Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I echo the concerns that the Member raised on the territorial government's involvement in the areas of environmental protection. As a government we are spending a considerable amount of both financial and human resources and encouraging resource companies to come up here for development. Encouraging the federal government to assist us in development, but we do not seem to have the same gumption to go after the responsibility of the environment.

Environment is a very sensitive issue in the Northwest Territories. The people that I represent are very environmentally conscious, that is in their nature. That is the Dene way. The ecosystem up here is fragile, we all know, so protection of the environment should be paramount on the minds of those who are charged with that responsibility. Even if they have to get into faces of the federal government and what they are doing they should be aware of what is going on.

If this government's desires for devolution and taking on the responsibility of non-renewable resources then we better have an idea of what is out there. We better have an understanding of the different streams, the different ecosystems. Saying that it is not our responsibility and using that as an excuse not to be involved, maybe not to the extent that we want to be involved, does not negate the responsibility of knowing what is going on. If we do not know what is going on then it is pretty hard for us to react to anything.

We have one Member in the Parliament that is representing the entire Northwest Territories. It is a huge territory, Mr. Chairman. I would like to know what contingency plans the federal government has for spills on the Mackenzie River or for major oil spills on the winter road system. Or if there is an exploration camp in Cameron Hills and there is a spill over there or an environmental catastrophe, what are the contingency plans that the federal government has? What is the role of the government of the Northwest Territories? Those are the kinds of things that we should know about.

When I talk about the environmental assessment that should be done in Fort Resolution, there are elders over there that feel that the water problems of the pits are seeping into their stream system. It is not the environmental protection service of this government or the responsibility that the federal government has. The beavers seem to have dammed up the rivers and are clouding up the bad water from the pits that runs into the stream from getting into the Great Slave. Those are some of the observations that elders have in that area.

I do not know if there has been a post-environmental assessment done on that area by the federal government or this government. Even with the discussion of a possibility of reopening that site for redevelopment, that should initiate an environmental assessment. Even if there is nothing, based on the fact that there was major development, that there was a community there at one time it should necessitate that an environmental assessment be done so that we have an understanding what is there today. What is different from the immediate surroundings as compared to there?

On the area for training for oil and gas in questioning the Minister for Education, Culture and Employment today knowing the fact that the education level is different from regional centres and the communities. We talk about SNAP and the apprenticeship programs. Our students cannot even qualify for these apprenticeship programs because they do not even have the education system. The education system failed them.

I would like to encourage them to learn from the diamond area and the training that is done there and improve upon it. This is more a statement than a question, Mr. Chairman.