Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a process set up to receive proposals from the mining companies that propose to get into mining activity, mining production, here in the Northwest Territories, and they are primarily federal processes. In the case of BHP, there was a process set up by the federal government to review their application to get into diamond mining. With Diavik, another federal process was set up to review their application as well, and our government takes part in these processes, primarily by advising the federal government and assisting in the review of the applications as a government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one mine that comes to mind right away is the problem we see at Giant Mine, yet this government continues to put money into that project, and also there is the question of investing $2 million in the previous budget at that time. I raised concerns at that time about the question of liability of this government when it comes to dealing with concerns of environmental cleanups, ensuring that there are bonds in place to protect the public so when we do have a situation like we do with Giant Mine where we are looking at $200 million to clean up the arsenic in that mine. Yet this government continues to invest in that mine and also consider human resources and energy to continue to put money into a mine yet, at the end of the day, the government is going to get stuck with the $200 million cost of the cleanup. So can the Minister tell me exactly how does he see that issue being worked out?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the liability at Giant Mine is largely federal. The federal government, we believe, will assume liability for the $250 million estimated amount of liability with Giant Mine in the event that the owner is unable to cover that liability. The Government of the Northwest Territories is responsible for the surface reclamation and remedial work that would be required, estimated in the neighbourhood of perhaps under $10 million. It is true that we are working to find ways to keep Giant Mine operating, at least in the short term. We know that the huge environmental liability, much of which has happened under previous governments from a time when environmental laws were not so stringent, and environmental knowledge was not yet of the state that it is in today. We are working on the Giant Mine issue, primarily to keep it going so that, while it is still possible to be productive and marginally profitable, we should continue that operation to protect the jobs that are at stake there. In the meantime, we are also working to pressure the private sector or the federal government to address the environmental liability, that is the massive amounts of arsenic that are stored underground, to see if we can start to address some work and some resources towards perhaps starting a cleanup program of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me exactly where does he see the $10 million coming from for the cleanup of Giant Mine, and what plans are in place to get this cleanup started as soon as possible?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is just an estimate. We are not assuming that we are going to do it. We have the view that the private sector should be still interested in Giant Mine as a property, as an operation, and we are hopeful that some work will be done to find a new owner and/or operator to keep this going, and that will give us time to address the questions that the Member is raising. As long as the mine is operating and the private sector is involved, it is possible that some or all of the liability will be covered by the private sector. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me if there are any plans in place for this department to strengthen our environmental regulations and bring them in line with other jurisdictions across Canada to ensure that we do have mechanisms in place to ensure the public that we are considering protecting the environment and we are looking into legislation to have a look at that. Can the Minister answer that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All lands and inland waters are still under the jurisdiction of the federal government, so we do not have the capacity to deal with environmental issues that deal with most of the land and the resources and the water in our territory. The environmental jurisdictions we do have we believe are adequately covered at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my statement, because the government

has its records and its witnesses in the North, there is probably an increase in cost to hold the majority of the hearings in Ottawa, yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot provide the rationale for why the PSAC would make that kind of statement. Considering this is a complaint which has been lodged against the Government of the Northwest Territories on behalf of employees who, for the most part, are still residents in the Northwest Territories, I do not understand how that statement could be made. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.