Please be seated. Thank you, Mr. Nitah. Good afternoon, friends. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you back, colleagues, from a very busy summer. The world has indeed changed since we last met, and it is the hopes and the prayers of this Assembly that the world crisis will soon resolve itself.

I wish to advise the House that I have received the following message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.

Dear Mr. Speaker,

I wish to advise that I recommend to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories the passage of the Supplementary Appropriations Act No. 3, 2000-2001 during the Fourth Session of the 14th Legislative Assembly.

Yours truly,

Glenna F. Hansen

Commissioner

I also wish to inform the House that I have received the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories' declaration whereby she gave assent to Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act of September 25th, 2001. At the appropriate time today I will table the Commissioner's declaration of assent. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, today as we gather again as an Assembly, I would like to extend my deepest condolences, on behalf of all Members of the Legislative Assembly, to the families and friends of those killed in the plane crash near Fort Liard one week ago.

We are all too familiar with the human price that our northern environment can exact. We each share in the sense of loss that exists today in the Deh Cho. I am confident that the people of Fort Liard will come together in the wake of the tragedy that has hit their community.

It is our nature as northern people to unite to face challenges. It is something that I would call on each Member of this Assembly to do today as we prepare to address the future of our Territory and our people.

It is almost two years since we first came together as an Assembly and then presented to the people of the Northwest Territories our vision of a better tomorrow. Our vision reflects the common belief that each and every Member of this Assembly that Northerners must benefit from economic and social development in their regions and that we will pursue this development in the interest of the people we represent.

Two things have happened recently that impact on our agenda. First, the tragic events and consequences of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. have touched all of our lives. The events of September 11th have and will continue to have a profound affect on the way we live even in our remote northern communities. Tougher airport security measures are an example.

Last week in Ottawa, I met with United States Ambassador Cellucci and conveyed to him the sentiments and support of all Northwest Territories residents in the aftermath of the New York City and Washington attacks.

Secondly, we are experiencing an economic downturn which, with few exceptions, is beginning to impact most of Canada, including the Northwest Territories.

Now more than ever we as an Assembly must stand united in our purpose and not lose sight of our collective vision. I urge all Members to stay the course and complete the agenda that we have laid out together.

This tragedy has significantly altered the federal government's agenda because it must now take into account the increased focus and spending on national security measures and international defence obligations.

Last week, I also met with a number of federal Ministers, urging them to ensure that Northwest Territories and aboriginal issues continue to be part of the federal government's national agenda. I was assured that opportunities presented by the Northwest Territories are still on the federal government's agenda. This should be a source of great encouragement for us all.

Coupled with this assurance, there are a number of positive developments that are worth noting:

• • Despite recent developments, the Northwest Territories economy has remained strong, primarily because of gas exploration and diamond mine development.
• • On October 15th, the Mackenzie Delta Producers Group signed the Aboriginal Pipeline Group's Memorandum of Understanding, giving aboriginal equity in a pipeline the legitimacy it needs to move forward. Through the MOU, the APG is now well positioned to work with Mackenzie Delta Producers in advancing Northwest Territories aboriginal interests in a proposed pipeline project. This partnership is especially representative of many that have been developed between southern industries and Northwest Territories aboriginal development corporations and businesses.
• • The diamond mine industry has begun to pay royalties to Ottawa. These payments will only increase in future years, highlighting the need for a resource revenue sharing and devolution agreement. Negotiations are set to begin in the new year.
• • A Beaufort-Delta Self-Government Agreement-in-Principle is another concrete achievement. Aboriginal self-government has been a priority of this House for the last three decades. The process of change can formally begin in this region.

As we begin this session today, Mr. Speaker, it is important that we know where we stand. Existing gas exploration commitments totalling close to one billion dollars, continued investment in Diavik and investment in a third diamond mine are good signs of strong economic growth for the Northwest Territories.

However, our fiscal situation has changed in the past few months and will face further challenges.

We expect that Ottawa's spending priorities will address security and defence considerations, resulting in less investment dollars for the Northwest Territories.

Within the next decade, the Northwest Territories will be paying more into federal coffers than it receives, yet in the short term, the new federal focus may mean fewer dollars for the Northwest Territories. Mr. Handley will be providing you with a more detailed account of our changing fiscal situation shortly.

