Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this MOU that has been signed and the information contained in it... We are going to be travelling into the Inuvik region, mainly into the Gwich'in and that whole surrounding region to try to get the message to all the different businesses there to let them know what is contained in it. I think it's important to have this information go to all the different companies that are concerned regarding this MOU. From there, we will have a better idea of what the concerns are and deal directly with the companies ourselves. Like I said in my response to the Member for Mackenzie Delta, there are 50 percent by value of the contracts that we intend to negotiate with the Gwich'in businesses in the Gwich'in settlement area. The remaining 50 percent will be made available to other companies other than Gwich'in businesses. I think how we do it will be through existing government contacting processes and that information has to be related to the companies up there. I don't think it's such a negative thing. I see it as a positive thing. I think we could see how it would work and we will work very hard to try to get the message across. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the intent of the MOU is to try to work with the Gwich'in Tribal Council. I know there are other companies who are up there who are not aboriginal, Gwich'in or Inuvialuit, but our intention is to continue to use our contracting policies to have different government projects made available to companies that are up there. The government is not the only source of industry anymore in all the communities, especially up in the Inuvik region. There is a lot of oil and gas activity going on. That is going to continue. There is going to be a great debate right now on whether they are going to have a natural gas pipeline down the valley. If that happens, then the future is in oil and gas and more exploration up there. So if you look at the amount of work that is going on in the whole valley, there is more and more business and industry that are providing the contracts to different existing business up there. I don't see this in any way as a negative process. I see it as positive. I think aboriginal people over the years have been negotiating land claims and self-government and there are provisions in their claims, economic provisions, on how they want to get their foot into the economic world. I believe personally that in order to have some political clout, political say, you have to have some economic stability there, so I think down the road you are going to see more and more aboriginal companies and corporations forming in the North and they are going to be competing on an equal footing with other corporations and businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it's already been happening for a lot of different contracts, not only government issued, but as a whole in the North, you see many joint ventures happening. You see that in the Dogrib community. The Dogrib, for example, have joined with PCL to bid on BHP, the big contracts and Diavik. As well they have joint ventured with the different engineering companies. You see that right down the valley, that different Aboriginal companies are joining with other companies and construction companies out of Hay River are joining with some First Nations to go after contracts in the Cameron Hills. So it's already started that the business world is changing. I think Aboriginal businesses are getting more and more into business and they are innovating and improvising to try to get themselves into the best position to try to go for the different contracts that are going to be coming up. I think it's already started and is going to happen some more. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague, Mr. Krutko, spoke about the budget and some of his concerns. I, too, have some concerns on the budget, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I know we are challenged fiscally in the Northwest Territories. We know that the federal government collects most of the royalties and taxations from the Territories, and we don't get too many revenues. Mr. Speaker, what troubles me is for 35 years now this government has been in the Northwest Territories. For 35 years the city of Yellowknife and regional centres have been doing very well. For 35 years, Mr. Speaker, what I've seen are more positions being put into Yellowknife and regional centres so that these government bureaucracies could govern the smaller communities. Why is it that you need a regional body to deliver programs and services in Lutselk'e? Why can't we create a bureaucracy, an administrative arm in every community in the Northwest Territories so that people can have a role to play in their communities, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Budget Address by Mr. Manley; I'll quote Mr. Manley under the heading of families and communities:

"Canadians want to see more power in the hands of individuals to seize or better create opportunity for themselves to break the cycle of poverty and dependency. They want more power in the hands of communities to identify and solve problems and to share responsibility for building a better quality of life for their members."

But yet, Mr. Speaker, for 35 years this government has done the opposite. We'll govern from the top. We won't provide the resources and we won't provide you with a role. If you have a role, it will be through your elected band council or so on. But, no, we're going to keep the administrative staff in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Hay River, Inuvik and Norman Wells. Those are our government.

When a person files an application for health or sends a letter to a friend in Toronto, a person from Fort Good Hope, Holman Island, Lutselk'e, it doesn't matter. They say Holman Island, Northwest Territories. They say Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. They say Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. But this government seems to be a government of regional centres, which just happen to be in the Northwest Territories.

