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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. To this end, Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues to join me in speaking out against child pornography and sexual exploitation. I encourage all Members to contact Ms. Ethel Blondin-Andrew and voice their strong opposition to this disturbing law.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, if members of the public would like further information on this very important issue, they can contact me at my constituency office in Hay River and I would be pleased to provide them with contact numbers for the organization, Canadians Addressing Sexual Exploitation.

Mr. Speaker, the Catholic Women's League passed a resolution at their national convention to eradicate child pornography. I completely support them in their stance against child pornography.

Mr. Speaker, I came across a very moving saying on the Canadians Addressing Sexual Exploitation's website, and I would like to repeat it in this House. Mr. Speaker, it says: "By remaining silent, we become part of the problem. By speaking out with pen and voice, we become part of the solution." I could not agree more, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great honour today to respect and recognize Mr. Michel Paper, an elder from Detah, and his granddaughter Rosalie, who is with him. Rosalie is two or three years old and helped pass out poppies in the gallery, I noticed.

Mr. Paper was born in the Grow-cap area on Great Slave Lake in 1913. Michel's last name, Paper, was actually his father's first name. Paper is the English translation of Michel's father's first name, which in Dogrib is "Sahtli." I do not know if I said that exactly right.

Michel, whose wife passed away last year, has one son, Frankie Paper and two grandchildren. Michel retired from the Department of Public Works and Services after working for 20 years as a surveyor. He says that he surveyed all the highways and community roads in the Northwest Territories, and even in Nunavut. Michel is a strong support of the Yellowknife Dene First Nation leadership. He attends many, if not all, of their meetings. He is also a member of the Elders advisory council for Detah.

Michel is always positive, Mr. Speaker, and gentle in his approach with people. I have never heard him say a mean-spirited word about anyone, but takes on issues in stride.

One interesting thing I have noticed with Michel is that he cares for two young grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Paper is 89 years old. He cares for two young grandchildren, often by himself, and I think he sets a good example for many of us of the importance of the extended family in looking after our young people where parents are in situations where they cannot do it themselves.

Mr. Paper would have driven his truck here today. I know he washes his truck every day. He has been seen at the Yellowknife River bridge washing his truck. He has been seen in Detah washing it. He is a meticulous man.

As MLA for Weledeh, I am grateful that I have people like Michel to guide me. His encouragement is uplifting and his wisdom is invaluable. I want to take this opportunity to thank Michel for his support and guidance and wish him and his family the very best. Thank you.

-- Applause

Mahsi, Mr. Handley. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like today to acknowledge today a community organization that commenced its existence 56 years ago. That is older than most of us in this Assembly, Mr. Speaker. The Yellowknife Board of Trade, today known as the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Speaker, is one of the foundations of this community. They are volunteers, citizens, employers of businesses large and small that all get together to help make our communities work.

Today, there are more than 400 members involved in the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce. A week ago, with their president, Dave McPherson, they hosted their 56th Annual General Meeting and President's Banquet. At the time, some of the Chamber's accomplishments over the past year were observed.

Mr. Speaker, the Spring Trade Show was attended by more than 10,000 people. The Chamber is going to host its first Christmas Trade Show in November of this year. The Chamber, Mr. Speaker, is a not-for-profit organization. It is funded entirely by its members. It does not get government dollars. It is the voice of the Yellowknife business community.

Governance for the Chamber is provided by a volunteer board. Many of them are in the gallery today. I will be introducing them later on. They give hours of service, and beyond their own contribution, Mr. Speaker, I think we should acknowledge the willingness of their businesses and their partners, for these people to give their time and their resources. I think it is fitting today, Mr. Speaker, that they were here to listen to the Finance Minister's fiscal update, because it is this kind of involvement and participation that I as an MLA need to do my job.

At their annual meeting, the Chamber honoured a number of outstanding Yellowknife businesses. The Business of the Year award, Mr. Speaker, went to the Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op, owned by some 3,000 Yellowknife residents. The Businessperson of the Year was awarded posthumously to Karl Lust, of Johnson's Building Supplies. The Mike Piro Award went to Cold Mountain Computing, and I congratulate these businesses for their accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, a number of Yellowknife Chamber members are also involved in the northern coalition, which is going to be going to Ottawa next week, to lobby on behalf of the whole Territories' future. I congratulate them and wish them luck in the coming year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my statement today, I would like to pay tribute to the memory of a prominent and long-time resident of Hay River, who passed away in the early hours of yesterday morning. Wally Ring had just celebrated his 75th birthday, but complications from a stroke last Thursday took his life a few short days later. Wally Ring was born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan. As a young man, he moved to Uranium City, where he met his wife, Marlene, who was a nurse there at the time. Wally and Marlene were married in 1961, and the same year moved to Fort Smith. This is where they opened their first pharmacy, which today, 40 years later, is still called Wally's Drugs.

Two years later in 1963 Marlene and Wally moved to Hay River and moved a second pharmacy called Ring's Drugstore. They first opened in the old town in the Hay River Hotel, a few years later moved to the Ptarmigan Inn, and in 1971 relocated their store to its present location today.

As a long-time resident of Hay River commented to me today, no Saturday afternoon trip downtown was complete without a stop at the local drugstore. Wally Ring was a part of that Hay River culture and greeted everyone with warmth when they came into his store.

Wally was a very quiet man, he never liked to be the front person, which does not mean he was not a leader in his own right. He organized many Hay River community activities including Ookpik carnivals in the old day and many Kiwanis activities throughout the years.

