Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal government, along with the Government of the Northwest Territories and aboriginal governments, I hope, will agree very shortly on an agenda that will be advanced through the intergovernmental forum. In the intergovernmental forum, I believe, work will be undertaken under the direction of the three governments for officials to start looking at the implications of devolution, revenue-sharing, and the benefits those bring.

We look towards that forum to initiate the work necessary, and the agreement and understanding necessary so that, as a government, we may begin, without prejudicing claims negotiations and self-government agreements, the idea of developing policies that will govern our approach to non-renewable resource development in the future, once devolution is completed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development as well. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my statement, the Northwest Territories is one of Canada's wealthiest jurisdictions in terms of mineral potential. Unfortunately, access to these mineral reserves is hampered, not only by a lack of transportation infrastructure, but also by the numerous regulatory regimes.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm that the overlapping regulatory regimes in the Northwest Territories currently present a deterrent to non-renewable resource development?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The regulatory regime in the Northwest Territories has largely been designed by the federal government. It is our duty as citizens to make the best of the regulatory regimes that we have available to us in order to regulate development, and development applications. It is our wish that our regulatory regimes in the future come under territorial jurisdiction as much as possible. We need to advance this in partnership with the aboriginal governments.

It is my view that we can achieve this and work towards a regulatory regime that would be simple, efficient, yet tough enough to assure everyone that the rules are clear and the costs for development in the North are clear, and upfront. This will be done in the future, in partnership with aboriginal governments, the federal government, and industry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister is absolutely right when he says that we need to work to move the ownership and control to the North, and I am encouraged by the continuation of that process. That could take some time, Mr. Speaker.

In the meantime, knowing that we have these overlapping jurisdictions, could the Minister describe for me what initiatives his department has taken, or is prepared to take, to try and bring some coordination to the approach, so the developers get a better understanding of what the hoops are, the different steps are, that they have to go through. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Knowing the concern that the MLAs have expressed recently about this government taking on new initiatives, adding additional staff in Yellowknife, so as to take on additional work and responsibilities, I have no inclination whatsoever to take on work that we do not necessarily have to do, that would have no achievable short-term returns.

The intent of this government is to develop a relationship and rapport with the federal government so we can advance our agenda. Our agenda is to work with the aboriginal governments and the federal government to reach agreement on devolution within a fixed timeframe, as soon as possible over the next few years.

On the item of revenue-sharing, we have to take a positive position in support of the pipeline proposal. The Inuvialuit, the Metis, the Dene have unanimously proposed to build a pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley. This Legislature has unanimously voted to support that proposal. Those are the things that we want to get done.

Expending resources and energy trying to explain a present regulatory regime and its alleged overlapping boundaries is not something I see a significant return on in the short term. At this time, there are no resources available to me to work on that, but I appreciate the suggestion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not think you will find any argument from Members of this House that this government needs to work very closely with federal government and the aboriginal governments in order to achieve a consensus on moving control and ownership of resources to the North.

But I think this government needs to take some positive action in terms of developing a policy we can look to in the long term. I do not think that because some Members have been critical of government action in certain areas that there is no support for the government to take action in other areas where we see the long-term potential being great. I think this is one of those areas.

Mr. Speaker, I do not think this government should wait for the inter-governmental forum to start developing a policy for non-renewable resources. I would like to ask the Minister if he would commit to undertaking that sort of policy development, some initial work so we are prepared in the future to take over the ownership as Northerners? I do not mean this government taking over, but for our part in the ownership and control of those resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is necessary for me to know if this suggestion is coming from all Members or just from Mr. Dent. I would certainly appreciate knowing the broad support with which this suggestion is being made. In fact, if there is unanimous support for Mr. Dent to suggest this initiative, then perhaps a motion from the Members to direct us to look at this would be the proper way to go. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would hope the government would hear my questions, my comments and those of others and take the leadership position that is necessary.

The Minister had asked about motions. In this House, we had a motion that he talked about, which was a motion of support for the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. I would like to point out, Mr. Minister, that motion was not unanimously approved. There were abstentions in this House, but there were no abstentions on this side of the House.

-- Interjection

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of that motion, in light of the comments of Members in this House, will the government take the lead in starting some work to develop a non-renewable resource policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has made a commitment to work with all Members of this House as closely as possible. We would not initiate and take on new work until after we have finalized the agenda and priorities of this Legislature.

We have looked for support for the agenda and the way in which we have been advancing the parameters of the direction in the ten weeks we have been in office. It is our hope that if we are going to unilaterally start developing a policy to govern us on how we approach non-renewable resources, we should take the time to discuss this with the aboriginal governments.

We have, as I have said, no jurisdiction in the non-renewable resource sector. It is only because the aboriginal leaders have said they want to own and manage a pipeline that this government has had the confidence to move a motion in support of it.

The policy on how we will develop our oil and gas and other minerals requires the express consent and support from as many of the aboriginal governments and their leaders as possible. I look forward to making sure that it is clear exactly what it is that Mr. Dent is suggesting to us. We will look for the support that we will require in the inter-governmental forum, which I hope meets as early as the beginning of May, to give us the assurance and the confidence we need to perceive in the direction he is suggesting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for the question. It is the intent of this government to consult the public as much as possible in the pursuit of the agenda, to assume control and management of northern resources in partnership with aboriginal governments.

Because we are a public government responsible to the public, we have an obligation to do that. We have a keen interest in making sure the development in the non-renewable sector provides a maximum benefit to our communities and our aboriginal people.

We have, in the absence of a policy, been working in partnership for a number of years now with aboriginal governments, aboriginal companies, and northern companies to take advantage of the development of resources, such as diamond mines. More recently in the Deh Cho and the Sahtu area with oil and gas exploration.

We have worked together with industry, with the federal government to develop monitoring programs. We have negotiated impact benefit agreements. We have set up partnerships through businesses, taking industry dollars along with federal and territorial dollars to set up joint initiatives like the West Kitikmeot Slave study, community mobilization, and working on the agreements like a socio-economical agreement that was concluded with BHP. We have set up advisory boards. There are a number of tools and instruments that have already been created because we have engaged aboriginal governments, aboriginal companies, along with industry in a partnership approach to non-renewable resource development on a project-by-project basis. Much work has already been done.

In this area, we still recognize that the Dogribs have yet to complete their land claim and self-government negotiations. We are working to support that and expedite that as best we can. The Akaitcho and Yellowknives, the Metis, The South Slave Tribal Council are also pursuing recognition and implementation of their rights agreements. We need to take those into account as we proceed in our work. Thank you.