As long as we don't give a role to people to play in their communities... I'm not just talking about jobs, Mr. Speaker, I'm talking about a role. If a person doesn't have a role, then they're dependent. We have been creating a legacy of dependency as far as I'm concerned. The budget that was introduced is just another example. We'll give more to the city of Yellowknife for administrative and bureaucratic purposes. We'll give more to Hay River and Fort Smith so that we can flood it with people, so they can deliver programs on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories to the poor people of Lutselk'e and Paulatuk. Those people can't do it for themselves. They're not educated. If that's going to be the legacy, what's the point of communities even negotiating land claims or wanting to better themselves?

Under our geographic tracking system, Mr. Speaker, we identify a little over 3000 positions that are working for the Government of the Northwest Territories; 3,843, let's say around 4000. Approximately 2000 of those positions are in the city of Yellowknife. Six-hundred-fifteen positions represent 27 communities. The majority of those are seasonal positions: forestry working for RWED; teachers working during the winters. How can we, as a government, tell people we have a plan for you, when we keep telling them do as I say? Just do as we want you to do.

We have been creating a legacy of dependency. When the communities want to participate with this government, what they do is have to fill out six stacks of applications or write proposals. Once they get their grants they have to respond to the government for accountability reasons, to a point where people don't even ask for money anymore. We need to diversify the economy of the Northwest Territories. We need to give Lutselk'e a reason to exist. We don't need to plant other people's wishes on them. We need to provide them with the human and financial resources so that they can create the opportunities, create employment in the communities, and create a role for themselves so that they can improve life in their communities and for themselves.

Mr. Speaker, we have been losing our language and our culture. We haven't been improving the education system to a point where we are graduating 100 percent of the students. If we get 50 percent we're lucky. Those who graduate through our testing programs, we've determined that they're not even Grade 12 level. We graduate them for statistical reasons.

How can a young child in a small community be motivated to get an education when there are no jobs? Sure, there are jobs now in the mining sector. Without the mining sector or the possibility of employment in the oil and gas sector, what can motivate a young person?

We have to do a better job of creating opportunities right across the board, devolving government to the communities instead of being the overlord of communities. Why do we need a regional educational institution in Fort Smith so that they can deliver programs and services in Lutselk'e? We had a health board in Lutselk'e, we had a health board in Fort Resolution. The government took it back. There was one opportunity to create a role for the community. But as soon as there were some problems, it didn't take the government long to take it back.

How much longer do we have to govern before we realize that by creating regional institutions, regional bureaucracies to deliver programs in the communities, we create dependency in the communities that we expect to break out of this cycle? People want a role to play in the communities, but the only role we give them is that of complaining.

Housing is a shortage. My colleague, Ms. Lee, spoke on more than one occasion that Yellowknife gets less per capita. But how many millions of dollars have we spent on the oil and gas pipeline potential, without one lobbying movement by my colleagues from the city of Yellowknife? Mr. Nault, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs decided to place an office here. Why? Because all the facilities and all the resources are here in Yellowknife. As long as we continue to follow the same pattern, no other community is going to have the same advantages.

Earlier I spoke about how the Northwest Territories is represented in national athletic events by the regional centres, mainly the city of Yellowknife. Why is that? Because all the facilities are here. Why? Because people are moving here because there are jobs here, there's housing here. Lately, Mr. Speaker, that's been challenged, but that challenge has been faced by my constituents in Fort Resolution and Lutselk'e since day one.

I made a statement in the House yesterday regarding Mr. Handley's choice of foot attire, your moccasins. Mr. Speaker, I hope Mr. Handley and his Cabinet colleagues borrow the shoes of those leaders who represent the smaller communities, so they can walk a mile in their shoes and see the challenges that they face. It's a big challenge to live in a small community. Having all the bureaucracy here in the city of Yellowknife; sure, you have 2000 people employed who are not hungry. You'll have time to volunteer in the communities, you'll have time to coach. But yet in our small communities, that's all they ask us to do: volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. If volunteer is the only role that we're going to be expected to play, I don't think we want to participate too much.

We have to devolve the responsibility of delivering programs and services to every community, instead of being told from the top. We have to create employment and an economic base in our communities. We can't do that by setting up regional institutions to deliver programs and services at the community level. The only way we're going to regain our strength as a people, from an aboriginal perspective, is if you give us a role outside of aboriginal politics and aboriginal governments. We as a government are charged with delivering programs and services here. Let's devolve some of those positions to the communities so that those communities can come up with their own people to deliver the programs and services.

Mr. Speaker, we have to break the cycle here. We have to break the cycle of top-down government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause