Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to provide an update to the Members on some significant achievements within the sport and recreation system.

Many of our partner organizations are continuing to do some excellent work to support and advance the quality of programs for the residents in our communities. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge these efforts.

• • This past summer 217 athletes, coaches and mission staff participated in the North American Indigenous Games held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Our NWT team featured athletes from 15 communities in 11 sports. In total these athletes took home 66 medals and placed ninth out of the 24 participating teams. I congratulate the Aboriginal Sport Circle of the Western Arctic for their outstanding work in organizing Team NWT for these Games.
• • In September 13 students began studies at the Inuvik Campus of Aurora College in the recreation leaders program. Over the past year MACA officials have been working closely with Aurora College staff to recruit students for the program. Recreation leadership development is an important part of community programs and services. These new leaders and those that follow will help communities develop stronger and more stable programs in future years.
• • Mr. Speaker, just recently I proclaimed the week of September 15 to 22 as Recreation Week in the NWT. This declaration was made to recognize the value of community-based recreation programs, and to acknowledge the hard work of recreation professionals and volunteers. Our communities depend heavily on these people to provide recreation programs and services that we know are a big part of the quality of life for residents. In Fort McPherson they used this opportunity to launch a corporate challenge and they also held a luncheon to recognize their volunteers. Here in Yellowknife teachers at Ecole St. Joseph School initiated a "Walk to Work" program and they also broadcast daily physical activity messages on their morning announcements. It is important that we recognize the NWT Recreation and Parks Association for spearheading this important initiative.
• • Finally, Mr. Speaker, this coming November the Sport North Federation will be delivering an NWT coaches symposium. This is a major training event for community coaches as well as high performance coaches. I understand that a number of different sessions will be delivered on a broad range of topics. This work by Sport North greatly contributes to the quality of our coaches and to the work that they do with the young people in the North.

Mr. Speaker, the efforts put forth by our many volunteers and professionals in all parts of the recreation and sport system make the NWT a better place to live. I support this work and I am pleased to have this opportunity to share some of the recent success stories of our partner organizations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are hearing more and more about our health care system, Mr. Speaker, and how many of the programs are unaffordable or unsustainable in the long term. It seems that we have two answers; find more money to keep on fixing the problems or stop creating the problems.

What I am talking about here, Mr. Speaker, are those of us who kind of do damage to ourselves. We inflict harm on ourselves through the lifestyles that we lead. We are couch potatoes who do not get enough exercise. We are junk-food junkies. We have...(inaudible)...where alcohol and drug abusers hurting our brains and our bodies, and perhaps most commonly, Mr. Speaker, we are smokers.

We need to assume, Mr. Speaker, a greater responsibility for our own lives. Our very health and well-being is at stake. Forty-two percent of adults in the NWT smoke. There are at least 575 of us who agree that we need to do something and we can do something about it. These are the people, and 50 of them are teenagers, Mr. Speaker, who have joined the Canadian Public Health Association's Quit and Win contest. I am pleased to say that, at least in this case, I am a quitter and I am proud of it.

-- Applause

Thank you. I hope I can last. It is no fun. I have a 30-year addiction, but my kids are proud of what I am doing. I get a lot of support and sympathy from my friends and colleagues. I figure that in the 52 days that I have been smoke-free, I have saved about $200. You know, I do not have to look at those disgusting pictures on cigarette packages anymore. Twenty-five percent of all of the deaths in the NWT are caused by smoking. So much more needs doing.

