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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that the company has transferred a number of employees to the Giant Mine operation, and I'm not sure what the company's plans are with respect to the reclamation of the site and whether company employees are there for the long term, for the full reclamation project. I understand that some are working on some of the initial work that needs to be done. We can certainly pursue that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Minister is aware of the concerns of some of these laid-off miners that the mine site will be closed down and the mine flooded, possibly by the end of the year. They feel very strongly that there's a lot of work that can be done there, and that current employees could be given that job so that for some of them they could extend their pension plan and have some kind of transition work until they find something else that's more permanent. So may I ask the Minister to look into this and see what this government can do to work with the company to make it possible for the current workers to have a job there? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a good question, Mr. Speaker. Naturally we want to ensure that we maximize, to the best possibilities, all of the employees that are at Con at the moment who have been employed by Miramar, to ensure that they are able to maximize their pensions and so forth. There's also a consultant who has been hired; David Milne who has worked, I understand, previously with Miramar, to assist workers on a transition plan. We can certainly enter into some questions and discussions with Miramar on this, Mr. Speaker, to find out what the plans are, what the timeframe is and how the employees can be involved. Also I'm sure that the union itself is naturally interested in this area, so we'll touch base with the various organizations in this.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could I take that to be a commitment from the Minister to engage in discussions with the company and any other interested parties, including the union, to see how this can be done and have the Minister to at least communicate to the rest of the Yellowknife MLAs in writing about what the outcome of that sort of engagement is? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, as I say, Mr. Speaker, we first have to update ourselves on what action has been taken, what the union has entered into discussions here with the corporation itself and what the plans of the corporation are; timeframe and so forth. We can provide an update to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In that search and work that the Minister has committed to do, may I ask the Minister to also look into the companies and any other involved parties in making this process as public as possible; everything that has to do with closing and cleaning up the Con Mine be done in a public way? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a territorial government, our Ministers have been coordinated through the Premier who has been chairing several meetings. We've had Mr. Dent as part of our committee, and we've involved the mayor from time to time, and included the union and company officials. We are in touch with those officials, Mr. Speaker, and we'll do our best to keep everyone informed publicly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.