Wally was recognized as an honourary lifetime member of the Hay River Kiwanis Club and was a special guest at the Kiwanis 25th Anniversary celebrations just last year. He was also a long-time member of the Hay River Chamber of Commerce and a well-respected member of the Hay River business community. He was an avid fan of curling and travelled to destinations around the world to take in curling events.

He was a man of few words who did not share his politics or his opinions all that freely, but it was a quiet friendliness that earned him the respect of the people he served and lived with. His children now run the family business. His eldest son Larry is now the town pharmacist and the tradition of the Rings continues.

Wally's passing is a very sad loss for Hay River. On behalf of my colleague from Hay River North, Mr. Paul Delorey and myself, I would like to express our sincere condolences to Marlene, Larry, Les and Gail and their families.

As friends and family will gather to share the memory of Wally Ring on Saturday afternoon, I know it will be a time of reflection of a man whose kindness and generosity touched the entire community of Hay River over a period of almost 40 years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Indeed condolences go to the Ring family. As a matter of fact, Mr. Ring was one of the members that nominated me for town council back in the 1961 election that I won at the time. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, after today we will be going into extended adjournment until February which is well over three months. In that interim period we will not gather as an Assembly. As well, during that period there are going to be a number of very important events and holidays. As I am not going to see some of my colleagues I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all my colleagues a safe three and a half months and that they enjoy fully all the opportunities that have to do with their families and friends in the coming holiday season.

When we gather in February we will rejoin the debate on many issues as an Assembly working to conclude the final months of our mandate. I just want to take this opportunity, because I will as well be going home tomorrow for a couple of days, I think it is important as we leave here that we do this, recognizing that we will be back and that we have lots of good work to do together in the next year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regard to the financial update given by the Minister of Finance, I find it kind of odd, the timing of the financial update coming in, knowing that we just adjourned the Fifth Session and now we are into the Sixth Session. Mr. Speaker, this information should have been released as soon as we realized we had over $100 million deficit, to the public of the Northwest Territories to make them aware of the financial situation we are in as a Government of the Northwest Territories.

I for one, Mr. Speaker, have seen what a deficit can do to a government by the major cuts that we had to put in place during the 13th Assembly. Mr. Speaker, for myself the deficit is a serious matter and should be dealt with by informing the public of the financial situation we are in.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, there are still other major capital expenditures that are in place as we are finding out through this government process. A jail facility that was constructed for $35 million is now $50 million, $15 million over budget and it is not even off the ground yet.

Mr. Speaker, there are major expenditures taking place in this government which is adding to the deficit of this government. Mr. Speaker, I for one feel offended that we did not release this information sooner to the public of the Northwest Territories during the sitting of the Fifth Session so they could have gotten the full picture of what the financial situation of this government is, especially in regard to how expenditures have been handled within this government.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we do take our deficit seriously. That we do not continue the spending practices that we have, where we are spending knowing that we are facing our debt wall. We have a $300 million debt wall. Our idea is, let's go back to Ottawa and get them to increase the debt wall so we can spend more money. For myself, that is not good governance. We are responsible for the public purse, the public expenditures and the dollars that we receive from Ottawa.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, as we can see here in the House today, we have a lot of things on the go, but when it comes to initiatives with regard to the reports that are put forward, social agendas, how we are going to deal with our social problems, what we hear back is "sorry, there is no money." Yet the spending spree of this government continues to go on.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of Finance questions on this matter later.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was pleased today when the Premier made a statement on the Kyoto accord. I had hoped that we would have an opportunity to spend some more time discussing that issue during this session and unfortunately, because we do not have committee of the whole today, we are not going to be able to.

I would like to speak about the Kyoto accord. I have to say that after living almost 30 years in the North I accept that climate change is happening, we can see the evidence here. Statistics verify that, and personal observations are confirming that.

I see milder winters, degradation of permafrost, shorter seasons for ice roads, and I know that has had an important economic impact on the North. With the reduction of permafrost, our changing permafrost and shorter winters we will see reduced exploration for oil and gas. There will be a shorter time for mining companies to get in supplies.

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, if we do nothing there will be a cost. On the face of it, a target of reduced emissions of 6 percent below 1990 levels does not sound too unreasonable. I think it is a target that most Northerners will likely support on the understanding that they will not have to pay disproportionately to achieve it.

Mr. Speaker, that is the frustration though. The lack of detail in the federal plan to implement the accord. As the Minister said today, the cost to this government and northern businesses of taking action to meet Canada's emission reduction obligations remains largely unknown.

So like most Canadians, I am at a disadvantage when trying to discuss the cost implications for my neighbours and me. The federal government, in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments, needs to present better documented costing estimates in order for the discussion to be meaningful. We should not be rushing into affirming the accord, it is much too important. We need to take the time to develop a plan so that people know the cost of action compared to the costs of not acting.

The bottom line, for me, I support doing something. But let's make sure that the costs to Northerners are fair and reasonable. Let's tell the federal government that we agree we need to do something about climate change, but let's also tell them that we expect to see a more detailed plan that Northerners and indeed all Canadians can discuss before simply adopting the Kyoto accord. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. I hope we will have a chance to recognize him when item 5 comes on. It is nice to see some of the seniors visiting us. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Lafferty, the time for your Member's statement has ended. Mr. Lafferty.

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

Mahsi. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.