With regard to the responsibility of the federal government versus this government, we as a legislature are responsible for the residents of the Northwest Territories. I for one feel that we do have an obligation to ensure that the residents of the Northwest Territories are able to move freely between the communities and also have the ability to drive. This year in the Mackenzie Delta, it has been a real problem just getting the winter road systems, and elsewhere in the Northwest Territories. I think that we as a government have to seriously look at the challenges we face in a lot of our communities. I think that sooner or later, we will possibly have to look at permanent roads.
I think the federal government, under its natural resources agreement that they are responsible for...we are not responsible for mining, we are not responsible for oil and gas. That is a federal responsibility. Why is it as a government we are the ones that are taking on these initiatives to build these roads to where those resources are, yet the federal government gets 100 percent of those dollars from the resource development and also from the different taxes that come from it?
I would like to ask the Minister exactly why is it that when it comes to a community wanting to have access to our major highway or road systems, we are not looking at them as a priority. It seems that we are trying to take on a responsibility that is not ours. You mentioned that it is a federal responsibility. Yes, it is a federal responsibility, but under the natural resources agreement, which is the Canadian federal jurisdiction, unless we get a northern accord, or unless we get the resources and revenues that come from those types of agreement -- whatever mining companies or oil and gas companies want to do, the buildings of roads and what not should remain a federal responsibility.
I would like to ask the Minister again, why is it that we are developing these strategies and looking at spending a lot of time and emphasis on these different strategies, yet there are no real areas within those strategies to deal with the residents of the Northwest Territories. We are looking at more of a federal responsibility, so why is it that we are not taking on these federal responsibilities instead of leaving it to the federal government?