By doing so, they are dooming us to fewer jobs for Northerners and are dealing self-reliance for the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I also applaud the Premier and Minister Antoine's efforts, first in continuing to put pressure on the federal government to support pipeline development in the Northwest Territories and, second, for their efforts in Washington opposing the Energy Bill. We need a level playing field. We need security for the partners and for producers. It was good news indeed to hear that the bill that would have subsidized Alaskan gas has failed for now.

However, Mr. Speaker, we still have some serious challenges. The Intergovernmental Forum has not progressed as quickly as we had originally expected, and now we hear that the federal negotiator has no mandate to negotiate fiscal issues.