Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In our sparsely populated Territory, I am sure each Member of this House knows a young person in their constituency who has met with tragedy while operating a motor vehicle, be it a skidoo, motor boat, automobile, motor bike or ATV. In the last ten or so years, alcohol was a contributing factor in 60 percent of the fatal collisions in the Northwest Territories. A Department of Transportation report believes too many people are being killed and injured as a result of drinking and driving. I would like to thank the Member for Mackenzie Delta, David Krutko, for sharing with me the grim tragic accident facts that have been collected by the Department of Transportation.

In Yellowknife, we are fortunate to have Students Against Drinking and Driving, an organization active in our high schools. I believe there is also a chapter of this organization in Hay River. Through their efforts, these communities are made more aware of the devastating effects of mixing alcohol and motor vehicles.

I am pleased to say that other Yellowknife MLAs and I met recently with representatives of St. Patrick High School's Students Against Drinking and Driving, who have been successful in their bid to host the 11th Annual Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving (CYAID) Conference in Yellowknife in March, 2001. Conference organizers are anticipating 500 student registrants from across Canada for this conference, which may be one of the largest conferences ever to be hosted in our Territory.

Students Against Drinking and Driving Northwest Territories, as part of this initiative, has a goal of expanding this student led program into other northern communities.

I know various government departments and agencies such as the Coast Guard and Coroner's office have been most supportive of Students Against Drinking and Driving.

I believe that this initiative by Yellowknife SADD students has a tremendous opportunity for positive results and they would like to bring their message to the Members of this House and to all northern communities.

As this is primarily a youth initiative, I have raised this matter with the Minister responsible for Youth, the Honourable Roger Allen, and later today I will ask the Minister how this government might further this important youth initiative.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.