Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Government of the Northwest Territories, aside from the land outside the municipal boundaries and the resources out there, has the responsibility for forestry. Our responsibility lies in trying to develop a good forestry management program. In the forestry management program we talk about doing a timber analysis of how many resources are out there and where they are at. I think our responsibility lies only in that aspect. For us to do an environmental baseline study on our own is something that I am going to have to check on.

I understand that is still a federal responsibility until we are able to negotiate devolution through the Intergovernmental Forum. That is one of the aspects of it. We want to win the people of the North, the different governments in the North, the ability to take control of our natural resources and our lands which the federal government currently controls through the Crown lands. The land out there where Pine Point is still Crown land unless it is all staked out and leased out. It is still the responsibility of the federal government. In order to do a baseline study we will have to get the federal government involved.

That is the reason why, when I replied that the only way I could see it happening now is if there is going to be a proposal to put a mine out there, then we would do part of the environmental impact review process would be an opportunity to have an environmental assessment of the place, so you can get the baseline of it. So you have baseline information of that area.

I am not trying to be non-proactive, that is the situation that we find ourselves in as the government. If we did have control of all the land out there, yes we would probably have the power and the ability to go out and do these environmental assessments wherever we wanted to do them. We do not have that now.

I would also like to reply to some of your concerns by saying in the Akaitcho, through the framework agreement and subsequently through the interim measures agreement, there are provisions in there for the Government of the Northwest Territories to be involved in dealing with communities when it comes to talking about what kind of resource development that the communities are going to allow in their traditional areas. So there is a mechanism there through the IMA to deal with the communities in this regard.

In terms of impact benefit agreements, that is something that happened and there were deadlines put in place by industry and the federal government and we did everything that we could as the Government of the Northwest Territories to support the communities in trying to get the best benefits out of it as we could.

We feel that as a government, when communities are impacted and have concerns about it we will work with the communities to try and reach some better arrangements from the industry, once this has happened. This is how I would like to reply to the honourable Member's concerns. Thank you.