Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is yes. I can certainly arrange for the Department of Justice and the RCMP to go to the community and speak with them. We have our community policing coordinator, at this moment, in another community in the Beaufort Delta area doing that exact thing. I wanted to indicate too that we are as concerned as the community and the MLA is about the level of crime and law enforcement. We take the concerns very seriously that have been brought forward to myself by the Member to the Department of Justice recently. I will make arrangements for the Department of Justice officials and possibly with the RCMP to go to the community to talk about possible solutions.

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

Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister Responsible for Public Works and Services. Earlier this week the Minister had indicated that the Government of the NWT had made a presentation to the CRTC in relation to the long distance rates in the Northwest Territories regarding opening up competition for long distance in the north. I would like to know whether the Minister can elaborate on whether or not the presentation supported or went against opening competition in the north. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories' presentation with the CRTC regarding long distance competition was in favour of long distance competition starting immediately. However, we also support a subsidy for provision of local services in the high cost areas, and we need the protection of the service we are currently provided by NorthwesTel to the smallest community, at the same time. The Northwest Territories local rates are among the lowest in Canada. Local rates are rising to be more in line with the cost to provide the service and rates charged in southern Canada. Shifting the balance of local and long distance rates will reduce overall telephone costs. The majority of the customers in the north will lower long distance rates which could increase economic development. Taking all these factors into account, the Government of the Northwest Territories has supported increases to local rates with a strong recommendation to the CRTC to explore subsidies for the north. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, long distance competition will not occur for a couple of years yet, but NorthwesTel is being allowed to increase its rates in August, and again next year. Will NorthwesTel not be getting a windfall for a couple of years prior to the long distance competition actually coming into force? Thank you.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. NorthwesTel will not be allowed to make any extra revenue from the changes. This is part of the CRTC's control on NorthwesTel. There is a restriction on the amount of profit they can make. In this case, the rules are the new revenues from the higher local rates must equal the lower revenues from decreasing long distance rates. In this way, the CRTC puts restrictions on NorthwesTel. Even if we have to wait for long distance competition to come into effect, NorthwesTel will not be making windfall profits from its higher local rates for the next two years. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand in the smaller centres there is not enough revenue coming from those local rates to actually fully support the phone system there. At the same time, people on limited incomes have to have phones, particularly, for emergency services. Is there any potential relief on rates for those people in the smaller communities? Thank you.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are going to be hearings that CRTC will have, starting in May through June. At these hearings, presentations will be made and will explore the need to have a high cost serving area fund in Canada. There will be a move for all telephone companies in Canada to contribute to a fund. This fund would help telephone companies support areas in the country where cost of providing local service is very high. This would help lower local rates over the long term. There is a move toward all these telephone companies in Canada contributing toward a fund that would be there to help these people who are unfortunate, if the costs of telephones are too high. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicated there will be further hearings. Could the Minister elaborate on these hearings in the north, particularly where and when they are going to be held and who is allowed to speak at them?

Thank you. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand there will be a hearing in only one place in the Northwest Territories which would be in Iqaluit on June 25th. NorthwesTel has asked the CRTC to establish video conferencing to link people from Yellowknife for this hearing and to also establish audio links from some of the other centres, like Hay River, Inuvik, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.

There are other regional hearings. Each of them will last for just one day. They have been scheduled for other parts of the country. The other one in the north would be Whitehorse and throughout the rest of the country. Who would be able to speak? Anybody who could make a presentation in Iqaluit or if the video link up is done from Yellowknife, there would be opportunity for people from Yellowknife to participate in that video link up. There will also be audio link ups from these other communities I mentioned, so anybody that is interested could take that opportunity. This government will be making an oral statement at the Iqaluit hearing, as well as making a variety of written submissions.

At the last CRTC hearing, for your information, that was held in Yellowknife, there were very little political presentations made at that time. MLAs, if you are interested, I would like to encourage you, as well as community groups, businesses and mainly the general public, to take part in the CRTC process. You could do it either through the regional hearings or through written submissions. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

The Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Dent.

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