Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Premier has been away for the past week, as you know, on the Team Canada tour. I did reference this in a Cabinet strategy meeting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to meet with the Member this morning on this unfortunate situation in Wha Ti. I made him aware that we already had this project moved up for this year. However, it is before the Financial Management Board and I believe it is approved by the Financial Management Board, but all we can accomplish, according to Public Works and Services, for this year is the planning and have the materials on the road for next year. It is just not possible to have all the equipment and materials on the road for this year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Public Works has been working on this. If it is at all possible, we will do it this year. We will move the materials in this year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, we will be working with the Member and with the community on how we can assist them in the meantime, as to how to get the community hall as quickly as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has been fairly consistent in the last few years in supporting the proposed Kyoto agreement, the protocol that has been on the table for the last number of years. We continue to support the ratification of the agreement. However, the negotiations are still ongoing. Canada is still seeking to gain some concessions and amendments to the proposed agreement.

We have Minister Antoine today meeting with Ministers Anderson and Dhaliwal to carry on those discussions and to make clear the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories. We would expect that later this spring there will be some meetings held between our government and the federal Ministers to look at the steps that we would want taken before there is ratification, should negotiations be successful by Canada. That is, we would want stakeholders here in the Northwest Territories to be involved in a consultation process before ratification is achieved. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to inquire into the communication on this kind of issue. Mr. Klein, in a rather famous little piece of television, kind of hijacked some of the agenda from the Prime Minister. I will get to my question, Mr. Speaker. Will the Premier make the government's position regarding Kyoto clearly known to the Prime Minister and to the other provinces of Canada? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had indicated two things to the staff of the Prime Minister's office in the travels in Russia and Germany. Contrary to what was indicated by the letter that was read by Premier Klein, the Government of the Northwest Territories has consistently taken the position that we will support the Kyoto agreement and support Canada in seeking further changes that would make the agreement even more attractive and supportable. There were two points made with the PMO and we are prepared to send a letter to that effect once we have concluded the meetings in Victoria. Once I have had a chance to meet with Minister Antoine, we will indicate our support for the Kyoto Protocol, the agreement.

Secondly, we will state our views regarding the manner in which the letter was brought to the attention of the Prime Minister, which we took some exception to. It was all a surprise to us and we felt, given that we were on a foreign trade mission and we were in another country, that this was not the way to do business. Certainly not the way to lend dignity and respect to the office of the Prime Minister of Canada. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to hear that the Premier has made that position known. I too was not impressed as a Canadian watching that kind of shenanigan going on overseas, so I support that position. I would like to further ask, the concern has been expressed from industry that Kyoto is going to impair or deteriorate Canada's industrial position. Does the Premier have any information or evidence that may indeed be the case in the Northwest Territories, especially with the significant scale of development we are anticipating? Thank you.