Thank you. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, with all due respect this is simply a different situation. This is a situation where a mine is in jeopardy and operating a mine which employs people and creates revenues for this government in its revenue generating capacity and then reallocates these revenues to expenditures that affect all of us. It is not the same as exploration dollars and the exploratory site. This is an operational mine, which just happens to be in Yellowknife. That is the first part.

The second part is that Polaris and the Nanisivik Mines are not gold mines, the Echo Bay and Lupin mines are closed, we have lost the jobs. I believe 30 or 40 jobs in Mr. Ng's riding. We have lost whatever limited revenues we got because that one has temporarily closed.

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I agree that this government perhaps has not provided as much assistance in the oil and gas industry as it should in the past, but certainly we are moving rapidly to do that in the future. There were some announcements lately in Mr. Deneron's country for example, Chief Harry Deneron, where we provided and we will continue to provide significant support to that industry.

Part of the overall investment north economic strategy is to do exactly that, it is to find a way to provide support and to create an environment that we can get some of this activity moving forward. Frankly, the life cycle of many of our mines, whether it is in Nanisivik, Little Cornwallis, Giant, Con, et cetera, are in jeopardy.

As Finance Minister it causes me some concern that revenue base could be slowly diminishing. My responsibility is to go out there and try to find new ways to generate revenues. It may appear to my colleague, Mr. Krutko, that we are not giving the support to the oil and gas industry as much as he would like. I would dispute that at this time. I think we are and I think we will continue to do more in the future and that is certainly our intent. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this was a request by both the mines at the time. For whatever reason, the corporate entity of the Con Mine chose to withdraw, Giant continued. The offer would be open to any operational mines in the territories. This is still the territories. Whether it is in the geographical location of Nunavut or the west. I understand my honourable colleague's concerns but I am obviously not able this afternoon to convince him that this, in the long run, is a net gain to the Northwest Territories. Mr. Chairman, unless there is a new question that I can answer, I am at a loss how to convince him otherwise.

Thank you. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I can provide the House, assuming that the Justice Department says, with whatever agreement we sign with the industry and if that is possible I would do it.

Thank you. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when an agreement is signed, if I am by law permitted to provide the Members in this House with it, I will do so. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, it seems to me there may be a huge difference in the types of mines that are involved here. In the case of Con and Giant, it seems as though all the workers live in the Northwest Territories and spend their money in the Northwest Territories. These other mines that have been brought up by the Members, I would suggest that most of the workers do not (did not for those that are closed other than Pine Point) live in the Northwest Territories, did not spend their money in the Northwest Territories, did not count as part of our population for the formula financing agreement. It is very difficult to compare those mines to Con and Giant. Similarly, exploration that is going on without mine or gas fields already producing, you cannot compare. What I would like to ask the Finance Minister is, how does population affect the formula financing agreement?

I recognized Mr. Erasmus before I recognized Mr. Steen because Mr. Steen has spoken as we review this particular matter. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as I tried to indicate in committee earlier on today to a question, population is a critical factor in development of the formula. Any outward migration, when it gets caught up in statistics and if it is significant, would have a significant impact on our budget and on our transfer payments. If you take that we receive $17,000 per capita in transfer payments, I think no matter what the number is, the reality is that if you were to see Giant and the Con mine close tomorrow, in between the workers and their families, there are 1,000 people who leave and they are over 18. In simple math that would be a $17 million impact on our grant. Population is a significant factor in the development of our fiscal relationship with the federal government and the grant that we receive. Any massive outward migration would have a significant impact on our long term funding for the future of the Western Territory. Thank you.

Thank you. Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, not previously authorized. Mr. Steen.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, yes, City Hall was obviously the direct interest in this thing. My interest as the Finance Minister was territorial wide in its

nature as it relates to the revenues as they relate to this aspect. My understanding is that City Hall is offered some assistance in municipal funds to Giant and that discussions are continuing with them at the time. I should also add that, I was reminiscent and I apologize to my colleagues, that the federal government is also intimately involved in this. We are also trying to convince the federal government that they should "belly up" to the plate and see if they are prepared to support us as well. So discussions are underway with all parties, there is a recognition at both a local (Yellowknife and territorial) level of the impact this will have and could have and will have. Hence the reason we are coming forward today to ask for $1.5 million in assistance. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Steen.