Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the idea of a pipeline is to take natural gas down to southern markets and the producers are the ones who own the gas. The producers will be the major player in any type of pipeline scenario. So yes, the producers have to be involved and have to be involved in the decision on how they are going to transport this gas to market.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Valley Producer Group and the Mackenzie Valley Aboriginal Pipeline Corporation, this consortium has completed, as we all know, a feasibility study for the development of onshore gas in the Mackenzie Delta.

On January 7th, this consortium announced they have completed work on their feasibility study and that they are now proceeding with work on the project definition phase. They have a number of timelines they have announced.

This first quarter of this year, 2002, they plan to submit a preliminary information package as well as in the third quarter, towards the third quarter of 2003. They plan on submitting a full pipeline application in about a little over a year. Their plan now is to, in the first quarter of 2005, in three years time, if they receive the project approval they will make final project decisions. By the second quarter of 2008, in about six years time, they hope to have the construction completed and commence production.

This consortium is working now on the pre-development agreement. This is a contractual arrangement that sets out the relationship between the Mackenzie Valley Aboriginal Pipeline Corporation, as well as the future operators of the project. This is what is going on at this point in time. That is all we know for now, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Business Program Review the honourable Member mentioned was a committee that was set up to review how the different agencies of this government, namely the Business Credit Corporation and the Northwest Territories Development Corporation, as well as Community Futures committees in the regions, how they are working. As a result of that, they have done their work and they have provided the people who are interested, the stakeholders, to look at what they have done and make comment to the department.

We are developing an action plan at this point in time. The review was to look at how we could get these agencies to work closer together and maybe form a single organization to provide the services they are currently doing. As you know, the Business Credit Corporation, like a bank, is a loan agency. The Northwest Territories Development Corporation is an organization that works and has joint ventures and provides those types of services to organizations. Community Futures also provides loans at the community level. The types of services the honourable Member has mentioned are more specific.

I just want to mention that we have started this Bankers Commission that my predecessor kicked off. The first meeting of this Bankers Commission took place last week, as representatives of banks and members of our communities, to start working on this.

If this is the kind of banking services the honourable Member is talking about to help the communities, the Bankers Commission has just started their work. They are telling each other what they are doing and seeing the scope of work required. Perhaps this is one of the areas they should look at, providing these kinds of services.

I am not too sure what the outcome of this meeting was. I have not been briefed on it, but in our preliminary meetings, those subjects, the actual cash flow and the actual type of support that people in the communities need in terms of banking was discussed. I am sure this is an area that we will also be focussing on. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, we have the Business Development Fund. We have people within our departments who are there to work with the communities once they start their businesses. If they ask for support, that is what they are supposed to do.

If that is not what they are doing, then I need to know about it and I need to work with our staff, with businesses in the communities and perhaps with the MLAs, to see how we can best provide the services they are supposed to be providing.

As a Member in this House and as a Minister, I always believed that as a government, we are here to provide programs and services to the people in the communities. If that is not happening then I need to know about it. We are looking at it with this department.

There is also the Community Futures organization that has just been put in place within the last couple of years. The idea there is the different businesses that are existing, the smaller businesses in our communities, have been asking for the types of services that perhaps the honourable Member is concerned about, which is once the small businesses start, they may need additional help and dollars to do something and expand and enhance their businesses. The Community Futures organization is there to provide that service. If there is a need to help the smaller businesses become more successful, the Community Futures organizations would have representatives from all the surrounding communities in the region on this board. They are there to provide that service.

We in RWED have taken funding from headquarters and put it into the regions for the Community Futures board to work right at the community level with the people in the community. It is two years old. It is new. There may be a learning experience or problems there, so then we have to look at how we can improve on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this bankers forum, there is a representative from the Dene-Metis Development Loan, Mr. Rocky Simpson. If he is not on that board, then he is very familiar with it. He brought that to our attention, that they are an alternative source of funding for Dene and Metis businesses from the communities.

I am aware of it. I have not really sat down with the officials from the department to see how the department is working with the Dene-Metis Loan Fund. I still need to do that. I would like to let the Member know that I am aware of the Dene-Metis Loan Fund. How it is going to fit into this single window approach with the Business Credit Corporation and the Northwest Territories Development Corporation, I have not asked that question, but I will, following this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman who is on the Bankers Commission is Rocky Simpson, who brought this matter to our attention. I do not know if he is on the Dene-Metis Loan Fund or not, but I will confirm that. As to appointing someone to the board, the board is already set up and there are alternates. We will look at that. Thank you.