Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Naturally, the government does not have direct control over some areas, but we are affected as citizens, if we should have a breakdown of telephone service, et cetera. I wonder if the Minister could tell us if our government people are also in touch with organizations such as NorthwesTel, the RCMP, again with relationship to communication, telephones, the military, and of course, transportation organizations, if the government is in touch with those, and coordinating with those particular organizations to ensure that they also are addressing this whole issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister will not be able to give me detailed answers on this today, but it is an area of concern, it seems by more and agencies. Citizens get affected by it and the mail is maybe affected, et cetera, so I would appreciate if the Minister could have some attention paid to this and have his officials ensure that it is not just government that addresses the issue but other agencies throughout the territory, that we are up to speed on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Honourable Charles Dent, Minister responsible for western division issues. Mr. Speaker, in the past, I have brought up the issue of how this government is going to respond to the fact that Holman is now relocated in the Inuvik region for administration purposes. There are some Members expressing interest in this issue as well as indicated by my honourable colleague from Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko, who voiced his concern in regards to court services for Holman in my riding yesterday. I thank the Member for bringing that up. Mr. Speaker, in particular, as well as that issue that was raised yesterday, I would like the Minister to possibly bring the House up to date as to what the government is doing to prepare Holman for division? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, along with the Member, I have met with the mayor from the community on several occasions, in fact, in Inuvik on Friday and Saturday, I had the occasion to talk to Mayor Bristow about the transition measures. The mayor, is satisfied that Ministers and departments are working well with the community to coordinate the transfer of administrative support from the Kitikmeot to the Inuvik region. Specifically, Mr. Speaker, the hamlet has met with Government of the Northwest Territories departments from both Kitikmeot and the Inuvik region, MACA, Justice, Education, Culture and Employment, the divisional education councils, the health

boards, and housing. Work is progressing well and to date. The mayor advises me there are no significant concerns. There will be a meeting this Friday in the community with Education, Culture and Employment from both the Kitikmeot and Inuvik regions. As well, Arctic College and health board officials will be meeting with hamlet officials in the community this Friday. Mr. Speaker, I am certain we are doing what we can to try and make sure that the people of Holman see this transfer as being entirely seamless. The goal of this government is to make sure that the residents of Holman see no difference in the way in which they receive their services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we seem to be addressing all the particular issues pertaining to departments, but one thing I see as lacking is, there is definitely a need for an airline connection between Inuvik and Holman on a regular basis, which is not there at this point in time, and I am wondering what the department or the government is doing towards encouraging the airlines to open a scheduled flight to this particular community to allow the departments to have a feasible access to the community to provide the services? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to date the government has not done anything official to try and change air travel patterns. The expectation is, that as the administrative services are transferred over from the Kitikmeot to the Inuvik region, there will be a natural increase in the amount of traffic from Inuvik to Holman and that will lead to the development of regular air services. We could certainly make sure that the airlines in the north are aware of the transfer of administrative services and advise them that this will most likely lead to an increase in traffic, so that they can watch the route and be prepared to add services as necessary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my questions will be addressed to the Minister of RWED with regard to his statement on the joint meeting of Energy and Environment Ministers of Halifax. Specifically, Mr. Speaker, I would like to get some more information about the strategy he references in the last page of his statement that is being developed in the north to control greenhouse gas emissions. As the whole issue of greenhouse gas emissions is a critical one, and especially so in the north where there is a much more dramatic impact on our climate. Could the Minister elaborate on how this strategy will develop and when it will be completed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Northwest Territories, we have a heavy dependence on the burning of fossil fuels in order to meet our heating and energy requirements. Many of our communities are required to burn large volumes of diesel in order to ensure that power is provided to the residents of different communities. Our economy is at a very elementary stage in many cases, but we do have some industry, mines that also require large volumes of fossil fuels to be consumed. That is really what the basis is, for looking at greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest Territories.

As a strategy, we have been discussing amongst our officials, and with certain stakeholders like the Power Corporation and other agencies, sharing analysis of the situation as we see it in the north, providing some information and an analysis of how the rest of the country will work to try to meet the commitments Canada made and keeping stakeholders, like I said, the Power Corporation, briefed on the developments as they occur with the ongoing commitments Canada will be making internationally on how we will meet these commitments.

We have, and are currently still discussing with stakeholders, how these targets will impact on our economy, whether or not, in fact, there can be seen a reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest Territories. Clearly, we do have some work to be done to develop a strategy and that is basically the picture as it is today. Thank you.