Thank you. As the MLA for the Sahtu, I would like to welcome and recognize Theresa Etchinelli from Tulita.

Thank you. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to be able to introduce residents of Inuvik. He caught me off guard here, but we have a class of students and teachers from Samuel Hearne School in Inuvik.

-- Applause

Thank you. I would like to welcome the students. It is always nice to have young people come and observe their Legislative Assembly at work. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a good friend and constituent from Weledeh. I introduced her the other day and just mentioned that she is the chairperson for the Status of Women Council. I did not mention her name. I apologize to her for that. Vi Beck. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the MLA for Inuvik Twin Lakes, I would like to recognition Mr. Steve MacFadyen, Mr. Gordon Robertson, Mr. Shane Brewster and Mr. McDonald. Welcome to the gallery.

-- Applause

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

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize Jenny Turner-Beck and Dianna Beck. I am not sure if they live in my constituency or not...Yes, they do.

-- Laughter

They are also involved with the Native Womens Association and are good community people here. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you. Again, I would like to welcome everyone who has come to observe the Legislative Assembly. Welcome to your Assembly. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I just want to remind Members, of course, as my duties dictate me to, that you only get one shot at recognition of visitors in the gallery usually, but we cannot go for more than 30 seconds. The Chair is going to exercise a little leniency today. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to opening address. Item 10, replies to budget address. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just reviewing the budget address, there are some good initiatives in the budget, but I also have to warn that we are not out of the woods when it comes to the deficit of this government. I have gone through the cuts that we have had to bear in the North in the last five years and I do not want to see ourselves jump back into that problem, especially realizing that we have a debt wall of some $40 million. The initiatives that are in the budget call for borrowing, in some areas up to $100 million for the highway initiatives we put in place.

I think also we have to realize that we do have to continue to ensure that our programs and services that we do deliver are adequately funded and that we do serve the residents that we are elected to serve.

Mr. Speaker, we have a thriving economic future in the oil and gas industry and also with regard to the diamond industry, tourism and the other sectors that are out there. I think I see very much missing in this budget in the amount of resources and revenues that presently continue to flow to Ottawa.

I am talking, Mr. Speaker, of the royalties that presently the federal government receives on behalf of this government. I for one feel that we have to do more to ensure we get our fair share of the resources that this federal government presently gets. To date, they receive some $343 million in federal royalties, some $346 million in corporate income tax and also in other benefits that arrive at more than $800 million benefiting the federal government. Yet the grant we receive from the federal government is somewhere in that range, but this has been going on for quite a few years.

We had some major oil and gas developments with regard to the Norman Wells area that was discovered back in 1921 and has been in production ever since. There have been a lot of resources and revenues which have flowed to southern Canada. As Northerners, we are still struggling to meet the needs of the people of the North. I feel that we have to continue to pound on the federal door to make them aware that we need those resources.

We are the ones who live with the social and economic impacts that come from these developments. We are the ones who are going to be left with the holes in the ground, the resources being exploited. You are talking about a non-renewable resource which can never be replaced. Once it is gone, it is gone. You cannot go back for more.

We are talking about diamond industries. We have seen other countries and other provinces across the country that have exploited their resources to find out they have a bigger problem now than when they started. I feel that is one area that is missing in this budget.

We have to speed up the process to devolve the Northern Accord, the control of our northern resources to Northerners. It is done everywhere else in Canada except in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. That is one of the big items I do not see in this budget.

Another area that I have concerns about is we realize we do have problems with literacy with regard to programs in our communities, but the programs that are being allocated in the budget are insufficient in order to deal with that problem. We have opportunities with regard to employment in different areas, but unless we have the people qualified to take on those positions, it is all for naught. We will continue to see people fly in and fly out taking jobs away from Northerners.

I feel the resources that are in the budget with regard to the allocation of wages distributed, $15,000 to a community with the population under...you cannot do much for $15,000 these days. In order to do justice to delivering literacy programs and other programs in our small communities, we have to have the resources to attract good teachers, good people to carry out those responsibilities to ensure that we improve on the latest recent statistics and employment statistics in a lot of our small communities. I feel that more emphasis and dollars have to be put into that area.

Another area that I have concerns about is with regard to the whole area of the hotel tax. It was a good idea, but I do believe this government is presently talking about a $20 million surplus, yet the amount of money for that, subject to not having a hotel tax, is $375,000. That is an administration fee. That is just to administer the program. That is not even to deliver it.

I feel that if we are serious about tourism and serious about promoting that industry in the Northwest Territories, we have to increase the amount of money in the budget to somewhere in the area of $1 million a year. We have cut that budget where it is barely surviving just to make the little things like brochures, pamphlets and what not and even maps for tourists. We have to do more in that area. I for one feel that is an area we have to improve on.

