Thank you, Madam Chair. I take a serious look at it. I look at who is calling for it and then I decide and let them know.

Thank you, Madam Chair. For any given Minister if some person is asking for their resignation, guaranteed I will talk to that Minister and sometimes I do talk to the other Ministers. Thank you.

Thank you. I do not want to belabour the point. I think just for clarity purposes, for the people of the Northwest Territories, the Premier has stated, and I think stated very eloquently here today and articulated his point very well, that, indeed, he takes ultimate responsibility for the decisions made for each individual Minister, because under our parliamentary system, am I not correct in assuming and maybe I would ask the Premier, indeed, under the Department of the Executive is it not correct that the Premier has the ultimate responsibility for decisions made by his individual Ministers. Is that correct?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, that is correct. Also, Madam Chair, I would remind Members that if one of your constituents wants the resignation of one of our Ministers, you, as an MLA, can ask for it any day the session is on, you have that right. We serve at pleasure to this House. If you feel we do not please, put a motion on the floor. You can take any one of us out. That is how this consensus system is set up. That is completely up to you. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I think most Members are aware that, indeed, as a group of individuals all elected by the constituencies that we represent, they have that ultimate right to ask for the resignation, and then, of course, there would be the matter of having the number of votes within the House. But I am just wondering on that process that is in place from the Premier and the Executive branch of government. We are dealing with the Executive here, and we are looking at the main estimates which would guarantee the spending patterns and so on of the Executive offices. I am wondering if there is any influence given by the Executive office on the awarding of contracts and so on or are those done by individual departments? So, for example, earlier today we had heard that when leases come up for negotiation, the deputy minister, in response to an earlier question, had the authorization of entering into a lease agreement. So I am wondering is that a standard practice within the government. Indeed, did the Executive branch of government give that responsibility for leases and so on and so forth to the deputy ministers or to functionaries within departments or does that actually, ultimately, come back to the Minister or the Premier for his approval? Thank you, Madam Chairperson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The particular lease you are talking about the deputy minister would have the authority to award that lease or extend that lease. It would depend on any given lease. As long as within that lease you have the authority as the deputy minister to extend it, then you can do it. But if the lease is ended and you wanted to extend it, then that would be a negotiated contract and the only way you can negotiate a contract is through the Cabinet. Then, there are very clear rules of how you can do that, but in this case it is not a negotiated contract. It is an extension of a lease, I understand, so that the deputy can do that.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I would just like to move on now under the Cabinet Secretariat, under the Department of the Executive and ask some questions in this area. Under the Cabinet Secretariat, under the corporate services division, I am wondering if the funding for those positions under the corporate services division, do they also include special attachments or special employee positions in Ottawa, for the Ottawa office of the Government of the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. No, Madam Chairperson, I will give the opportunity to someone else to make general comments on the Department of the Executive. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Northwest Territories is one of the best places to invest in this country. The Northwest Territories is the last frontier of this country. The Northwest Territories is one of the most responsible governments in this country. We have balanced our budget in the last two years. We have cut over 20 percent of our spending to do that. We did not do that without a lot of pain and without a lot of personal commitment but we have done it. That is the way we do business in the Northwest Territories. Like I said earlier, we are the last frontier. We have some of the most beautiful mountains, the cleanest lakes, the cleanest waters. We have a vast variety of landscapes, from the icebergs in the frozen sea in the east to the warm, big plains around Thebacha. We are where the action will be as long as we are allowed to develop. We are willing, capable and able to develop the Northwest Territories as long as the federal government does not get in our way. We do not need no bureaucracy or no bureaucrat in Ottawa saying yes to diamond projects in the Northwest Territories. We can do that ourselves. We are capable of doing it. We are capable of handling health care.

We are capable of handling education, we are capable of handling investment. We do those things and we are quite capable of doing those things. So, why would the federal government, on the other hand, say we are not capable of handling our minerals, our mining, our resources? That is basically the tone of the message I use when I go south. I try to attract investment. I try to attract people to look north. Pay attention. I just came off a trip with 520 people on Team Canada, all looking at places to invest. One question I asked them, why do you not look North? Why do you not look in Canada? We have a lot of opportunity, but I still feel that the biggest hindrance to development in the north is the federal government. I strongly feel that because all you have to do is get in your vehicle and drive south, the minute you pass the 60th parallel you barely have room on Alberta highways. You cannot even get a hotel room. Why is that? That is because the provincial government is in charge of development. The provincial government calls the shots. The oil does not stop at the 60th parallel. The resources do not stop at the 60th parallel. The only difference is, you have Alberta handling one side and the feds handling the other. That is the problem. The sooner we get devolution to the Northwest Territories; the sooner we get development in the Northwest Territories; the sooner we will pay our own way in this country. That is, basically, what I tell southerners.