Meanwhile, our political environment has become charged in recent months by the government's highway investment plan. It has been a long time since one issue has captured the attention of so many Northwest Territories residents. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to receiving the standing committee's report and to a productive debate on the options available to us and the consequences of these options, particularly for consumers, business and industry.

In light of all of the national and international development and uncertainty, we as a government must decide how to proceed over the remainder of our mandate.

Obviously, our response to these challenges must always be guided by our goals as set out in Towards a Better Tomorrow and we should not react without good information. We should have a better idea of how these internal and external factors will impact our Territory and how we should adapt our strategies and actions by the time our next budget is presented in February 2002. It is important for us to stay the course and to ensure that on those agenda initiatives which require immediate attention and over which we have jurisdiction, we make the decisions in support of our vision.

One of these initiatives, with significant revenue and infrastructure implications, is the highway investment plan. The basis of this plan is investment now to provide returns for NWT consumers who want better and safer roads, for NWT businesses which will benefit directly and indirectly from a modern highway system, and for industry, including that based in the NWT, which will profit from the development of our northern resources.

Mr. Speaker, as a key element in our vision of a better tomorrow, the government is advocating that this House supports the highway investment plan.

There are also a number of other investment measures that will advance our collective agenda and which need the support of Members. Members will be asked to pass a bill to approve expenditures for the development of an NWT energy strategy, the completion of our social agenda framework, furthering the work of the Intergovernmental Forum in resource revenue sharing and devolution. Much of this investment will flow to aboriginal governments, community consultations and the non-government sector.

As we return to work in this House, Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we consider what needs to be done to complete our mandate. I indicated to my colleagues at the start of the recent business plan review process that the next 18 months will require the commitment and joint action of both the government and the Assembly.

My Cabinet colleagues and I will continue to share information and be available to discuss issues with individual Members, committees and the public -- but we must do more than that. I am pleased to note, Mr. Speaker, that House Leader Joe Handley and Caucus chairs Bill Braden and Steve Nitah are working to develop a legislative priorities package. I am also pleased that we are planning to meet as a Caucus to discuss priorities for the remainder of our term. I have asked Mr. Handley to work with Mr. Braden and Mr. Nitah to provide options for us all to consider at that meeting.

Mr. Speaker, we have some difficult issues to resolve during this session. Some of these decisions will be difficult and may not be popular but are necessary if we are to fulfil our vision of a better tomorrow for all people in the NWT.

Whatever the solution, Members have our assurances that the focus of this government is to work with all Members of this House to lay the foundation for the next two years and to complete the agenda we began together -- our joint vision of a better tomorrow for our people. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my budget address in February of this year, I outlined the fiscal strategy of this government. This strategy called for the government to make the critical investments that would ensure that NWT residents benefited from resource development.

At the time this decision was made, we recognized that without access to royalties and other resource revenues, the government did not have enough money to make all of the investments needed. But with the belief that we could negotiate a resource revenue sharing deal with the aboriginal and federal governments, we decided we would make as many investments as we could to implement the strategies and direction of Towards a Better Tomorrow. We were prepared to make these investments even if we had to go into debt.

However, the amount of debt we were prepared to incur was limited. It was limited by the fact that we have a federally imposed borrowing limit that has often been referred to as our debt wall. It was also limited by the fact that we would need new sources of revenue to pay back this debt. If we had to pay it back from existing revenues then that would mean cutting programs and services and we were not prepared to do that.

To ensure we could pay back the debt we needed to keep our new investments modest, we needed to push hard for a resource revenue sharing deal and we needed to determine if some of the debt could be paid for by other means, such as the proposed highway toll. All of these measures were critical to our fiscal strategy and the related investment and spending plans. These plans anticipated new revenues but also involved borrowing over $200 million additional by the end of our term.

Mr. Speaker, at the time we launched this fiscal strategy in February, I presented a balanced operational budget, calling for a small $2 million surplus. Our borrowing for 2001-02 was primarily to finance our capital investments. Since then, we have had both good and bad economic news.

The good news has taken the form of the resolution of an outstanding formula financing issue with the federal government and the potential, once again, of being the beneficiary of a large, one-time corporate tax payment in the Northwest Territories. These two events have resulted in a one-time increase in our revenues of over $100 million spread between last fiscal year and the current year. Later today, I will be tabling the unaudited interim accounts for last year.

