Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

I think, Mr. Speaker, DEAs and DECs are in a position to get their own legal advice, which surprised me that they never did do their own. We recently, in response to a request from the DEA, advised them that if they wished to get a legal opinion, then they should be in the position to do so and they are free to do so, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I heard the Minister say that he's doing everything that he can to try and resolve the issue that exists in Hay River, and I heard him say that he's trying to do it through mediation. Is the Minister aware that there was a qualification from the DEA in Hay River for them participating in a mediation process to do with this legal opinion?

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the conditions for mediation are usually difficult to adhere to when parties start putting conditions on it. One of the things we have to recognize is legal recourses are not the panacea to resolving very complex problems such as this one. They sometimes don't resolve anything. My feeling is that through mediation we can get on the table what some of the issues are; what is causing some of the differences. We need to know that. What are the problems that are faced by Mr. Butler, what are the problems that face the DEC? I think we need to know that and to put it on the table to see if we can't resolve it.

You know, Mr. Speaker, in schools we teach this to our children, if they have any difficulties amongst each other, we bring the parties together, sit them down and say can you resolve this conflict, and its collective collaboration to try and resolve it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is not aware of the problems that exist between Hay River and Fort Smith, and the department does not want to know what the problems are. I must put that to him. But, Mr. Speaker, the Minister has said that he would like to address this through mediation. There is a qualifier from the DEA on mediation process. If the mediation process doesn't work, what is the department's plan to deal and resolve this issue?

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just on the comment that we don't know what the problems are, as usual we need to get behind the scenes and behind all the arguments to find out substantiation, so mediation is a good process normally. We feel that this is the first step that needs to be taken. Perhaps it may be the only step, but certainly we need to know what is causing this rift between the two parties that they can't resolve together. As I say, we use this process for all our school children in our schools, to come together, be collaborative and resolve problems, Mr. Speaker. If we can't do that, you know, we seem to rely on legal processes and determination that outside bodies have to resolve this. I am an outside body, but they're also elected bodies, Mr. Speaker, and they have a responsibility to try and resolve this amongst each other. I think that's my recourse to it, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of RWED, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. I'm hoping to see this direction to the Southwest Territorial Business Development Corporation happen soon. I'd like to ask the Minister, as part of providing the service under whatever umbrella structure we're looking at, will we also be looking at having representatives on those boards? Currently we have no representatives on any boards that are set up.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of RWED, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's quite different to go and access money from a community futures program which has a short, quick turnaround compared to going to access funding from the Business Credit Corporation which has a lengthy process. Up to now, those communities in my riding cannot go to a board in the Deh Cho or in the South Slave to access community futures money. Now I'm not quite comfortable, because the Minister has stated a couple of things here that I don't totally agree with. We were told six years ago the very thing that he's saying now. I'd like to know if he could give me a date. Can we get more specific, can we nail it down, can I get that information with a date attached to it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of RWED, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As soon as possible is clear as mud I guess. I'd like to ask the Minister if he could explain to me what is the holdup? Can he tell me why this process hasn't already taken place in six years? What's stopping this process from happening?