I want to recognize that in this Quit and Win contest, the efforts of the Canadian Public Health Association -- there are some people in the gallery whom I will introduce later, Mr. Speaker -- and others like the Canadian Cancer Society, Sport North, our own Department of Health and Social Services and Health Canada. I want to recognize a former Olympian of the NWT, Sharon Firth, for her advocacy. Corporate sponsors like Canadian North, Mack Travel, Inkit, Paramount Resources, and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation have made a difference. To my fellow quitters, I say do not stop quitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is very important as a government and as the Northwest Territories that we try to take advantage of the opportunities at hand. Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Delta and also people in the Mackenzie Valley have been talking and looking at opportunities by way of a Mackenzie pipeline. Again, Mr. Speaker, it seems like it has hit a brick wall. A motion they have been moving on seems to have stalled. I think as communities, the communities are now starting to speak out and wanting to have more of a say of what is happening and what the effects of this development will have in regard to the socio-economic effects on our communities, and ensuring that the benefits that do flow from oil and gas development reaches the communities, it does not by-pass them, and it ensures that they will receive those socio-economic benefits that thrive elsewhere.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, this government seems to be not doing much by way of looking at initiatives that they have taken in the mining industry by way of the socio-economic benefit agreements they have been able to negotiate with the diamond industry. I for one feel that this government should also look at such an initiative with the oil and gas companies that are looking at building the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, and also to ensure communities do receive the guaranteed jobs, training, and the socio-economic responsibility of industry, to ensure they are good corporate citizens and they do not leave us holding the bag after development has come and gone.

I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, that as a government, we seriously take our responsibility to ensure the well-being of our residents in the area of social impacts that effect our communities, regardless of whether it is alcoholism, drug abuse, or shortage of houses, or the impact on our infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, it is crucial as a government that we do more to ensure that we do derive the maximum benefit from a pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley. With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister responsible for renewable resources questions on this later. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss an issue with the Hay River Community Health Board and the employees that work within our health care system. Mr. Speaker, the Hay River Community Health Board was established in 1996 under the Societies Act of the Northwest Territories. There are approximately 160 people employed at the community health board and it is one of the larger employers in Hay River.

For the last year, Mr. Speaker, the employees of the Hay River Community Health Board have lived under a tremendous amount of stress and uncertainty with regard to their future due to the actions of this government.

Mr. Speaker, in January of this year the GNWT's action plan was unveiled and one of the items stipulated in the action plan was to unify all allied health care staff throughout the North under a single employer, that being the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, in August of this year, the Minister of Health announced the cancellation of the transfer of the Hay River Community Health Board employees to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, the reason he has given was that it was going to be too expensive to transfer the Hay River employees over to the public service, due to the provisions in their collective agreement.

Mr. Speaker, there are still a number of unresolved issues affecting health care workers in Hay River, not the least of which is the issue of wage parity. This government should do everything in its power to guarantee workers at the Hay River Community Health Board wage parity with workers under the public service without any lost jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I want to make it very clear that I believe that the money provided to ensure wage parity should not come out of the Hay River Community Health Board's operational budget. It is the very least we could do as a government for these people. why should the health care workers in Hay River be paid any less than their counterparts?

Mr. Speaker, the cancellation of the transfer has caused a lot of undue stress for the workers. The staff has been very proactive in the transfer process. I give the staff of the Hay River Community Health Board a tremendous amount of credit for their perseverance in these very trying circumstances.

The Minister himself, Mr. Speaker, stated to the employees when he met with them in September, and I quote, "All your frustration and anger that you feel and your cynicism and unhappiness in this particular instance is not without justification."

Mr. Speaker, these employees have been on an emotional roller coaster ride for the past year and they just want to know when it is going to end.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. This has been a domino effect in our community and for the residents I serve. Mr. Speaker, because I believe that it will virtually be impossible to attract new health care workers to Hay River, given the state of our uncertainty at our hospital with regard to future health care delivery.

Mr. Speaker, when the Minister met with the workers of the health board in September, the employees had several questions that they addressed to the Minister and to date they have received nothing concrete in writing, from the Minister or his department. These workers deserve answers, Mr. Speaker. At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will have further questions to the Minister responsible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is with some reluctance that I again rise today to talk about my concerns with the BIP revision process that RWED is currently conducting. As I mentioned the last time I spoke, if you were to go to the RWED website and try to establish or learn the rationale for some of the things that they are proposing, such as thresholds, you read that "during consultations on these issues the Northwest Territories business community expressed the need for a dollar value cap on the application of BIP bid adjustments."

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that that varies somewhat from the presentation our main Members' committee heard when it was presented, and I think the case was strongly made that this was due in large part to a need to contain costs.