The bad news has been the recent world and national economic slowdown, which has been worsened by the events of September 11th. Added to this has been slower than anticipated Northwest Territories population growth, temporarily lower natural gas prices, softer international demand for finished diamonds and reductions in tourism. Although the government is still confident that the Northwest Territories' economy will develop and expand dramatically over the next few years, we may have to be more patient than we thought. This means we will have to be fiscally cautious while we closely monitor world events and economic markets over the next year.

The one-time revenues that we recently received will afford us some breathing space while we reassess our fiscal strategy in light of these world events. Instead of having to go into immediate debt to finance our capital programs, we can draw on this one-time revenue and avoid the $75 million cash deficit we had forecast for the 2001-02 fiscal year. This revenue will also reduce the more than $200 million of borrowing we had planned over the next few years as we moved forward with our spending and investment plans.

Continuing with these plans is critical to our ability to benefit from and cope with resource development, as well as achieve other priorities, such as helping Northwest Territories residents deal with the northern cost of living. Initiatives like the recent increases to the Northwest Territories cost of living tax credit and income support rates, and the tax reform recommendations we anticipate from the committee reviewing our personal tax system, are examples of the types of changes we must still pursue.

In the longer term, our fiscal health is still very dependent on oil and gas development proceeding and on completing a fair deal on resource revenue sharing. Without these economic gains, we still continue to be reliant on a financing agreement with Canada for the majority of our money and it looks like future formula financing agreement revenues will be lower than anticipated due to the national economic slowdown and slow population growth. In the past few months alone, the forecast revenue yield from our formula agreement over the current and next three years has declined by over $100 million.

As the Premier just advised in his sessional statement, our efforts to secure federal investment in the Northwest Territories must now compete with new national security and defence priorities.

Mr. Speaker, this does not mean the government will abandon its current fiscal strategy or shy away from continuing to make critical investments. It does mean we will have to keep the level of these investments affordable and constantly review how we are going to ultimately pay for them. It also means we have to continue to look at our own ability to pay for the investments we want made. This may mean investing less aggressively than we originally planned but investing nevertheless.

It is my hope world events and markets stabilize over the next few months so that I can bring you more clarity in the February budget session. Along with my provincial and territorial colleagues, I will be meeting with the federal finance Minister this coming weekend. After that meeting, I hope to have a better understanding of the national economic picture and of how governments across Canada anticipate responding to the new situation. In the meantime, we should stay the course, avoid unnecessary debt and monitor events around us vigilantly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a motion to refer the two Ministers' statements to committee of the whole. Mr. Speaker,

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Minister's Statement 30-14(4), titled Sessional Statement, and Minister's Statement 31-14(4), titled Fiscal Update, be moved into committee of the whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. We have a motion. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. The House is ready for question. All those in favour, please signify. Thank you. All those opposed? The motion is carried. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you and the Premier and the honourable Minister for Finance reflected, Tuesday, September 11th was the day the world changed forever with the disasters in New York and Washington. In the past few days, the insidious terror of the spread of biological weapons -- our seemingly orderly world has been shaken to its core. The global village has become much more closely connected. World leaders have united in their condemnation of terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, our part of the world is often removed, if not immune, from adverse world affects, but this was not the case on September 11th. Gwich'in Tribal Council representatives, including our colleague, Mr. Krutko, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, sought shelter in the Canadian embassy in Washington after the attacks. Here in Yellowknife, a Seattle-bound Boeing 777 jet with 144 passengers was diverted. Air travel across the world was shut down. Small northern airline operators were left scrambling to comply with regulations. Air travel resumed several days later with new security measures and all the complexities of a post-September 11th life.

Our city, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services, businesses, individuals and other groups extended tremendous hospitality to our unexpected visitors. It was indeed a time to come together.

A Sir John Franklin High School graduate, Nancy MacNeil, a young woman, organized a special memorial at City Hall to enable Yellowknifers to show their sympathy. Flags flew at half-mast, a national day of mourning was declared and a book of condolences was signed by many here in the Great Hall.

Here in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, we responded with remarkable generosity as the Yellowknife Fire Department and local businesses, reaching out to victims and their families, raised over $30,000. We are not stopping there as we just heard of plans for local musicians putting together a benefit for the refugees from Afghanistan.

