Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are other implications beyond the financial implication, Mr. Speaker, and that is how it will affect the district education council as it is left, in the event that a separate council is established for Hay River. It does affect other communities. For that reason, we do need to consult, for example with the Hay River Reserve. The documentation was silent on their wishes. Also, Enterprise and how it will affect the district education council staffing and so forth that is in place at the moment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I understand the question correctly, the Member wants to know what the overall costs for the Fort Providence ferry are after the date of freeze-up. I do not have that offhand, but I can get the information for the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am more interested in not after the date of freeze-up, but as they continue to operate as they are building that ice bridge up. Again, there is a direct comparison of $50,000 being saved, or the cost of that not being. In Inuvik, we are not able to use this ice-spraying method because it costs $50,000 more. However, our ferry is out, so the costs go up. To be specific, what is the cost as soon as the ice starts to run in the Mackenzie until the ferry is pulled out? Can you supply that information? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I understand the Member's question to mean what are the day-to-day operation costs of the ferry. It would depend, of course, on the amount of time it ran after the ice started forming. I am sure the Member is aware of that. However, the purpose of the reference to $50,000 in his letter that I signed off to him is just to show that it would be in the nature of $50,000 to use ice spray on the Mackenzie crossing at Arctic Red.

We put in the letter the indication, for instance, as in Fort Providence, that would be offset. In this particular case, it is not offset because the ferry does not keep running there. It is an outright cost to the department of $50,000 more if we wanted to ice-spray that crossing. That is the only reason we compared the two.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That goes to where I raised the question initially. Inuvik, in that region, why could we not have the ferry running until the ice road is built up? Then we could compare costs. We cannot compare costs right now. I am interested in what it costs as the ice starts forming at the Providence crossing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is true. We are not suggesting that this is a $50,000 saving here. It would have been an offset cost if in fact the ferry was still running, but it is not running. It is shut down. In order for us to bring in the equipment and have an ice ferry done at that particular place would cost the department $50,000 with no way to offset that.

In the letter, we suggested that if the oil and gas industry, who are the main beneficiaries here, were in favour of sharing this cost with us or coming forward with an offer to cover this cost, we would definitely take that into consideration. At this point in time, we have no offer from industry to cover this cost.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Final supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the Minister refers to getting proposals from the oil and gas industry and saying they are beneficiaries, all residents of the region would be beneficiaries. As soon as the costs go up in Inuvik, they spread out to the communities. That is a transportation point to the rest of the communities in the Delta.

The Minister is saying that they cannot do it this year, but I would like to know what the cost is per day of operation once the ice starts to form, and maybe at that point look at why we cannot get Inuvik's ferry running longer than the cut-off date.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cut-off date of the ferry in Arctic Red is not subject to any specific day on the calendar. We run that ferry as long as we can, subject to ice conditions. When we no longer can go back and forth on the river safely, then we shut down the ferry. From there on, we build up the ice as quickly as possible. I think that the Member's suggestion that we may be able to operate the ferry in some form at the same time that we build an ice bridge, might be very expensive, because it is very expensive in Providence. I do not have the exact figures, but I can come to the Member with the figures. It is definitely quite expensive and it is a lot more than $50,000. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have heard the Premier and the Minister of Finance talk about the potential for the Northwest Territories to become a "have" Territory. While we are waiting for that to happen, we have to have proper development so that it will take place. I am concerned that because of a lack of support the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board could cause a delay in approvals for projects.

Mr. Speaker, current levels of funding will not allow the group to look at three or four major projects a year. Without additional funding, program delivery will most likely be limited. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development pressure DIAND to increase the funding so that this board can be adequately supported?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned the other day, we do view this as being a critical piece of what has to be streamlined in order to attract industry to build a pipeline down the valley. As recently as September 27th, I discussed this matter with the Minister of DIAND. He confirmed to me that he was looking into what resources and what full time equivalents or people they would be needing in order to make this board as effective as necessary. I will continue that effort. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, developers are often unclear as to what the process is, and because the Environmental Impact Review Board is a new process, it is not particularly clear how everything works. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs could develop regulations that would help everybody understand how things are supposed to work. So far, they have failed to do so. Will the Minister commit to demanding that the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs get to work and develop those regulations?