Mr. Speaker, I re-raise these issues and was looking for minutes of the consultations in order to establish exactly what had been said at these consultation. Of course I got a summary of the minutes, did not get the verbatim transcripts, but I still had concerns because I could only come across one mention of this issue, and one person apparently discussing caps.

So when I asked the question in the House, the Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development Minister did respond to my question, and in response he said, "regarding the implementation of caps within the BIP, I would like to assure you that the BIP review committee did engage the public in discussions on this issue. Generally speaking, the majority of those consulted did not object to the establishment of caps."

Mr. Speaker, that may be the case but that is a long way away from saying that the Northwest Territories business community expressed a need for these caps, Mr. Speaker. We have no way of understanding or establishing, getting any insight into what really happened at these consultations. It is possible that RWED opened up the consultations suggesting, here are many things we could look at and discuss and no one raised objections.

I could certainly concede that, Mr. Speaker. I think this speaks to a real failing in how governments, specifically this one, consults. It is one thing to go around prior to the fact and say, there are a number of issues on our plates, we have concerns with the current process, we know you have concerns with the current process, let's discuss. But then when the government has draft material it is no longer consultation time, Mr. Speaker. They come around and they declare, "We are now in the stage of information sessions, so please sit quietly and listen. We have basically decided what we are going to do and we are now about to tell you what it is."

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent from my colleagues to conclude my statement.

Indeed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So not only do we have this system of consultation which asks for input prior to draft materials going out, and then suggests that Cabinet has made up this decision that my colleague from Hay River North spoke to earlier, and when you try to contact the department to suggest you have some input and they tell you, "Well we have already decided what we are going to do anyway."

Mr. Speaker, I think in the response they also indicate the rationale for the revisions and they talk about the new BIP being seen to be fair and equitable. I would ask why, Mr. Speaker. Regarding store fronting, it may be fair to southern companies who no longer have to worry about this, but I cannot understand who we would be talking about when we talk about fair and equitable.

They also suggest that it is going to be affordable. Mr. Speaker, this is totally subjective and relative and I think it assumes that we know what it costs now, and of course we do not, because later in the letter they say regarding the cost of BIP, a discussion paper released by our government examines the cost issue and concludes that the current BIP has proven to be extremely difficult to apply quantitative analysis to.

Well, Mr. Speaker, that is not very enlightening. We know we do not know what it costs. I have no idea why. It seems to me we could go down the list of contracts and fairly quickly accumulate this. I certainly do not think that the government has heard the kinds of concerns that people are raising, the Construction Association has been raising, Members of this House and of our committee have been raising, but I think they better start to pay attention or we are going to end up with something worse than we began with, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to highlight and recognize the Quit and Win contest. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to speak on it today because when I first heard it, I thought that it was such a great idea, and I think by all accounts, it has been a huge success. I think everybody has heard about it, and their goal was to entice 3 percent of the smoking population at about 400. Now at 550, they have very well surpassed that.

Mr. Speaker, I think the biggest thing coming out of this contest is highlighting the serious problem of smoking in the North and having a centre point on which everybody could talk about it and the educators and the organizers could disseminate information to the public about the smoking and the dangers of it.

Mr. Speaker, I must say that I have a soft spot for Mr. Braden. I know he is going through a hard time. I have spoken about this in the House. I have been known to fall off the wagon on this terrible addiction, so I would like to wish him good luck. I think we should point out to the public that we have a very exemplary crowd in this House in terms of smoking. I do not know if the general public knows, but almost nobody smokes in this House. With Mr. Braden now on the wagon, and I do not know if anybody knows where Mr. McLeod, I hope he doesn't mind me mentioning it, he has quit smoking...

-- Applause

...at the urging of his family and his daughters, so we have much, much lower than general population. I could say that almost no one smokes here, although some of us do it on a part-time basis.

-- Laughter

Mr. Speaker, on a serious note, I think that 42 percent of people smoking in the North is very serious and I am very concerned about especially the women and youth who smoke, especially while they are pregnant. Some women and the more younger and younger ages, are smoking, so I really would like to commend the efforts of the organizers for doing this. Also, I would like to recognize the major corporate sponsors, such as Mack Travel, Canadian North, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, and Paramount Resources. As well, I would like to recognize Sharon Firth, who I think is making a great effort and making a great deal of difference with this effort. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as many of you are aware, the Cameron Hills in my riding is being developed. The communities who have little in the way of employment and other prospects have anticipated development and welcome the opportunities that arise from it. However, with every opportunity, there arises problems. The Cameron Hills development is no different.

