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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To conclude, the power review, I think, presents some very significant opportunities for this government to foster developments in the energy and the environment fronts with communities in areas such as residual heat, local investment, and if we are really to live up to the spirit of Towards a Better Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker, to work on integrated services and planning in the true sense of partnership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to talk today about government programs with poor uptake, or government programs that are not very well subscribed. I would like to start at the federal level because we have talked quite a bit in this House about programs that are offered by the federal government that we might be able to tap into, housing, for example. We know there is money out there for homelessness, Mr. Speaker, but we find when we get to the nuts and bolts of the issue and talking to the department that there are so many criteria in getting any funding that it just ends up being too onerous to access.

In the health area, we know there is a little bit of money out there for FAS/FAE, but it ends up being so little money after the administration is factored in that it is hardly worth the effort and it turns out that many of the projects have to be national in scope.

Mr. Speaker, given that we are very aware that there are federal programs that we just cannot tie into, it amazes me that in our budget we want to discuss increasing business investment and point to the fact that we provide incentives through the income tax system for Northerners to invest in northern businesses. We point out specifically the Risk Capital Investment Tax Program which provides a credit equal to 30 percent of eligible investments up to a maximum credit of $30,000.

Mr. Speaker, when I first heard the Minister discuss this, I did remember hearing about it in the past, and I thought, "That is a great idea. I am going to go on the government website and look into this." Well, it turns out that when you look at the companies that have been able to register and are eligible, there are a grand total of three companies, Mr. Speaker, in the last three or four years since the inception of this program.

It is pathetic. You wonder why, but when you dig into it you realize that the conditions on registration for a business, the fees, the disclosure, all of these things are so incredibly difficult. There are so many hoops to jump through that make it almost useless for any small business. There is a whole section on what you cannot use the money for, if you are able to raise it. It also tells you that you might be able to issue shares and offer up minority interest in your business, issue equity in effect, but what about debt? It is not really clear. If you are not looking to dilute the ownership of your business, can you offer a guaranteed rate debt instrument? I am not really sure. Maybe you can, Mr. Speaker.

My point is, we do admit that there has been a limited uptake in this program, but we suggest that we plan to market the existing program more aggressively. There are certain things, Mr. Speaker, that we are not going to be able to put a shine on and I would suggest that this is one of them. I hope the Minister will look at the other option he mentioned, which is examining the revision of this program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to extend my thanks to the Canadian Forces for their contribution to northern life, and my congratulations to the northern members for the recognition they recently received. Earlier this month, 23 Canadian decoration and Canadian peacekeeping service medals were presented to members of the Canadian Forces serving in the North.

One of the people being honoured is Major Bob Knight, who was recognized for 32 years of service. Among other duties, he has served overseas in eight peacekeeping missions. The sacrifices of the families of serving Canadian Forces personnel who serve long periods of time away from home and families were also recognized.

Mr. Speaker, the Armed Forces play a very significant role in the Northwest Territories. They provide supports to reach, to serve and to rescue operations and maintain a sovereign presence in the North. The Armed Forces and their members contribute to the development of our youth through the Cadet and Canadian Ranger Programs.

There are two cadet organizations operating in Yellowknife involving nearly 100 young people. These young people aged 13 to 18 years old, develop their self-esteem, physical fitness and leadership and instructional abilities through their involvement with the cadets. They can participate in marksmanship and biathlon competitions, map and compass exercises and many other activities. They become better citizens and contributing members of society.

There are many other benefits to Northerners from having members of the Armed Forces in our midst. The Armed Forces, including their members and families, pump more than $25 million a year into the northern economy. They participate in events like the Midnight Sun Float Plane Fly-In, the Yellowknife International Air Show and Caribou Carnival, forming an integral part of our community. These are just examples in our community, Mr. Speaker. There are many more. I want to thank those members who serve in the North. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Déclarations de députés. 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. Today I would like to recognize Kim Beaulieu from Hay River. She's here acting as the chaperone for the pages that were brought in from the reserve. Thank you for coming. Also Mr. Greg Nuli from Fort Providence. He is the president of Shehtah Drilling. Welcome to both of you.

-- Applause

Thank you. Welcome to the visitors gallery. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take a moment to recognize a northern author, journalist and a broadcaster who is well known and a person who gets around the Territory to do many stories on the Northwest Territories, Mr. Lee Selleck.

-- Applause

Welcome, Mr. Selleck. Mr. Selleck is no stranger to the Legislative Assembly. He has been here many times. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for the Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as far as I know we receive our traffic accident information directly from the RCMP. In some cases, we have some of our own people right on the site. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated in my Member's statement, the department does their own highway traffic counts and they also put a disclaimer on the information that they collect. They stated that in 1999 only 46 percent of the potential data was usable. I have to ask the Minister how he could come before this House and state the traffic accident statistics for the Hay River access road do not suggest that the road is dangerous or hazardous utilizing this information? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the information we have with regard to the road condition is the information we receive right on hand from our supervisors and our people who inspect the road conditions. We also receive reports on the road conditions form the RCMP who were actually investigating the accident. That is the information we based our report on. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you. I take it from the Minister's statement that a lot of this is the fault of the RCMP with their information. My question to the Minister would be if the Minister could provide this House with a report with what the plans are for the department and what the options are to improve the traffic data collection, since the present equipment in his department is so outdated and unreliable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not understand where the Member gets the opinion that the information we have is unreliable. We feel the information we have is reliable and is professional and is accurate to the best of our ability and that is what we bring forward to the House. So I do not understand where the Member comes to this conclusion that the information is unreliable, Mr. Speaker.