Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for Division. I am not quite sure if it is Mr. Todd or Mr. Arlooktoo, so either one will do. In reference to some questions we spoke about regarding the mid-term review as to the use of new housing units or temporary office space in the event the offices that are to be constructed during division, was there any work done to look to see if we could use these units for temporary office space in the event that the offices are not completed? Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Division Secretariat, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it is important to point out, of course, that these assets are not the GNWT's assets. They are the assets that are going to belong to the Nunavut Tungavik Incorporated through some long-term agreement they have with the federal government. There has been some suggestion, as my colleague says, that on an interim basis, assuming that we could move some bodies or there may be an opportunity for that to happen, I have not had the response from my informal discussions I have had with the

Interim Commissioner. I will check with the staff and just see where that issue lies. It is a suggestion that has been banged around in a number of sources. I will see what response I can get. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this House, Mr. Kakfwi committed to having the Department of RWED examine whether changes to the wildlife regulations would address the RCMP and the Department of National Defence residency requirement, like it is done in other jurisdictions? Could the Minister could update us on his investigation in this matter? Thank you.

Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

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

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of ways the department came to that conclusion. The Lahm Ridge Tower lease has to be looked at through the overall office plan that was developed by the department for Yellowknife. The Lahm Ridge Tower's lease was viewed by all the deputies involved, along with Public Works, that this lease which is occupied by Education, Culture and Employment and Department of Transportation, will be required to be retained in the overall Yellowknife office space requirements. Once the lease negotiations were initiated by the owners of the Lahm Ridge Tower, the deputy minister of Public Works instructed the superintendent to negotiate a better deal and he did negotiate a better deal, which is right in line with the office costs in Yellowknife. If we went out and had to move our staff, these two departments, out of the offices, then we would be losing the improvements that the department had put into this building, as well as the cost of moving and disrupting the programs and services. At the same time of moving into another new office space, we would have to upgrade these offices to accommodate a new department. Overall, looking at all these different factors, we determined that it was a good deal for the government to retain this extension of the Lahm Ridge Tower. Thank you.

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

Mr. Antoine.

Mr. Speaker, the actual cost is that over the term of the lease extension, the base rent remains the same. However, in the operating and maintenance expense over the eight years, the government stands to save up to $500,000 from the previous lease arrangement. Plus, any of the office spaces in Yellowknife, some of them are pretty old office spaces and you need good facilities for employees to work in, you need good heating facilities, ventilation and air conditioning. In this case, there was a problem in Lahm Ridge Tower in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and through the negotiations, we were able to have a condition that the landlords will improve and change this heating, ventilation and air conditioning system to about $100,000 in improvements. Cost-wise, it is a good deal. Thank you.

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

Mr. Antoine.

Mr. Speaker, through the chronology of events, it is clear by January 1997, once the amalgamation of the departments and downsizing were pretty well close to an end with this government, we knew there would be a lot of surplus spaces that this government has. We needed to start looking at rationalizing the Yellowknife office plan. Starting in January until about July, the Department of Public Works and Services put a lot of work, effort and time into dealing with this whole issue. By July, it was pretty clear which offices we would like to retain and which we would let go. By that time in July, it became clear we would be retaining the Lahm Ridge Tower lease once we had negotiated a better deal than we had. Based on that, it was good timing that Al Marceau, the owner of Lahm Ridge Investments, contacted the department and the department contacted the client departments and decided to move ahead and renegotiate this lease. This is how part of the solution was solved in office requirements for Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko. Question period is over.

Mr. Antoine.

Mr. Speaker, that would have been one approach. The department had to look at these approaches already and determined Lahm Ridge Tower was a good office space and these two departments were already in there. It makes sense to try to renegotiate a better lease than we had, in which the Department of Transportation superintendent and the deputy minister were able to do. Based on these different figures reached, it became clear, it was better to stay in this building than move to other places. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to opening address. Item 10, petitions. Item 11, reports of standing and special committees. Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 13, tabling of documents. Item 14, notices of motion. Item 15, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 16, motions. Item 17, first reading of bills. Mr. Arlooktoo.