It is distressing, Mr. Speaker, that in Canada and the North, followers of Islam have been targeted as a result of terrorist activities. We must not act out of ignorance and fear. We must remain a caring and tolerant society that respects the fundamental freedoms of people around the world. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Welcome back, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to recognize Hazel Nerysoo for the outstanding achievement and contributions she has made to suicide prevention for people in the Mackenzie Delta and elsewhere in the Northwest Territories.

She has been chosen and will be recognized in St. John's, Newfoundland, October 26th, where she will be presented with a national service award by the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.

Ms. Nerysoo lost her brother to suicide and is determined to provide help to others. She is a key person to assist when crisis situations occur in our communities and in our regions.

Ms. Nerysoo is committed to working with our communities and sits on boards, the Gwich'in Tribal Council, youth committees, and the T'loondih Healing Society and a lot of other boards and agencies.

She is well-known for her work as a suicide prevention worker and has raised the issue with regard to FAS/FAE and the work that is needed to improve the lives of all of our children.

She has traveled extensively throughout all of the small communities and she has always volunteered her time freely for the love of her people and the children in the community that she has served.

I would like to congratulate Hazel and her continued efforts. We deeply appreciate what she has done and the achievement that has been bestowed upon us with a national award for one of our own. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Mr. Nitah, your time for your Member's statement has expired.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Nitah, you may conclude your statement.

Mahsi, Mr. Nitah. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying how pleased I am to be back in this wonderful Chamber with yourself and all our colleagues to continue what I hope will be a very productive session.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that all of my colleagues on both sides of the House will agree when I say that we have all been extremely busy over the last few months attending to legislative business, whether it be in support of our aboriginal people and their aspirations for land claims and self-government, selling our Territory to the world as a tourist haven, convincing big corporations that the North is a good place to come and do business, and I must not forget, Mr. Speaker, our attempts to find new sources of revenue for our deteriorating infrastructures.

However, Mr. Speaker, we must never get too busy in the day-to-day bustle of everyday living that we do not take time to reflect on our lives and what is important to us.

Mr. Speaker, the tragic events of September 11th, the recent drowning right here in Yellowknife and the tragedy in Fort Liard serve as a stunning reminder that we must all take some time in our lives to tell our families that we love them and that we cherish every moment that we spend with them.

Mr. Speaker, far too often we put off visiting old friends and acquaintances because we are too busy and far too often when we do find time, it is too late.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to recognize a number of long-term Hay River residents who have passed away over the last while. These people were all constituents of mine and some were personal friends. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the passing of Sarah Bond, George Edward Gray, Harold Hudson, Lois McCallum, Joyce Patterson-Robertson, Sarah Sibbeston and Ernest Joseph Villebrun.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to let these people's families know that my thoughts and prayers are with them and that they have my utmost sympathy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I attended the funerals of Daniel Lomen and Sally Bertrand in Fort Liard. I want to make some comments on the tragedy that recently occurred in that community.

Mr. Speaker, an airplane crash took place on the approach to Fort Liard on the evening of October 15th. This crash has led to the passing of three of its passengers and serious injuries to three of the other occupants of the plane. I want to take this opportunity to pass on my condolences to the relatives of respected elder Daniel Lomen; Sally Bertrand, the manager of Acho Dene Koe; as well as Mr. Sean Toner, all whom have passed away as a result of this plane crash.

I also want to pass on my well wishes to the passengers that survived this crash and to their families. I am sure that the love and concern of the families of those injured, along with the medical attention they are receiving, will combine to ensure as speedy a recovery as is possible in the circumstances.

Mr. Speaker, although this sad event did not take place in my constituency, Fort Liard is part of the Deh Cho region, of which my riding is a part of. This tragedy has deeply affected many, many residents of the Deh Cho region, many of whom are related to or who were friends or associates of those involved in the accident. The shock and sorrow felt by the whole Deh Cho region was reflected by the leadership of the Deh Cho First Nations, who cancelled an important political meeting last week in Fort Providence as the news of the accident became known.

Mr. Speaker, it is at times like this that we all realize what is truly important in our daily lives. It is the warmth and companionship of those dear to us that ultimately brings meaning to our lives. My thoughts and my prayers go to all affected by the tragedy of October 15th in Fort Liard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. Indeed, the condolences of the House do go to the families of that tragedy. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.