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

Mahsi. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, water pollution has a wide-ranging impact on our lives, the health and well-being of the people we serve and the economy of Canada. I know from the personal experience I have had dealing with my home community of Fort McPherson, the whole area of contamination is on our doorstep. Talking about THMs and also the community of Aklavik, where there is a doctor's request for a total review and testing of all residents of Aklavik to look at H. pylori, which is a carcinogen which is in the water system of that community.

Mr. Speaker, I just received a letter from the Inuvik Regional Health Board to the Department of Public Works stating that the department is not complying or has received a non-compliance order from the Department of Health with regard to the Tsiigehtchic water supply. Yet, Mr. Speaker, these toxins come through the air, flow through our water systems and also are a major cost and effect the well-being of our people.

With regard to the cancers and other diseases, many of the toxins are affecting the well-being and lives of the people that we serve. Knowingly, in most cases, it is much too late, people have already died. While Northerners are affected by the quality of our drinking water, the most important aspect is to ensure that the ineffectiveness of managing our water resources and to ensuring that we do all that we can to protect the water commodity and the resources we have.

The greatest people who are affected by this are the children and our elderly. Most of all, the effects it has on the community as a whole knowing that this has a long-term impact on the community and knowing what that is going to be.

Mr. Speaker, this government needs to take more responsibility to clean our drinking water and to ensure that our water resources are protected and that we are living up to the standards and conditions that we set for ourselves, the Canadian drinking guidelines that we have. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated, this government has to do more to ensure the well-being of the people in the Northwest Territories. Yet, Mr. Speaker, as Canadians, we have all seen the effects of Walkerton, the effect of THMs on the residents that I serve in Fort McPherson and the doctor's request for tests on people in Aklavik. The other community in my riding is now having effects. We are not immune to this problem.

Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that the federal government has announced additional funds last June, $2.65 million for infrastructure in Canada over the next six years. With that, I would like to know exactly how much of that money is going to be going to the Government of the Northwest Territories and exactly what is this government going to do to improve our water crisis in the North. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Déclaration de député. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on January 12th, I went on a tour of the Yellowknife water and sewer system with a number of other MLAs. I must say I certainly noticed a lot of changes since I first took the same tour nearly 25 years ago in 1976. Mr. Speaker, given the heightened concern since Walkerton about municipal water systems, I was relieved to observe the number of checks on the water quality. I was also impressed with the concern and professionalism displayed by the system operators. Mr. Speaker, based on what I saw and heard, I am confident of the safety of the Yellowknife water system. However, Mr. Speaker, the sewer system is a somewhat different story, and not just because the perfume is considerably more offensive than the odour of chlorine on the water side.

We have observed how the system works, but I have also seen the condition of some of the sewer pipes. The old sewer pipes are made of corrugated steel, which corrodes quite badly. There are many gaping holes and in some places whole sections of pipe have corroded away. That means, Mr. Speaker, there is actually no pipe. The sewage is just flowing through the hole that the pipe used to be in. Obviously, this creates a dangerous situation and is a potential threat to public health.

Mr. Speaker, it also means that more money has to be directed towards maintenance, as the ground eventually caves in and blocks the flow of sewage. The City of Yellowknife has a plan in place and has been addressing these problems for ten years. The plan requires an average expenditure of $3.7 million per year for the next 11 years to make the necessary upgrades to the water and sewage system.

Mr. Speaker, currently the City of Yellowknife is in a healthy fiscal position, but these expenditures place a huge burden on our residents. To date, the Government of the Northwest Territories, through MACA, has provided significant assistance. I noticed in this year's budget, or the proposed budget for 2001-2002, the City of Yellowknife has been allocated $500,000 in infrastructure contributions from MACA to go towards sewer line replacement.

Mr. Speaker, extraordinary funding used to be like a supplementary block funding agreement. The term stretched over several years. Now applications to the fund must be made year by year. This leads to uncertainty and causes problems with planning. Mr. Speaker, we have heard from nearly every NGO receiving funds from this government that they need to get agreements for long-term funding. Municipalities also need to see long-term agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Déclaration de député. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Ms. Lee, for that state of Range Lake statement. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to make a statement on literacy and the need to be able to communicate properly in any language. In days gone by, many people were not given the opportunity to learn to read and write and therefore had to make do with whatever means were available at the time to get their message across. This applied to whatever form of business you were in, be it a trapper or a trader.

Let me give you an example in story form. In the last century, 1920 to 1940, when trapping was in its full glory, you could get $60 for a white fox and up to $2,000 for a silver fox. There were many traders operating in the western and central Arctic, including what were known as free traders.

The free traders operated as agents for the larger companies such as The Bay and CanAlaska Trading Company. Some were full-blood Inuit, others were of mixed blood. One such aboriginal free trader operated a store with the help of a white trapper. Although the white trapper was literate, the Inuit was not. Therefore, it fell on the white trapper to place the annual sealift order for more supplies.

One year, the trapper was not available to do this, but he left instructions with the Inuit as to how to place the order. His advice was to simply copy the writing off the boxes of goods and write down the quantity needed. When the order was received by the supplier, in this case CanAlaska Trading Company, among other things ordered were:

• • Four "keep lid down while playing";
• • Forty-eight cases, "this side up"; and
• • Twenty cases of "handle with care".

Mr. Speaker, one might well ask if the supplier was ever able to fill the order. I am told the supplier, who was based in San Francisco, was able to determine the order for the four items labelled "keep lid down while playing" were, in fact, four RCA hand-wound gramophones. This order was a sure sign that the local economy was booming, as these were high-tech electronic gadgets of the day that only the well-to-do could afford.

However, to this day...

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

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

Mr. Speaker, to this day they are still scratching their heads and wondering what in the world our Inuit trader wanted in the 48 cases of "this side up" and the 20 cases of "handle with care." Mr. Speaker, we may try to make do, but no doubt, it pays to be literate. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Steen. My previous comment was, because I was there, I know of what he speaks. It took me forever to learn that "klim" was milk spelt backwards. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is a great deal of pleasure for me to introduce a very fine group of people in the gallery today. They are year one students of the Teacher Education Program at Aurora College. I am very proud to be able to introduce them, as well as their teacher, Doreen Baptiste. Please help me welcome them.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize Tim Butler, who is a member of the Workers' Compensation Board and also with BHP Mines. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a frequent visitor to our Assembly, the president of the Union of Northern Workers, Georgina Rolt-Kaiser.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Welcome all. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great honour to recognize Mr. Lee Selleck who is with the press corps here. I have to make sure I keep on Lee's good side in order to get some free publicity.

-- Laughter

-- Applause