With regard to the different subsidies, what we have in the budget will assist the people but I think we have to do more in that area to find new ways and new initiatives to find ways to bring down the high cost of energy, the high cost of diesel fuel in the Northwest Territories.

We as a government, and also the federal government, receive a lot of taxes out of these products with regard to gasoline, diesel fuel and what not. Somehow we have to try to find ways to regulate that industry. We are sitting on major oil and gas fields, yet in the case of Inuvik and the Delta, the cost of natural gas has increased to such an amount that it is not as feasible as it was just a number of years ago. There again, we have to find ways to deal with those problems.

Regarding the highway investment program, I support the initiative. It will speed up the process, but I do not feel that we can take the risk at this time of borrowing $100 million on the assumption we are going to generate $15 million out of taxes. If we do not generate the $15 million out of toll fees and what not, what are we going to do to bring down the debt of borrowing $100 million? It is going to go back to my original argument that we do have a deficit. We are not out of the woods with regard to our deficit situation. We are limited on the amount of money that we can borrow. I feel we can ensure that we protect ourselves against those unforeseen scenarios. If we do not meet the goals that we are trying to set, what do we do then?

The developments we are talking about today with regard to the mine industry, we are talking about Diavik developing their facility. Once the facility is in place, the demand for the tolls will be limited and the numbers we are looking at will be going down.

The same thing with the oil and gas industry. Once the industry has developed the infrastructure, their camps, their airports, they are bringing in their drilling rigs and have these facilities on base, we are going to be left with supplying the materials that are needed to maintain those camps and those facilities.

I think that is something we have to look out for to ensure our projections are right and that we do not find ourselves borrowing more money than we can actually pay off, or finding ourselves back in a situation where we are stuck with a major deficit like we have been in the last number of years.

Also, the other area I feel is missing, or we need more done on, is ensuring that community support is there for the overall development of community infrastructure and human resources within our communities. We have to allow communities to be more independent and more self-sufficient. For the amount of nickels and dimes we throw at them, it does not suffice. We have to give them the adequate resources that are needed to carry out programs and services.

We cannot continue to do strategies and continue to do proposals and at the end of it all, we have are some great recommendations, but we limit the resources that are really needed to carry out those responsibilities, especially within our small communities who are trying to take on more responsibilities for programs and services.

One thing I feel is very much missing is there is a real reluctance for communities to take on Government of the Northwest Territories programs, because they have been burned so much in the last couple of years because of the cuts and the limited resources that are there.

I will use an example. Right now, the Beaufort Delta area is going through a major development boom, yet the resource dollars within the region, especially in economic development and tourism, have been slashed because of a $10 million cut that was made to this government to different programs and services. They cannot even assist in the development of proposals for regional corporations to take part in this development. These organizations are now turning to the federal government saying the Government of the Northwest Territories cannot help us, we have to get our assistance through Indian Affairs.

We are looking at aboriginal program dollars from the federal government. I do not think that is fair to the people who may not be able to access that funding. There again, I think we have to ensure that we expand on the economic dollars that we have out there, and that we find ways to improve the economic situation that we find ourselves in.

If we are not going to take advantage of these opportunities that are sitting at our door now, we are going to lose out and we cannot afford to lose out on development such as oil and gas or mining, because we did not have the resources to assist groups to take advantage of that opportunity during that window that is there right now.

Again, another issue that I feel is critical and I applaud the government that we are looking into it, is the whole area of FAE/FAS, literacy and other social programs. There again, we have to ensure that the resources and the people are there who are trained and have the skills to deal with the problem.

We cannot just give it to a front-line worker and say, "Here is a program, deliver it." They have to have the qualifications, they have to have the skills, and they have to have the resources to carry out the programs. We should not tie their hands because of some policy or some initiative that the government put in place that limits the people who are carrying out these programs to do them justice and do it in such a way that they feel that they need that flexibility or they need the room to move with regard to that program.

The other area that I think that we have to seriously work on is with the government's roads to resources. We have accessed some dollars from the federal government to build bridges on the winter road in the Sahtu. I think we have to do more to access federal dollars to improve not only bridges, but also develop the infrastructure that we have out there.

I have brought forth to this House the possibility of... and also with regard to the environmental situation we find ourselves in. In the Delta this year, the last time I counted, someone mentioned there were 30 incidents where vehicles went through the ice. That is not only a possible environmental hazard, but it is also a safety question. We have to ensure that public safety is out there and that we are operating in the North knowing that we do have some harsh conditions to operate under.

I think it is important as a government that we do improve our infrastructure. I for one support the Member for North Slave in trying to find roads to communities. I put a motion to this House to look at the possibility of an all-weather road to Aklavik, yet there is no mention of it in here. I received a letter back from the Minister saying, "Sorry, the financial situation does not call for it," but he is supporting the road to Tuktoyaktuk.

