Like I have said before, the Transportation Department does not have a policy for negotiated contracts, Cabinet does follow a directive on negotiated contracts and that is what we have done for the past many, many years. Now there will be one clear policy for all government departments to follow. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question to the Premier then is if we had all these different policies within the different government departments, from the various Hansards and answers across the floor, I understand from the Premier that everything was working fine. I wonder why now has the Premier decided to have just one policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has requested it.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did request, I believe Mr. Ootes and myself about 15 months ago, did request this policy. If this is in actuality going ahead, I will await it. And I would like to follow up with the sole sourced which is in the same vein. There is no policy for sole sourced contracts. I wonder what is happening with the sole sourced contract policy?

Thank you. I do not know if there is any difference between sole sourced and negotiated contracts. It is still non competitive contracts. Mr. Morin.