Good morning. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The chair recognizes the honourable Premier.

May I request permission to go ahead with an emergency statement?

The Premier is seeking permission to proceed with an emergency statement. Mr. Premier.

Mr. Speaker, Members, on Thursday morning, two Canadian soldiers died when their jeep hit a land mine in Kabul, Afghanistan. The soldiers were part of Canada's peacekeeping mission in that country.

Gone are Sergeant Robert Alan Short and Corporal Robbie Christopher Beerenfenger.

We mourn the loss of these two brave young Canadians serving our country to bring peace to the world. We grieve for their families, friends and comrades. In recognition of their lives and the cause of peace which they served, I ask for a moment of silence.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Please rise.

---Moment of Silence

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to give the Members of the Assembly a progress report on the Deh Cho Bridge project. I am pleased to say that progress to complete this P3, a private/public partnership, agreement is proceeding very well. A finished agreement, including a final, fixed price, could be concluded as soon as the next three to six weeks.

The Assembly will recall that the Fort Providence Combined Council Alliance first approached this government in February 2002 with its proposal to build and operate a bridge at Fort Providence over the Mackenzie River. The Government examined the proposal to determine its basic feasibility and was satisfied that it was indeed a viable proposal. The Department of Transportation was directed to take the lead to work with the alliance to develop a more detailed and definitive arrangement. On November 15th last year, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Fort Providence alliance committed to a memorandum of intent that laid out the framework and process involved with forming a public/private partnership for the purpose of building and operating the Deh Cho Bridge.

Since last November, the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and the Department of Transportation have tackled systematically the many engineering, land tenure, regulatory, financial and legal issues surrounding the bridge project.

I am sure, Mr. Speaker, that the Members will appreciate that the agreement or, more accurately, the multiple inter-connected agreements are complex and demand patient attention to detail. Although complicated enough in itself, we are not just working out a contract to cover the initial construction of the bridge. This is a long-term operational partnership as well. The agreement must define the respective roles and responsibilities of the parties that will continue over the 35 years of the repayment period, long after construction has finished.

On its part, the 14th Legislative Assembly enacted the Deh Cho Bridge Act conferring the necessary legal authorities for the government to enter into the contemplated public/private partnership.

If we are able to finish the partnership agreement over the next several weeks, according to the construction schedule, we can look forward to the Deh Cho Bridge carrying its first traffic two years from now in the fall of 2005. Won't that be a spectacular occasion! Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Jake Ootes will be absent from the House today to attend to a personal matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today is around the whole area of core programs and program delivery on behalf of this government. Mr. Speaker, the frustration we have in our small communities is the lack of capable support staff in our communities; people who assist people with problems.

I heard the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to a statement he made to the Native Women's Association. He stated there are four core problems that we have in the Northwest Territories: we don't eat right; we drink too much; we smoke too much; and, we do not exercise enough.

Mr. Speaker, it's great for the Minister to state that, but in most of our communities, we realize that alcoholism and abuse of other things such as drugs and also the effects of being unemployed and living on income support is a core problem in our communities.

This government knows without having people in the communities to assist when someone wants to go to an alcohol and drug program..... The frontline worker is the first person you want to see. It's either the mental health workers, the alcohol and drug worker, or the nurse, or a doctor to assist you to deal with these core problems. Yet, for the Minister to stand out there and say well, if you just quit doing these things it's going to disappear; well, it isn't.

This government has a responsibility to ensure that we have alcohol and drug workers in our communities. I raised a question in this House going on five months ago about a problem in Aklavik where they do not have an alcohol and drug worker. It's going on two years now that they have not had that position filled. Yet the Minister can stand out there and make it sound like these problems, if we just snap our fingers, are going to disappear. But they aren't going to disappear.

This Minister has a responsibility to ensure that the core problem programs in our communities are funded by the dollars that are allocated to those programs, and to ensure that people are in those positions to assist people in our communities so that they can access core projects such as being able to go to an alcohol and drug treatment program. Before you're even allowed to get an application in, you have to take so many weeks of counselling and prepare yourself to go to a treatment centre. Yet this Minister is totally unaware of what goes on in small communities. I would like to ask the Minister a few questions later on with regard to questions I asked almost four months ago. Maybe I'll have to address them again. With that, Mr. Speaker, I will ask the Minister of Health and Social Services questions that I've asked time and time again with no response.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on an issue that was brought to my attention by a constituent of mine. The issue I refer to, Mr. Speaker, is the apparent inability of people who reside outside of Yellowknife to qualify for a relatively new program, the federal government program called a home energy efficiency retrofit grant.

Mr. Speaker, this grant is provided by Natural Resources Canada and is designed to encourage homeowners, particularly those who have older homes in need of energy efficiency upgrades, to retrofit their homes in order to make them more energy efficient. Mr. Speaker, in order to qualify, a homeowner must have the EnerGuide for homes evaluation done, and have followed up on the evaluator's recommendations prior to receiving any grant money.

Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that there is only one organization in the NWT that can perform the EnerGuide evaluations, that being the Arctic Energy Alliance. Therein lies the problem, Mr. Speaker. I believe that there are no EnerGuide evaluators in any northern communities other than Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, there is only a relatively small number of households that can qualify for any government program as it is due to income thresholds, et cetera. I would like to think, Mr. Speaker, that Northerners would not be excluded from a government program simply because of where they are geographically located. In other words, their proximity to Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that Arctic Energy Alliance is funded by this government and will ultimately be funded by taxpayers. Given this, I would think that surely the Arctic Energy Alliance would do everything in their power to provide services to all communities outside of Yellowknife. After all, the organization's name is Arctic Energy Alliance, not Yellowknife Energy Alliance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise today to speak on an issue that one of our honourable colleagues raised in this House since we started session, and it's in the area of dental work and travel associated with that, Mr. Speaker. I know that, for example, all the approvals and the programming that is set up is set up by the federal government, and it was pulled back from this government a couple of years ago. People have to now see the dentist and have some work done and there are pictures and so on; X-rays are sent to government people in Ottawa to approve or disapprove of certain work.

But, Mr. Speaker, we're finding ourselves in an increasingly more difficult position when a dentist cannot do certain work in a community; that being some oral surgery and the dentist says we cannot provide it. I've got an example in Inuvik, Mr. Speaker, where an individual has gone in and said they cannot do the work in Inuvik, and as well cannot be referred here to Yellowknife because they're unable to do that surgery here. So the next place would be in Edmonton, Alberta.

Mr. Speaker, when that person is told this is what can be done, they go to start following through with it and they find out that surgery can be done in Edmonton but that individual will have to be responsible for the flight out. Mr. Speaker, it is already difficult in the Northwest Territories to travel around with the cost of travelling. So knowing that that issue has been raised and the Member has asked the Minister in this House to look at it, I would also like to add my support behind that initiative as to what can we do for our residents in the Northwest Territories when all the support service in the North say that we can't do it in the North and we must do it in another jurisdiction but it is on their own tab.

Mr. Speaker, somebody in Ottawa might think that a pearly white smile is just for movie stars, but in fact, Mr. Speaker, when somebody's mouth starts to deteriorate and requires surgery, then I think that's something a little more serious than having to tell them that maybe we can pull your teeth. In fact, even in this situation, because this situation is serious, pulling the teeth would still not be done in the community of Inuvik. The dentists have said they can't do that. So, Mr. Speaker, I will have appropriate questions for the appropriate Minister. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're told that the NWT economy has increased by 30 percent in the last three years.

---Applause

So we have the fastest-growing economy in Canada, and that's good news for Northerners looking for work. In fact, it's great news for the overall economy, with lots of high-salary mining jobs and many more jobs in northern businesses that provide goods and services to northern mines.

Mr. Speaker, the news is similarly good in areas of oil and gas. It's maybe not as busy this year as last, but the outlook is extremely positive for jobs and economic growth, with the pipeline appearing to be not too far over the horizon. The overall economy is good. Unemployment is low and job participation rates in the Northwest Territories are higher than in other areas of Canada. The jobs created by mining have provided opportunities and stability to the Northwest Territories that would not otherwise exist. But with people in Yellowknife walking away from their homes and mortgages only five or six years ago, it's not hard to see how important the jobs we get from mining are in the territory.

So, Mr. Speaker, we have the hottest economy in Canada right now because of diamond mining and oil and gas activity, but as Mr. Handley pointed out earlier this week, our government is in danger of going bankrupt. You've heard the phrase no pain no gain, well, resource development in the North means that this government gets all the pain but very little gain.

How can this be? Because we don't get royalties and most of the tax increases are clawed back by the federal government. So our net fiscal benefit from the development of natural resources doesn't even cover our government's costs. These costs include our highway infrastructure taking a beating from significantly increased traffic; the social costs when development has a negative impact on our communities and families; and the increased need for training and education.

Mr. Speaker, with diamond mines being so profitable, I've heard some who suggest we could solve our money problems if we brought in a mining tax. That might get us some extra money for a year or even three. But with every new formula financing deal we sign with Ottawa, they seem to claw back most new revenues. So tax increases or new taxes are not the long-term solution.

Perhaps in the near term, we need to look for other ways to ensure development benefits Northerners. For instance, maybe we need to explore the possibility of ensuring developers help us fund training programs. In the long run, though, Northerners deserve a fair share of the proceeds from resource development in our territory.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his Member's statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Dent, conclude.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, honourable Members. Mr. Speaker, I have supported the Premier and the Minister of Finance in their efforts the past four years in trying to get a fair deal with Ottawa. When the 15th Assembly takes office, we will miss Premier Kakfwi's passionate voice calling on Ottawa to get moving, and his eloquent fight for a fair share of the royalties flowing from our natural resources. I was pleased to hear the Premier say that he will continue to fight for a deal until and after his last day as Premier.

Mr. Speaker, we need to plan for when we win the fight with Ottawa. We need to begin to look at what appropriate royalty rates are so we are prepared to step in quickly; rates that balance the encouragement of responsible development with a fair return for the depletion of our natural resources. Mr. Speaker, when we come back together in the 15th Assembly, we must be prepared to continue to push the federal government to move quickly on an agreement for devolution that includes a resource-royalty-sharing agreement that will truly allow a net fiscal benefit for the people of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, winning this argument must be our first priority. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.