If we can do it in one area, we should do it in other communities. I think we have an obligation to the residents of the Northwest Territories to allow them to have the ability to move and if that means putting all-weather roads into all our communities, I support that 100 percent.

I also believe that we have to start improving our infrastructure for the demand that is going to be needed from the renewable and non-renewable resource sector, especially looking at getting permanent bridges built. Right now we are having problems with our river crossings or even the ferry operations in light of what is happening in Fort Providence.

I for one feel that we have to start expanding our infrastructure to allow for the federal government to start investing some of those millions of dollars they have taken out over the years with respect to royalties and revenues that are out there.

One area that I see is lacking in the presentation is the whole area of aboriginal self-government, the whole area of ensuring that land claims are being implemented, and that we as a government continue to live up to those obligations and not forget about them.

This government has taken on several initiatives. We are looking at doing major reviews with regard to the Business Incentive Policy. We are doing a review of the Wildlife Act. We are doing several reviews, but yet, Mr. Speaker, we are not allowing organizations or aboriginal groups to have fair input. You cannot drop a report on someone's desk and say, "What do you think? Here it is."

We have to give them the resources to actually thoroughly go through it and see if it has an effect on their land claims, their rights, or how it is going to affect them personally with regard to the way they operate a business or operate any resources they may need. Right now, I do not see in any of these studies or any of these reports, incremental funding that goes to organizations or aboriginal groups to ensure that their rights are not being infringed upon.

One of the things that came out is the whole area of aboriginal income tax, and also with regard to the aboriginal agreements where it clearly states that this government, in changing any preferential policies, has to have full consultation with those groups. That does not mean that you send them a report in the mail and say okay, we want your input. I believe it means that we as a government have to ensure that they have the resources and they have the resource people to do a thorough review to ensure that their rights are not being jeopardized.

With regard to the other initiative that this government is looking at with respect to the hydro development, I feel that if anything is going to be done in hydro development, that we have to ensure that the benefits flow to everyone. It is not just in one region. If it means that we give a tax credit to bring down power rates in other jurisdictions -- so that we can make it as fair to all residents in the Northwest Territories, it does not matter where you live -- but if there are any benefits, economically or in regard to profit margins or whatever of these operations, that it goes back into an overall fund so that we are able to bring down the cost of living in the Northwest Territories and not continue to see these increases, such as tax increases, property increases, or other increases that are out there.

There was mention in the Minister's statement about the whole area of the regulatory reform process and how we have to involve industry and what not. I for one feel that it is federal legislation and it is a federal responsibility. As a government, we are part and parcel of that process.

We have to find ways of ensuring the working relationship between industry, the aboriginal groups and governments and make it clear that we do not, just for the sake of opening up development, cut away at the regulations and make it such an easy process that there are no real thorough reviews or there is no real thorough environmental protection in place, to ensure that we have systems there that actually do justice to communities.

One area that I feel that allows through that act, especially with regard to the environmental assessment process, allows for social and economic reviews to take place as part of the environmental reviews. We have seen the social and economic benefit agreements with regard to the diamond industry, but to-date there is no such regime with respect to the oil and gas industry.

I think we have to be able to develop legislation to ensure that we have the same protection in the oil and gas industry as the aboriginal groups in regard to their social and economic benefit agreements in the mining industry.

We have to find a balance between the different initiatives with regard to oil and gas, minerals or any other development that takes place, so that everyone is able to benefit and we do not have one group getting more benefits than the other, that there is a balance there.

Mr. Speaker, those are some of my points with regard to the budget address. Mahsi.

-- Applause

Mahsi, Mr. Krutko. Thank you. 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. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for the first reading of bills. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, February 26, 2001, I will move that Bill 20, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to make a motion to amend the rules of the Legislative Assembly.

WHEREAS it is necessary to clarify in the rules of the Legislative Assembly that a Minister shall be appointed to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures;

AND WHEREAS, it is desirable to appoint a Minister as the fourth alternative to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Rule 87(2) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended by inserting "and the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures" after "Accountability and Oversight";

AND FURTHER, that the following be added to Rule 87(3), 87(3) will read:

The Membership of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures shall consist of:

1. a) four Members and one Minister; and
2. b) four alternative Members, one of whom shall be a Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. The motion is in order. To the motion. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to make note that we do not have a quorum. We do now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. The Chair does recognize a quorum. We have a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

-- Applause

Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters, Bill 19, Committee Report 5-14(3), Committee Report 6-14(3), Committee Report 7-14(3), with Mr. Krutko in the chair.

Welcome to committee of the whole. We are dealing with Bill 19, Committee Report 5-14(3), Committee Report 6-14(3), Committee Report 7-14(3). What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would defer to the Minister of Finance, but there would be just too many rules for him to have. I would just like to suggest that we continue with Bill 19, consideration of the Department of Health and Social Services. Should we conclude that, then the Department of Transportation? Thank you.