Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some of the common issues that we have immediately are, of course, to see the upcoming proposal to build the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline as a positive development for both territories and to agree to find ways in which we can all benefit from that project as it is developed and is filed with the National Energy Board and to see how that can fit into the planning of bringing natural gas out of the Yukon through the northern end onto that project.

As well, we have the Porcupine caribou herd, the issues of the calving grounds in Alaska and in the immediate need to continue to support the Gwich'in from Alaska, from the Yukon and the Northwest Territories in their continued effort to protect the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd from unnecessary encroachment by oil and gas development and from many legislative initiatives by the American government.

We recently did some work together on trying to get a fair deal from Ottawa in regard to help and we will continue to collaborate on that. We know all three territories are suffering from a lack of an economic development agreement that all other jurisdictions in Canada enjoy at this time. So we will focus on that. Tourism is another issue that I think we will be having some discussions on. So those are some of the areas which we've agreed to look at and start working at together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a very comprehensive list and I'm really pleased to see those are areas that we are going to be covering and can look forward to. In regard to the pipeline, Mr. Speaker, the Premier was quoted in recent media coverage as saying that every person in the Territories will benefit from this great project and be a partner in it. How can we anticipate that we will see the benefits of this project spreading to all residents of the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, it is our intent to keep working and to promote development but to also to promote the notion that every person in the Northwest Territories should benefit from development that occurs within the Northwest Territories. A list of ways in which we can benefit has been articulated in some point or another by this government, but we know that as development happens in the mining sector and also in oil and gas there is a need for many things. One is a health care system that is properly funded, a social safety network that is there for people that require it, that depend on it, that have full right to expect it to be there; to have money for the roads that bring the trucks to resupply the mines, that bring exploration companies to the areas that they want to study; to see that environmental cleanup is done so that the past environmental messes that were left in this country are cleaned up, so that people are assured that it will never happen again; to see that there is economic development money available.

There is a considerable list of requirements that we need, and in particular we need to say to the federal government time and again, that we will continue to do that and take a positive attitude and believe that, as late as it is, there is still time for the federal government to partner with us as we are starting to partner with the Yukon, to work together so that we can truly maximize all the opportunities that will be coming as more development comes. By partnering with the federal government, with neighbouring governments, we can give the confidence to our people that we are doing and will continue to do everything that we can with all governments and all parties to develop the confidence that we are ready, we can be ready and we will be ready. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary question, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, those were quite far ranging visionary answers and it's actually the kind of answer I wanted to hear. I'm trying to look beyond where the office jobs are going to go for this project and see what will really make a difference, not just next year but 10 and 20 years from now and for the next generation, Mr. Speaker. The kind of things the Premier has been outlining and my questions and others this afternoon, involve really an enormous communication job. What kind of communication strategy is the government looking at to help communicate all of these things to all people of the NWT?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, probably the largest and most essential part of what is required before development can truly benefit everyone in the Northwest Territories, individuals as well as governments, is the confirmation by the federal government that revenue sharing and devolution will happen on a timely basis before pipeline construction starts and that revenue sharing will contain a net fiscal benefit that will make sure that we do get properly resourced as development happens but also to help us to get a net benefit so that we can prepare for development and handle development as it happens, as well as have sufficient dollars to benefit from it on an ongoing basis.

We need that. We know the communities need the capacity, as Members have indicated, to address the issues that they have to deal with, the developers and the exploration companies that will come to make demands, and the many issues communities need to deal with. So the capacity has to be there. Again, revenue sharing for this government, for aboriginal governments, is absolutely essential. This government itself will look to the transition document that we are preparing for the next government to make sure that the limited resources that it has are properly maximized, so that everyone is assured that all options are explored and that we are making the best use of our existing dollars. The corporate planning we are doing, the transition document that we are preparing, I hope, will help address that. So the way this government is now, the way departments are, the way we run programs and services, even the way the Premier's office is resourced will be looked at. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, I would have to take that question as notice. Thank you.

Thank you. Question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Justice and it's to follow up on the questions from the Member for Deh Cho regarding the lack of funding for legal aid. Mr. Speaker, we just recently went through the budget and the information that I know is that there has been no increase in funding for legal aid. There have been no new lawyer positions placed in there. We know the backlog of legal aid files has been increasing. So I was curious to hear what the Minister meant when he said he was doing what he can to solve this problem. What did he mean by that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are dependent upon federal funding to help deal with legal aid services issues. That funding is administered through the Department of Justice to the Legal Services Board of the NWT. That's the pretext to my answers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe those people who are on the waiting list... there are hundreds of files that are waiting to get a lawyer... I think they would expect a better answer from the Minister of Justice than to say he's just been talking to his federal counterparts. For example, we put in $10 million for student financial assistance, even though the Government of Canada only puts in $1 million. So why can't the Minister do his part and put some extra money in there? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been informed by the Legal Services Board that it's not only a matter of funding, it's also a matter of recruiting lawyers to work within the context of family law matters. There are some problems with trying to recruit, even though we have among the highest tariffs in Canada, second highest compared to Nunavut. So the effort of the Legal Services Board continues to recruit lawyers who deal with family law matters. That is what I am trying to convey to the Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't think it's right for the Minister to pass the buck on to the Legal Services Board either because we know the legal aid lawyers don't even get half of what other lawyers would get in town. It is still again about money. What has the Minister done to put extra money into the pot? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.