Mr. Speaker, companies in my constituency continually raise concerns about the way this project is being handled. The one having the most impact is the issue of companies having to wait up to nine months or longer for payment of services. This way of doing business may sit well with our southern neighbours, but what it does to our small businesses in the North may force them to close their doors, or face possible bankruptcy.

Mr. Speaker, what percentage of work has been provided to northern contractors? What percentage of that work not delivered by northern contractors could have been? Are those southern companies working across our border meeting all of our requirements for doing business in the NWT? Do they have a business license? Do they have WCB coverage? Are their vehicles and equipment registered in the North? Are these southern developers required to submit reports setting out how many Northerners are employed and how many companies were utilized? If reports are submitted, who are they submitted to? The federal government or this government? Does the federal government share any of the reports submitted by the producers with the Government of the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, what I am asking is who in this government is responsible for monitoring the companies developing our resources? Who in this government is looking out for the small businesses that are being forced to carry the short-term debt for larger, southern developers?

Mr. Speaker, it is important that this government support our businesses in the Northwest Territories. It is those businesses that are more willing to employ other Northerners and share the work being undertaken. As a government, we must ensure that these businesses have the information required to effectively and efficiently compete for contracts. We must understand that our northern businesses are new to much of this development and cannot meet with southern developers on a daily basis as enjoyed by the southern contractor. What our northern businesses have access to is information sessions and reliance on limited RWED business staff conveying information received from these southern developers.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, we have the potential for pipeline development, hydro development, and additional mining development -- all our knocking on our doors. Before letting these developers in, should we not arm our northern businesses with the tools required to maximize the opportunities and service they could offer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to share a good news story related to health and social services. We tend to hear quite a bit about the problems, and since quality health care is a subject very important to everyone, when there are problems, it is understandable that they will receive much debate and attention.

All of the allied health professionals and support service workers are important to a properly functioning system and need to be treated fairly and respectfully. A key piece of the delivery service of health is the availability of physicians. We have had a very frustrating situation in existence in Hay River for the past several years. Although for a community our size we should have had five or six physicians, we have been struggling with one or two or no resident physicians trying to manage on the good graces of doctors who had formerly practiced in Hay River and other locums. We would accept even two-week commitments at times, fly-in doctors from as far away as the Maritimes, just to get the coverage that we needed to deal with patients and emergencies.

The good news, Mr. Speaker, is that we currently have five doctors in Hay River. In June, 2001, Dr. Peter Cardon came to Hay River from New Zealand -- a very brave move -- to be the only resident physician in the hopes that a team could be built. It is difficult getting the first couple of doctors to commit because they know the responsibility that will fall to them in a small town in terms of being on call for emergencies, so we really appreciate Dr. Cardon in his role as a physician and as chief of medical staff.

Also, Dr. Paramanthan has been in Hay River for a little over a year; Dr. Dalia Bernard arrived in July of this year; and Dr. Wameed Ateyah was a very welcome part of the medical team, but unfortunately may leave at the end of his contract in December. The newest addition to the clinic and hospital is Dr. Tina Lacerta, who is interestingly originally from Inuvik.

The Hay River Community Health Board has been diligently working on the recruitment of an anesthetist, which would enable women from Hay River and surrounding communities to deliver their babies in Hay River. This would also allow the hospital to deal with minor surgeries which are now referred to Yellowknife or further away.

Access to health services is a big part of the quality of life in our communities. Continuity of care with one physician is also very important to the timely and accurate diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions.

I would like to thank everyone who played a part in assisting Hay River to get back to a full complement of resident physician, the physicians for coming to Hay River, and for all the extra effort on the part of all staff during times when shortages have required service that goes above and beyond their normal hours of practice and the normal call of duty. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak about four significant Northerners who have passed away over the past few months. I know that death is part of life, Mr. Speaker, and that there were other Northerners who have died lately, but I would like to take a few minutes to say a few words about several of my constituents, and in some cases close acquaintances.

