A good news statement from the Minister. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for the Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is on the physician recognition ceremonies and, although it may look like it, it was not preorchestrated.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of Health and her department for the work they have done in creating and organizing the first physician recognition ceremony held at the Great Hall on February 9, 2001.

I believe we all see how essential it is to recognize and express appreciation for those who provide important services in our communities, big or small, each day. Recognizing the long-term service of our doctors was very long overdue. Judging by the reaction of some of them in attendance at the ceremony, I believe the goodwill gesture shown by the Minister and the government was very well received.

Mr. Speaker, in this atmosphere of extreme doctor shortages, which is creating a great deal of anxiety in all of our communities in the North, it was comforting for me to learn anew that a great number of doctors we have are very much committed to the North. The Minister has stated the names of all of the recipients, and I would like to take a moment to congratulate all of them and to thank them once again for the years of dedicated service they have given to all of us.

Mr. Speaker, of 32 doctors who were recognized for five years or longer service in the North, 11 of them were recognized for more than 15 years of service. That is more than a full third of the total and certainly should give comfort to us all. Clearly many of our doctors do find the North a good place to practice. Sixteen out of 32, a full half, are specialists, which I think is very significant.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to note that I had an occasion to have a casual conversation with doctors at the Stanton Hospital the other day. I came to appreciate how, over a period of many years, various factors have contributed to build a strong team of doctors and nurses at the hospital, which is serving the North well beyond that which would be reasonably expected for the size of the team and the Territory and how critical it is that we recognize the importance as well as the fragility of it, and how we must work hard to support and maintain the careful dynamics of the team.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to urge the Minister to expand the recognition to include other health care professionals, namely the nurses, who I believe are the glue that holds our health system together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. Déclarations de députés. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last weekend in Fort Smith, the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce held their annual meeting. They have elected a full slate for the executive. The president is Mr. Jim Bassingwaithe; vice-president is Lou Sebert; secretary treasurer is Rick James; the directors are Nick Kaeser, Chief Fred Daniels, Ibe Kristensen, Paul Campbell, Brad Bourke, Clayton Bourke, Michael Salvisberg and Paul Clark.

Mr. Speaker, like every other community, we need a strong business community. We need a thriving economy. We need an economy that is not totally dependent on government. The chamber that has been elected, the executive, has a job ahead of them. They have to work closely with the political leadership of the community and of the Northwest Territories to move ahead on many of the initiatives that are out there before us.

Mr. Speaker, we have on the horizon in our community the potential of hydro development. We have one land claim settlement that has just been signed last year and two more that will hopefully be signed in the coming months and years, which will bring a tremendous pool of capital to our community. We have a tourism market that is just starting to develop with the Japanese tourists, and in the summer with the Europeans.

We have, of course, some capital projects of interest. We have the paving of Highway No. 5. We have the seniors' housing project that is slated to go ahead in the next 18 months or so that will hopefully bring much-needed housing to the community, along with the demolition of the old hospital. There is a relocation of the fire centre which will finally move a GNWT major program out of federally leased office space into owned-in-the-North office space, and also free up office space for the federal government to finally move some other positions to Fort Smith. We are looking at the potential of a new pool in our community.

Mr. Speaker, very clearly, it is very important that we have a strong chamber. I would like to congratulate all of those who put their names forward and all of those who were elected. I look forward to working with the chamber and the rest of the community leadership to realize a lot of the potential projects I just outlined through this House today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Déclarations de députés. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, an Invitational Atom Hockey Tournament was held here in Yellowknife. I had the good fortune of taking in some of these games, especially since two teams from Inuvik had come down to take part. Twenty-two players in all, 11 per team.

Mr. Speaker, team 1 finished second in Pool A. Team 2 finished first in Pool B, and that was the round robin series. On Sunday, the championship games were played. I must say, they were very exciting. The semi-final game went to a shoot-out, which saw the Inuvik Team 2 win. Team 2 went on to play and win the final game with a great come-from-behind victory. It was a weekend to remember for both players and parents from both squads in the Inuvik teams.

There were many players that came along and many parents who helped out the team. As I said, there were 22 players, so I would probably end up forgetting some, but some of the things I will remember from this weekend is the cheering and chants of "Go, Inuvik, Leah and Albert!"

