Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am frequently approached by people who ask me how the key values of the land will be protected while we pursue industrial development. They emphasize that critical areas for wildlife and places of cultural importance are needed to give meaning to our lives and those of future generations.

Mr. Speaker, while developing economic opportunities in the Northwest Territories is an urgent concern, we must also maintain the ecological integrity of our land. To accomplish this, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the federal government jointly committed to creating a Protected Areas Strategy.

The Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development (RWED) had the lead on this project and jointly organized a workshop in April in Yellowknife. The workshop brought together representatives from the communities, environmental organizations, industry and claims-based regional bodies. Participants shared the results of their protected area initiatives and discussed ways of advancing the overall strategy.

The most important recommendation to emerge from the workshop was that an Advisory Committee be established to work with the two governments in developing the Protected Areas Strategy. I strongly support this recommendation and have written to regional political leaders asking for their support and for their nominees to the Advisory Committee.

This committee will play a key role in reviewing the draft strategy and making recommendations. It is my hope that the Advisory Committee will be in place by the end of May.

Mr. Speaker, much has already been achieved particularly at the regional level with respect to the establishment of protected areas in the Northwest Territories. Several areas have been set aside in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. The Gwich'in has also made good progress, identifying special areas important both for cultural values and for wildlife and other natural values.

What is required is a coordinated effort to guide and assist similar successes throughout the Northwest Territories. Work of this kind is well advanced in all other jurisdictions of Canada and is supported by various community, environmental, tourism and resource industry groups.

We can learn from all of this work, but we still need to ensure that our own efforts address the unique political, cultural and social circumstances of the north. I look forward to having the Advisory Committee assist us in this important task. Mahsi cho.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, scientists are telling us that the build up of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is causing our atmosphere to warm up. Our own observations and experience are telling us that changes are occurring to our weather and environment that we have never experienced before.

Last December, representatives from more than 160 countries met in Kyoto, Japan to discuss this global problem. After ten days of tough negotiations, agreement was reached on a legally binding protocol. It states that industrialized countries are to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent over the next 15 years. Canada's target is a six percent reduction from 1990 levels by the year 2013.

In April, I had the privilege of co-chairing a meeting of federal, provincial and territorial Energy and Environment Ministers to further discussions in Kyoto. Collectively, we agreed to proceed on two key issues. We agreed on a process for developing Canada's National Implementation Strategy - one that is based on collaborative government leadership and shared responsibility. We also agreed to strengthen and encourage voluntary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These reductions, Mr. Speaker, will not be easily achieved. A recent forecast conducted by my department indicates that in the Northwest Territories alone, if action is not taken, emissions could be 30 percent higher in 15 years time. That figure could be even higher with the development of our oil and gas reserves.

There is no doubt that climate change is an important global issue and other countries, the federal government, provinces and territories must each do their part to address it, but we must remain realistic.

Reducing the Northwest Territories' emissions to meet Canada's national target will have significant impacts on our developing economy. We must address global warming in such a way that no region is asked to bear an unreasonable burden. It is also important that our national and regional economies are not significantly impacted.

Participants have been asked to report on progress at the next Energy and Environmental Ministers' meeting this fall. It is my intention to immediately begin developing a strategic framework for action in consultation with appropriate agencies, municipalities and industry to help control northern greenhouse gas emissions. With a balanced approach, the framework will guide our participation in this important national process. Mahsi cho.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning to the rest of my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, during the past week the school year has drawn to a close in the communities of Paulatuk and Tuktoyaktuk. Next week the same will happen in Sachs Harbour and Holman. On behalf of the residents of these four Nunakput communities, I wish to express my appreciation to the teachers and staff employed in these four communities for their dedication and patience while teaching the children of Nunakput.