Loraine Minish-Cooper and Lilly Oldham were both prominent women who made meaningful contributions in their professional and personal lives. Loraine Minish-Copper was a defense lawyer who later went on to work as a Crown Prosecutor and to head up that office. She also served as president of the NWT Law Association and served on several boards including the breast cancer support group, with which she was active until the time of her death in August.

Lilly Oldham worked in the Yellowknife public school system in various roles including as principal of William MacDonald School and most recently as superintendent of French immersion. She was a very dedicated person to our students and to second language learning, and will be remembered through a scholarship fund set up in her name to assist students with post-secondary studies in a second language.

Doug Leonard moved to Yellowknife as a young child and during his lifetime got to know a great many people engaged in several pursuits, as many Northerners do. He worked at the front desk of the Yellowknife Inn and as a journalist and editor of the Yellowknife newspaper. But more significantly, Doug was a writer of songs and poetry. He wrote many of the songs sung by the renowned northern singer, Ted Wesley, and a book of his poems called Echoes of the North was published before he died.

Last week I had the honour of delivering the eulogy at the funeral of D'Arcy Arden. He was a very close friend of mine. At one time we were also partners staking claims together. D'Arcy was best known as a prospector, but he accomplished much more during his long life. D'Arcy was a Metis of strong combination of his two different backgrounds. He was completely competent and comfortable in both the traditional world of the Dene and the 20th century life. He worked hard at a number of pursuits from running a water taxi to being an RCMP special constable, to driving trucks and caterpillar tractors, but prospecting was his real love. He spent many years tramping through the bush and over the outcrops collecting samples and staking claims. In his later years he served on various boards including the NWT Water Board, the Chamber of Mines and the North Slave Metis Alliance.

These were all good people, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These were all very good people and great Northerners who have now passed on, but the North is certainly a better place because they lived and worked here. I would like to ask the House to join me in paying tribute and in expressing our condolences to their families and friends. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a point of privilege. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I referred to the former chair of the NWT Power Corporation as having resigned. In fact, Mr. Stewart has informed me that his appointment was revoked by the government, and I just wanted to correct that for the record. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by Mr. Roland on October 16, 2002, regarding the mechanism for revoking board appointments.

The Minister's authority to remove the directors of a board, in this case the Northwest Territories Power Corporation board, is implied in the Minister's power to appoint under section 9 of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation Act and by virtue of section 21 of the Interpretation Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the privilege of recognizing two of my constituents in the gallery today. Wayne Pringle, who is a lead hand in maintenance at the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital who has been in Hay River for 12 years and worked at the hospital for the last 11.

Also, Bill Dalton, who hails from Newfoundland and who has come more recently and worked as an LPN at Woodland Manor for the past seven months. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a number of people involved in the Quit and Win campaign. Volunteers that are well-recognized already in our community. Elaine Berthalet, I have known, had the distinction while under your watch as Minister, Mr. Speaker she is the coordinator of the Quit and Win advisory program for the Canadian Public Health Association.

Miriam Wideman is with our Department of Health and Social Services. Gail Nesbitt is a volunteer from Sport North. Arlene Ysako is here representing the Canadian Cancer Society and Rosela Stoes is the coordinator of the Quit and Win project. Thank you for coming today.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize two prominent Yellowknife citizens, they are constituents of mine and they have been recognized before but I would like to just recognize them as constituents, Fred Koe and Liz Wyman. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Ms. Betty Brockaway, Mr. Ray Davies and Mr. Terry Wright. All three are my constituents from Hay River. I would also like to welcome Bo Dalton and Mike Pringle. All of the above are members of PSAC Local 001 in Hay River. I want to thank them for taking the trip over to Yellowknife to be with us today.

I would also like to recognize my CA in the gallery.

