Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to make a short comment on all the suggestions and responses from the Members here. I do always appreciate the direction that you give me for MACA. I also know that my department has always been willing to answer any questions that you may have. There seems to have been quite a bit of misunderstanding with the Keewatin pilot project. I did appreciate the Member for Natilikmiot stating the fact that the term being used, take over, is not the right word. In Inuktitut it is more of a partnership building with other agencies in the communities. Community empowerment should not be seen as some animal just swallowing up everybody else along its way. It should be more of a dog-team approach in a fan hitch and people working together to pull together.

I would like to describe the Keewatin pilot project a little bit. There have been a lot of concerns about this project. What the mayors in the Keewatin are trying to do, and the leadership which involves KIA, which is a body of NTI, the health boards, the education boards, we have been trying to develop these leadership meetings across the territories, which involves everybody for the betterment of their regions. In the Keewatin region all they are trying to do is get the infrastructure money that you voted here and agreed upon be transferred to them and the operations and maintenance. They are not talking about taking over the nurses. They are not talking about taking over the programs or teachers. They are just talking about the infrastructure money that is already allocated to the Keewatin region under this leadership so they can prioritize at their level. You make all the policies here at this level, territorial level, policies and criteria for the formula financing and all the legislation. That is, I think, our role as territorial MLAs. All the mayors and leadership are saying is that after you have voted their budget they can decide where they should cut themselves. The smaller communities will still get the same amount of money that you vote from this territorial level.

It is trying to be a team approach. The mayors and the leaders are saying there is a better way of doing business. They are not developing a self-government. I have said this over and over. In the Keewatin region I know the mayors said this morning, they are not trying to develop a brand new regional government. It is just a management approach of how the funds should be allocated to the communities or how they can prioritize their needs with other partners, which might be the education boards, the health boards. I do not know how much clearer I can make it. The mayors said this morning that they never even thought of self-government because they all know it is going to be a public government. All they are trying to do is work together with the other partners for the Keewatin region after you vote the budget to see how they can work together as a team for the betterment of their communities. It is just a different way of doing business. When we became MLAs, we were committed to making changes in the government. This is a big change for the government and I think it is a very good, positive change for the government. It is a better way of doing business. If we do not do it now, I know it will happen in the future. It is just a better way of doing business. By doing this pilot project for the Keewatin region, I believe we have listened to the people in the communities and we have found a way. The department has been directed by myself not to force this on these mayors or the leadership. All the department has been doing is informing them how the criteria is set, the legislation and all the technical stuff so then the proposal comes from the mayors the way they want to operate their pilot project.

I know you want to see a concrete proposal because this is the way the government has always worked, but with community empowerment the ideas should be coming from the grass roots level up to this level. I sense the fact that the mayors who came here seem to be frustrated this morning. I do appreciate the fact that the committee Members had time to meet with them and to listen to their side of the story. I really appreciate the membership who was willing to listen to them.

Some comments have been made about the self-government. How does community empowerment and self-government meld together? What we are trying to do with community empowerment is that we are building a foundation so that when you get your self-government there will be a foundation. This community empowerment is a development approach. We are building the skills so that this complements the self-government negotiations. We are assisting the people. When they get their self-government, there will be a solid foundation where the people know how to run their affairs in their communities. Community empowerment is not contradicting self-government negotiations. We are building the skills required to administer the programs and services and maintain the infrastructure for those self-government negotiations. This is not trying to go against self-government, it is hand in hand. It is the approach we are taking. We are doing the best we can to help wherever we can help and this is the need that is needed. We have one of our staff, actually MACA, who sits on the self-government negotiations as an observer and we find out where we are needed to try to develop the communities the way they should be developed. I compliment the staff on that.

There was a very good recommendation made by the Member from Yellowknife, Mr. Roy Erasmus. I think that is needed too, and I will work with my partners to see how we can approach this recommendation from the Member for a community development course or training program. I think there is a need for that, and I will be talking with different partners to see if it can become a reality because I think that is a very good point made today.

Also, there was a comment made that there seemed to be a favouritism made to the Keewatin region. I have stressed the fact that all the regional offices have community empowerment coordinators and community empowerment is the priority of the government. We are being fair to every community in the territories. We are not playing favourites. It is just different regions have been given the opportunities to bring forward ideas, and the idea that the Keewatin mayors have is an idea that came forward from their meetings about two years ago, when I first became a Minister of this government. That is what I wanted to say for my comments. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.