Mr. Speaker, I must mention the parents and coaches who came down with the team and helped throughout the weekend. It was their efforts back home in Inuvik and here in Yellowknife that made memories to last a lifetime.

With that, Mr. Speaker, rarely do I have the opportunity to mention that an Inuvik team came down to the capital city and took the trophy home.

-- Applause

I would like to congratulate the players and their parents. With all of the families watching the children playing made me think of my family back home, so I would like to send greetings back to my wife and children.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The Chair will have to waive the rule about one subject per Member's statement. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to take a moment to congratulate the Yellowknife Seniors Society for producing a wonderful record of Yellowknife's early days. It is a book called Yellowknife Tales. This book is a compilation of life stories and photographs of the people who lived in Yellowknife when this was a much smaller community than it is today. The stories are entertaining, amusing and informative, but more than that, they are a historical record of Yellowknife's roots.

The work of gathering the stories, photos and editing the material was done entirely by a committee of volunteers headed by a well-known resident, Barb Bromley. The other members of the book committee were Esther Braden, Jan Stirling, Mike Vaydik, the late Mike Piro, Erica Tesar, Wendy Stephenson, Terry Foster and Ronne Hemming.

The Seniors Society received financial support for this project from several Yellowknife organizations and businesses and the Government of Canada's Millennium Fund. Mr. Speaker, I hope this House will join me in extending congratulations and a big thank you to the Yellowknife Seniors Society for pulling Yellowknife Tales together and publishing this very worthwhile document, so that we may all have a better understanding of Yellowknife's heritage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on June 30, 2000, I tabled in this House a petition presented to me by some of my constituents in Nunakput. The petition specifically requested yourself as Speaker to consider allowing for translations of the proceedings to be translated in either Inuvialuktun or Inuinnaqtun, which are the two dialects of the residents of Nunakput.

On behalf of my constituents, I wish to thank you and the Board of Management for the favourable decision on this very important matter. I understand from the response tabled by yourself in this House on Wednesday, February 14, 2001, the residents of Nunakput can expect to hear the proceedings of this House broadcast once a week in one or the other of our dialects.

I believe this decision on the part of the Board of Management serves to recognize the basic rights of all residents of the Northwest Territories to full participation in the proceedings of this House.

It is unfortunate that these translations are not available on a daily basis due to fiscal realities. However, even translations once a week serves to recognize the diversified makeup of aboriginal people of this great Territory, and for that we thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the residents of Nunakput look forward to the day when proceedings of this House are translated into Inuvialuktun on a daily basis. Quyanini, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Quyanini, Mr. Steen. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, although I cannot see from here, I would like to recognize Kazan Dragon, Mayor of Fort Providence, his daughter Patricia, and I believe Victor Constance is also here, and Olga Constance.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Chair would also like to recognize a former Speaker, Mr. Gargan, and his daughter. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly everyone. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier today about the regulatory process and I would like to direct some questions to the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, the current funding for the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board will only allow the consideration of three or four major projects. This level of funding could perhaps delay some of those projects that the Minister of Finance is counting on to turn us into a "have" territory.

Last fall, the Minister committed to pushing DIAND to increase their funding and support to the board. I wonder if the Minister of RWED could advise us whether or not that has happened and where we are with that process.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I raised this matter with the Minister of DIAND at a meeting we had with him at the end of January. He advised us that he has seconded a senior person within his department to a full-time review of the Mackenzie Valley Resources Management Act and its boards. That individual is Hiram Beaubier, who was responsible as director for environment and resources, so he is well experienced to be able to do this job. He has undertaken the job with a timeframe of having it completed by May. Thank you

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister advise us whether or not the development of regulations for the administration of the act was also going to be part of Mr. Beaubier's consideration?

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

Mr. Speaker, my understanding from my discussions with the Minister of DIAND was that Mr. Beaubier will be doing recommendations on regulations, particularly in the areas of defining the terms and setting some timeframes for the various stages of the different process. Thank you

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance with regard to the concerns that the smaller communities, especially the communities that I represent like Aklavik, with respect to the high cost of living. In a lot of these communities, they have seen major increases, especially in the heating fuel costs, gasoline and their power bills. I would like to ask the Minister exactly what this government is doing to ensure that those communities will not see the majority of the benefits flowing from his budget, but will be able to ensure those communities that there is some protection for trying to find ways to bring down those high costs associated with living in those small communities.