-- Applause

At this time I would like to recognize Mr. Fred Koe from Aklavik, so people know for the record, where Fred comes from. Welcome, Fred.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I made a statement about economic opportunities and infrastructure needs in the Northwest Territories. Today I would like to ask the Premier questions in that area.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the federal government has suggested that they are unwilling to come up with anywhere near the $133 million we requested in the Corridors for Canada proposal. Given the lack of understanding and reasonable response from the federal government to our proposal, what is the Premier and this government proposing to do now?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is our job to continue to take our message to Ottawa and tell every Minister, every Member of Parliament who understands the Northwest Territories the agenda we have, the exciting future that we have laid out for ourselves, for our communities and the needed partnership that is being requested by ourselves with the federal government.

It is our view that that work is still not done, so we will continue to seek meetings with the federal Cabinet, with the outgoing Prime Minister, the next Prime Minister that is going to be coming along fairly soon, and every Member of Parliament. We will be doing that with members of the business community and perhaps Members of the Legislature as we develop our plans and strategy, so that we continue to lay out very clearly what it is that we need from this very reluctant partner we have identified in our plans that is the federal government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we all support the idea of going after more funding from the federal government, but we have to be aware of when the funds are not going to be available any longer. Is the Premier aware of the time table for final commitments of the $200 million or so that is available from the strategic infrastructure fund? When will it be fully allocated? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government had given us full confidence that the Primer Minister and, at that time the Minister of Finance, Paul Martin, and virtually every Cabinet Minister that we met over the course of the spring and summer were on side. To this day, even the officials continue to tell us that ours was one of the best proposals they received from right across this country. I think it sort of went downhill when Minister Allan Rock got the assignment, and it went from what is deemed a strategic investment fund to what we thought and we feared, which would be a political slush fund, one that is allocated based on per capita, which always is a great winner for Ontario and for Quebec, no matter the quality of their proposals.

Under Minister Rock, we have been given, instead of the $133 million that we had some confidence that we would get a substantial amount of, we have been reduced to have been told that we should be grateful for the $20 million that have been identified for us. We still have no idea yet whether that is over four years and what the conditions are for getting that money. So we are continuing to push the point with our Member of Parliament and to seek meetings with Ministers. We will be continuing to return to Ottawa to keep delivering our message the best we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess we will not turn up our noses at $20 million, but again, it seems like we have been stuck with a down-payment only in our request here. If in fact we have one of the best proposals out there and we still cannot get the money, obviously it is politics that have to be played. How is the government positioning themselves to play a stronger game of politics in Ottawa to win this fight for more money?

Well, we know that some of the leadership hopefuls are more visionary than others, and there will be a leadership race underway very shortly, a much higher profile. We intend to be there. We know the leadership qualities of people like Paul Martin, the qualities of people like Allan Rock. So we are ready to comment on that. We have no doubt that it is going to be difficult, because all we have to offer is billions of dollars of potential revenue to the federal government, but only one Member of Parliament.

On a matter of votes, we are not important. What is important about us is the fact that we have an incredible economic future that we can deliver to Canadians, and especially our people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other side of the economic opportunities was the pipeline. Now that the energy bill, which would have provided a subsidy for Alaskan gas, appears to be dead, since Congress and the Senate could not come to an agreement on the bill, does the Government of the Northwest Territories now feel that issue is finished, or is it something that we have to still watch?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the issue with the Alaska pipeline and subsidies is going to be put on the backburner for a couple of months. Right after the elections in the U.S. in November, I believe, the issue will potentially return, depending on the outcome of the elections.

In regard to the federal government, it is true. It is well-known that the Prime Minister personally would like to see the pipeline proceed. The Ministers have indicated that privately. Officially, they are still trying to cling to the idea that they could be somewhat neutral. My view is that I do not think even the most naïve and the most remotely distant Minister, Member of Parliament in Ottawa would have any sense in believing that for $20 million, they can have a pipeline. It is not going to happen unless the federal government steps up, takes some decisive leadership, puts some investment in the North with aboriginal people, with this government, so we can continue to proceed with some confidence. I think that message has been delivered a couple of times. Industry is starting to deliver that message with us as well. One of these days, the light is going to go on and we will see some action start to come from the Prime Minister, Minister Nault, and the other Ministers that have the responsibility to act in the Canadian interest, to act on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I raised concerns regarding development in the Cameron Hills. It is very difficult to analyze what is happening up there. I wanted to know if the Department of RWED receives information regarding the jobs that are created, the number of jobs, the contracts, the services provided to the northern people and businesses. I would like to ask the Minister if he could respond to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to interpret that by the Minister's response that he does have a copy of the analysis that was done by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, and I am hoping he will share that with us.