I hope they have a happy and warm summer break and look forward to their return in the fall. Mr. Speaker, I also wish to pass on to the students in these four communities, my sincere wishes for a safe and carefree summer holiday. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wish to rise and speak briefly on the issue of pay equity. There has been a lot of information which we as MLAs have been presented, both by the government through extensive briefings and by the union through mail, phone and personal contact. It is clear that the legal landscape is changing when we first started these discussions, when we took office. One thing I do know for sure is that the $40 million offer on the table is a lot of money, especially in light of the sacrifices all northerners made in the last two years as we attempted to balance the budget. I would like to repeat all northerners made sacrifices.

I think it is very important that we try to resolve this issue, and the feedback I have received from constituents who are union members to date has been very consistent. They want a chance to personally make a choice and vote on the package which has been presented. This is the feedback I have received from the constituents in my riding. I would hope that at some point, this particular issue does not stay jammed long, it does not stay at this level between politicians and elected officials of the government and the union, but that at some point the people who are supposed to benefit from this package have an opportunity to tell us what they think about the work that has been done to date. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak on an issue which affects all educators in the Northwest Territories. The under funding of help for FAE/FAS and special needs children in our education system is, I believe, starting to take its toll on the quality of education that we can offer our children. Mr. Speaker, I have heard in this House, the Minister stating that the needs of these special needs students are being met within regular classroom settings and that ultimately, it is the divisional board that has to decide how to apportion the budget to deal with the needs of these children.

These children have difficulty participating in a regular classroom situation. Mr. Speaker, as you and other Members are no doubt aware, some symptoms affecting special needs students are attention deficit disorder, acting out due to frustration and many other manifestations in forms ranging from mild to extreme. To mainstream these children without the proper resources and classroom assistance means that teachers' time and attention can be dominated by a few students. Another consequence of the teacher having to spend a significant portion of their time in maintaining classroom decorum is that the average students' quality time is lessened and ultimately everyone is being short-changed. The budget-cutting exercise of this government and Assembly that was undertaken passed along these cuts to educational divisional boards. The boards, Mr. Speaker, can no longer afford to hire classroom assistants to work with special needs students.

Mr. Speaker, my impression of the situation is that no one is being properly served by the way in which this deficiency exists and these students are being main streamed in the regular classroom without proper resources. Teachers are burning out from the stresses of trying to ensure that all students are being provided with the core information to succeed in higher grade levels. Average students are not getting the level of instruction and support that a quality education system should provide and special needs' students are not receiving the level of the one-on-one instruction they require to ensure that they learn all that they can. As a government, Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe that we have the responsibility to make sure that we meet the fiscal requirements of the boards of education to deal with special needs' students. We have to make sure that educators have the resources to implement a course of action which provides the most benefit to each child. I strongly urge the government to formulate a territorial-wide action plan to deal with the large numbers and ever growing numbers of special needs' students in our classrooms. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I start, I would like to send greetings back to my wife and family at home in Inuvik.

--Applause

Mr. Speaker, on many occasions, I have also had the opportunity to talk to union representatives and employees alike in the community of Inuvik. Employees have spoken with me and many of them said that no one can afford a strike at this time. Many of our employees are going from payday to payday to make ends meet. The issue of concern now is with talks that are no longer continuing and the information being put forward by both sides is extreme to one another. Some employees I have talked to - who do not attend my meetings, but I have a chance to speak with them - mention they would like the opportunity to see this thing go through and a deal to be settled. There are those who also raise the concern of fairness of how past employees will be dealt with, whether they live in or out of the territories.

During question period, I will be questioning the Minister of Finance regarding the retroactivity of this offer that has been put out and the impact it would have on the residents of the territories and those no longer living. In the issue of fairness, as I have spoken about, we need to deal fairly with all employees who work for this government because it is the employees who perform the work and serve residents of our communities. Many of our own people, aboriginal people and long time northerners, have filled jobs within the government to date. I hope that when it all comes to an end, we will see a satisfactory settlement where people will have a chance to decide if they can support this or not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.