Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that from the chronology of events commencing in 1997, there has been a consultation process carried through right up until now. Our responsibility as Ministers is to guide the procedural direction of trying to have the communities informed. We have done that and I have tabled the list of agencies and organizations we have consulted since 1997. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With all due respect, I understand, yes. Leadership does change quite constantly in the NWT. Those were the leaders of the day that were consulted on the harmonization policy. Mr. Speaker, that was a requirement of us through the questions. I believe we have manifested the method as to how we have communicated as per that requirement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

No, the modules have not changed since it was reintroduced in the 14th Assembly. What we were mandated to do was consult with the leaders of the day, take the information we had and ensure that those leaders were in support. Whether they were in support or not, the intention was to provide them with the information so they could make informed decisions as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Lafferty.

Excuse me. I have to warn you that harmonization is coming up on the agenda under motions and we are not going to allow questions on that issue because it is on the orders of the day, so I will have to rule you out of order. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Delorey.

---Ruled Out of Order

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't think it will come as any surprise in this House when I bring up the subject of emergency preparedness in the NWT and how we deal with emergencies. My questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, the Honourable Vince Steen. Mr. Speaker, in the past two years or so, I have been addressing with the Minister and the department the question of funding to prepare for emergencies in the Hay River area, through the Hay River Fire Department, and getting a response vehicle for them.

On March 4th, I just about fell off my chair when I heard about a press release with the heading "Preparing for Emergencies in the NWT Just Got a Whole Lot Easier." The federal government is contributing $130,000 to the region to enhance emergency preparedness. Ethel Blondin-Andrew, MP for the Western Arctic, made the announcement today. The money will go towards improving emergency communications in the community of Enterprise and assist in the creation of NWT emergency measures programs. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs how this $130,000 is helping prepare for emergencies in the community of Enterprise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in relation to the federal news release and the amount of funding they gave towards joint emergency preparedness program recently, Mr. Speaker, that funding is actually under an agreement we have with the federal government for funding emergency preparedness program activities. In this particular case, this contribution from the federal government was actually committed in 2000-2001, but the federal government takes credit for their contributions a number of times. When they announce a program, they take credit for it and then when they actually issue the cheque, they take more credit for it. This cheque that they are talking about is for activities that this government did on their behalf in 2000-2001, but we don't receive funding from them for this until they go through our audited books. Then they announce it. So this activity is two years old and it was for the purpose of an emergency preparedness office position and we didn't get the full funding for that because we didn't have the position forwarded that year, we just got a portion of it. A portion of that funding is for $7,200 for an emergency radio for Enterprise. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's great news. The money was spent two years ago and now our MP is making a grandiose announcement for the credit. The announcement went on to say that the territorial government has committed an equal share of funding towards these projects. How much money are we talking about? Are we talking about $130,000 or are we talking about $260,000? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The agreement requires us to 50/50, so it's $260,000.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If it's $260,000, I would like to get a breakdown of where this $260,000 went. From the most I can gather here, from the amounts that went to Enterprise and possibly funding a position, it adds up to roughly $130,000. But if we are talking about $260,000, where did the money go? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.