However I will ask, in a question regarding the South Slave region. Of those employees that are in the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, how many of these people provide pure business support versus renewable resources support? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, maybe I can help the Minister by letting him know that the communities in the Deh Cho have been requesting assistance for some time now and we feel that there is a lack of human resources in our communities. They are looking for and have requested to have some personnel that have experience and are familiar w. the oil and gas industry.

I know a lot of people, I have contacts in the industry. I would like to ask the Minister, after he does review the South Slave region and realizes that there are not enough people in oil and gas, if we could look forward to possible increases in human resources in that field? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I raise this concern today because it is very difficult to access this information in the department. With our concerns on Cameron Hills we do not have a lot of information coming to us from the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, we cannot seem to access the information.

I would like to ask the Minister, are they receiving the information? I do not get the sense today that he is receiving the information on the development of Cameron Hills in a timely manner. Is he receiving information in an timely manner?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the issues currently facing the employees at the Hay River Community Health Board. Firstly, I would like to thank the Minister for the trips he has made to Hay River to address the many issues that have arisen over the status of the Hay River Community Health Board.

Although my constituents appreciate his efforts, a number of questions still remain unanswered, especially in the area of collective bargaining and funding.

Would the Minister please advise this House how changes to the Health and Social Services Act that he is contemplating affect the legal status of the Hay River Community Health Board and who is ultimately their employer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this juncture the board itself is the employer. The changes to the Health and Social Services Act will make an exemption to allow Hay River employees not to miss being members of the public service. So they will receive funding from the territorial government and they will be participant in all other functions of Health and Social Services across the North in their capacity as members of the Joint Leadership Council. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the legislation is passed respecting the Health and Social Services Act, who will be responsible for the bargaining of health board employees? Who will have the last word in bargaining? Will it be the board or the government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would hope to see this as a cooperative effort with the board being the lead at the table. Being part of the broader health and social services system, we also have to keep the broader fiscal implications in mind. This is a unique situation so I want to see this done in a cooperative way. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the meeting that I mentioned earlier with the Minister, the Minister was reported as saying that our health board would be given a mandate for negotiation before the collective bargaining process commences. That bargaining process commences next month.

Does the Minister have a contingency plan in place in the event that negotiations break down, that includes a legislative imposition of any aspect of the government's bargaining mandate?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this process is just getting underway. It is a unique circumstance. I am confident that we will negotiate collectively a satisfactory package so that all parties involved will be satisfied. That is the approach we are taking as we start this process and I am confident that is where we will end up in due course. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The cancellation of the transfer of the Hay River Community Health Board caused substantial turmoil to the employees of the Hay River Community Health Board. A great deal of time and effort was spent by a good many preparing for this government-imposed plan. Then abruptly, the rug was pulled out from under them when the plan was scrapped.

Will the Minister please inform this House whether his department plans to compensate the health board, the union and the many individuals who spent hours and hours of their own time pursuing this fruitless exercise? For the resources they were required to expend. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this process is yet to conclude. It has taken a somewhat different direction. The process was agreed to beforehand. They got us to the point of still working on transfer. When the decision was made not to proceed with the transfer we embarked on another course of action which is the collective bargaining process, so that process is still underway. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not want to appear woebegone and stricken with sadness over the challenges we have in front of us, but we have tremendous challenges with our highway system. We just do not have the money to be able to do the jobs the way they should be done in the first place. We should be doing it by completely reconstructing some roads. We should be doing more training. We should be doing things differently, but we have to make our money go as far as we can. So we have done some work. Our engineers are not entirely happy with what we have to do, but they are trying to do the best they can.

In the case of the roads the Member referred to, yes, we expected that there would be some breakthroughs in the chipsealing that was done and some of the other work. There has been some work done in September. There will be more work done next year by the contractor in fixing up some of the breaks. Of course, our department will continue with its maintenance work. Thank you.