Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. Mr. Barnabas.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question will be directed to the Minister of MACA. Mr. Speaker, I learned that the Arctic Bay sewage disposal lagoon dump improvement was reduced by $210 in order to purchase a bulldozer for the hamlet. Mr. Speaker, my question is why the project was reduced when there is a local contractor with full equipment in the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My

regional staff is very good at speaking to the communities and finding out what the priorities are. I do not know why he said $210. I think that is probably $210,000. I do not know what happened with the bulldozer and the sewage lagoon as to why it was reduced. I will get back to the Members. I will take it as notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The question is taken as notice. Oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not think I can tell the Member what we discuss in Cabinet. Thank you.

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

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tourism is very important for the economy of the Northwest Territories. We have a lot to offer the world in places to come and see, fish, hunt and to look at northern lights. We do not want to see our tourism industry floundering. I would be pleased to take it up with the Minister. I am sure that the Minister is working with the other people in the Northwest Territories who are involved in tourism to try to make sure that we market it properly. I will discuss it with the Minister. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for FMBS. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that approximately $400,000 was donated or transferred to the City of Yellowknife. The apparent purpose was to help offset the downturn to the economy due to the loss of jobs, so on and so forth. Can the Minister confirm whether this amount of money was transferred, indeed, to the City of Yellowknife? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. In an effort to assist the city in its fiscal crisis and the fact that we are in a huge downturn, as it relates to division and as the majority of cuts in the budget strategy are coming out of Yellowknife; Yellowknife requested some assistance and we provided it. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister confirm to this House where this money came from, how it was facilitated?

Mr. Todd.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. It could have come through the community infrastructure funding, but I would have to double check. Certainly, at the request of three MLAs from Yellowknife and with my and the city's support, we moved on this important initiative to stabilizing the Yellowknife economy, et cetera.

--Applause

Thank you. Oral questions. Could I have some order in this House please? Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I realize that Yellowknife has had some difficult times over the last year or so. This is not to say that the smaller communities in the eastern Arctic that are suffering from 72 to 75 percent unemployment also have had difficult times over the last many,

many years. My question to the Minister, I am not concerned or upset about the fact that Yellowknife has received $400,000. All the power to them. My question, Mr. Speaker, is how can communities like my two communities, Arviat and Baker, access this type of funding and get on this gravy train, so they can have the same benefits as the city of Yellowknife? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

I would not define the request from city hall with the support of four MLAs for Yellowknife as a gravy train, Mr. Speaker. If my honourable colleague wishes to make a reasonable question, I am prepared to answer with a reasonable answer. What I will say to him is, there are a variety of programs out there in which his community has accessed. I know his community very well has accessed the Community Infrastructure Fund for the Kivalliq partners, et cetera. City hall and Yellowknife have historically not accessed that. This was and is a unique situation. It is a city that has taken some of our biggest hits in terms of layoffs. It is a city that is under siege with respect to the mining industry. This is a city that needs some assistance. My colleagues, I and others chose to give it to them. This is a one-time assistance to see if they can get out there to market the city and bring some new life to it. I would hope that all of my colleagues in this House would see the value of that. Historically and certainly presently, communities like my home community of Rankin Inlet, Mr. O'Brien's communities like Baker Lake and Arviat have been able to access a whole bunch of programs as level two and level three communities that level one communities have not been able to access. It is no different from the assistance that we want to give in Inuvik which is currently assigned as a level one community but, in fact, has a level two, level three economy. This was the reason why we did this. Thank you.

--Applause