Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Madam Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the only chemicals that I am aware of that are added to our water are chlorine and perhaps in some instances, fluoride. I am not aware of any other chemicals. I do not have any more detailed information in front of me for that. I know that chlorine is one of the chemicals. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of new chemicals being added to the water treatment. If there were new chemicals being added and if communities were not consulted on them or made aware of them, then I would agree with the Member that there should be a process to inform residents of communities what is in their drinking water. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I made reference to a letter I received that is addressed to Mr. Brian Lemax, superintendent of Public Works in Inuvik. It is from the chief environmental health officer stating that there is non-compliance of the public water supply regulations in the community of Tsiigehtchic with regard to their water supply.

With regard to the concerns, it deals with the elevated colour units in the water, organisms and also states the taste and water problem that originates from the water supply, and it also talks about magnesium in the water supply. So I would like to ask the Minister, as the department responsible for public works, what does the department do to ensure that all compliances are met and are done in a short period of time? Could the Minister of Public Works state what he does when they receive these types of notices?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Public Works did receive from the environmental health officer...they were served with a paper of non-compliance. The non-compliance was relative to Public Works coming up with some kind of a study to determine why the water was coloured as it was. Public Works feels that the elevated colour is the result of organic compounds in the water. It would require an enhancement of the water treatment system to remove the organic compounds.

The funding for the changes to the water system at Tsiigehtchic would have been the responsibility of MACA. Public Works is working with MACA to respond to the order received from the environmental health officer. The community was provided with a letter, I am told, something that Public Works received from the environmental health officer and this was dated February 13th. We supplied the community with this letter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to the letter, it sets a time frame of February 28th, which I believe is almost a week away. It clearly states that a detailed methodology and identification of the source and condition of the evaluated colour units, along with the substantive correction measures that will improve the water source, that the Department of Public Works develop that before February 23rd.

I would like to ask the Minister with regard to that compliance order, there is a specific date where they have to respond or do some work to ensure that they improve the problem. I would like to ask the Minister what steps is his department doing to improve the water quality for the residents of Tsiigehtchic?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Mr. Speaker, I believe I just responded to the Member as to what the department is doing. The department confirmed that in order to conform to the environmental health order, it would require filtering to remove the organic compounds in the water, which is causing the colouring. It would require an investment and a change in system that would be the responsibility of MACA. Public Works is working with MACA to see how we can conform to the order of the environmental health officer. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister know exactly how long it will take for his department to conclude the feasibility study to see what can be done here?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I do not have information as to how long it will take the department and MACA to come up with a plan as to how to address this problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to time frames and how long it takes this department to react to breaks in compliance, we set regulations that we want the public to follow, yet these regulations are in place to protect the public, but the government seems to be dragging its feet on this one. I would like to know, how long does it take for a government department, such as Public Works, to respond to a regulation that they have breached?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to assure the Member that Public Works does take the situation seriously. Although the report I have does not suggest this is actually a critical health problem, the discolouring, it just does not meet the standards set by Canada. So in order to meet the standard, we would have to improve the filtering system. I have no idea at this time what that is, but I would be really happy to get back to the Member with that as soon as I get it from the department. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. The time allocated for oral questions has expired. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to the opening address. Item 10, replies to the budget address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.