Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right in that we have agreements with Ekati and with Rio, although I guess I would probably add that they're more like understandings as opposed to specific contracts that we knew would be very difficult to enforce. In fact I think we realized early on we needed the companies to want to leave the diamonds here. We needed them to be willing participants in this venture. For the most part, I think they have been. I think it's been very

successful. Aber is complying with the spirit and the intent of the value-added industry here, as the Member knows, by supplying the Laurelton factory owned by Tiffany. We've just completed, some months ago, the socioeconomic agreement with De Beers that speaks to how they will comply with the spirit and intent of this industry. The specific details are yet to be worked out and are confidential, so I hesitate to get into that in the House. We do have an agreement with De Beers that they will be involved in this industry in some respect, but those details have yet to be worked out. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I take it from the Minister's answer that we still don't have an arrangement with De Beers that we have any confidence in. Respecting that some of these negotiations are in confidence, I'd like the Minister to see if he could give us some more sense of comfort and security that indeed De Beers does believe in helping to invest in the northern economy. Are they at least onside with that principle? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They are onside with that principle. As the Member knows, they made a number of commitments in this regard through the environmental process. I can assure the Member that those commitments are going to be lived up to and the CEAA will speak to that and does speak to that. The other point I would make is that I don't believe the De Beers board has made a final construction decision on the Snap Lake mine yet. We hope that's to come in the coming months and I think that will be a very significant event when and if we have that behind us. I assume that we will; I'm looking forward to that. De Beers is very interested in being involved in the Northwest Territories and in supporting this industry. I'm looking forward to their participation. I don't want to get into the details because they have been agreed upon in confidence and obviously there are issues that are very sensitive for De Beers in terms of the business being very competitive and I don't want to divulge any of that. I can assure the Member that they are very serious and very interested in being involved in this industry in the North and will be supporting the industry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Your final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to confirmation of De Beers' participation. This is something that, I think, through the messages we're sending here, that we must not entertain a significant development here that is not going to result in a net benefit for the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, on the broader scale of the National Diamond Strategy, could the Minister outline just what benefit is coming to the Northwest Territories from our involvement at the national level? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to keep the responses as short as I can and save going into the history of how this came about from the Council of the Federation and just indicate that we've agreed on a number of thrusts in the National Diamond Strategy. There are several priorities that I think will greatly benefit the North. We know that it isn't the intention of the NDS to speak to the creation or the development of a multi-stakeholder body that will assist in coordinating and implementing the strategy. The issues in the strategy that are of critical importance to us, I think, are the development of a national certification or authentication process; also, development of approaches with respect to tax and fiscal incentives. Lastly, and I think this is a very interesting one, the development of a network of centres of excellence. A number of issues that are obviously relevant to the Northwest Territories is we're the only diamond producing jurisdiction in the country currently. We think there will be others in future, but it's important for us to be involved not only to share our expertise, but to make sure that the North benefits from this industry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise with questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I'm going to bring to his attention the tabled document 2004 Report from the Auditor General that was tabled last week. Mr. Speaker, I read section three the other day and I was quite surprised -- which would be no surprise, I'm sure, to that Minister -- by the fact that the territorial government is bankrolling some of the responsibilities of the federal government to the tune of for the year 2003 almost $25.4 million for services that the federal government is responsible for. The territorial government is on limited funding, Mr. Speaker, so this shouldn't be happening. Could the Minister tell me and this House how much is outstanding to date under the responsibility of the federal government for financing their responsibilities? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Is your question to the honourable Premier? Oh, Mr. Miltenberger. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have an exact figure on hand, but I would like to note that the Member has raised a very important issue. It's one that I know the Premier has raised at his tables. I've raised it since my tenure as the Minister of Health and Social Services with the three federal Health Ministers that I've had the privilege of

working with over the last three years. It's also an issue for the other two territories. It's hopefully one of the issues that will be put on the table if we can get this working group together that there's funding been identified for out of the recent agreement with the First Ministers last September. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn't hear the actual number, so I suspect that will be a commitment to follow shortly, of course. Mr. Speaker, if I may entertain this a little further, noting section 3.4. This is an item noted many times by the Auditor General. We follow yearly agreements that have to get negotiated and when we finally get an agreement in place and money paid, they still hold back 10 percent. Mr. Speaker, is the Department of Health and Social Services working on an agreement so we get this done on a timely basis? Sometimes we have to wait over a year to start getting our money. Again, I reference that the territorial government is not in the position to bankroll the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that impacts two federal departments: Health Canada as well as Northern and Indian Affairs. Yes, we have staff working, sometimes it seems almost on a full-time basis negotiating with the federal government over the outstanding claims, what they're prepared to allow and what they're not prepared to allow. Problems with the criteria that they have, be it on the non-insured health benefits side or under the medical services for Indian and Inuit people. So, yes, we have people working on this. It's a political issue. It's a structural issue. It's one that I hope over the coming months we can show progress on now that the federal government has come to the table in a much more proactive way. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I may remind us all again, in 2002 we had almost $35 million outstanding. Of course, by the time that got paid out, we had to have a 10 percent holdback. As I've said earlier, in 2003 we had $25.4 million held back. Mr. Speaker, we've had the same Member of Parliament since 1988 with the Liberal Party. She's been in Parliament. She's been consistent. That would be the Honourable Member Ethel Blondin-Andrew. Since 1992, Mr. Speaker, it's been the same government in power. So that's a lot of years, Mr. Speaker. So my question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. When does the day come that the Northwest Territories is taken away from the kids' table to the adult table? When does the day come that we are stopped being treated like second-class citizens? Is it time that the Minister gets our MP to play a role in this progress so we stop funding the federal government's responsibilities -- because they clearly pay out -- so they know that they are responsible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a national issue that affects all the provinces and territories. Anybody that does business with the federal government and administers programs for aboriginal people has this problem. So, yes, it has been dragging out. It is protracted. The pace is glacial in getting it resolved, but we all have some new tables. The Prime Minister himself has set up a table to meet with the aboriginal leaders. There has been recognition, and there is going to be a table for the aboriginal leaders to look at the health agenda. There has been a blueprint for aboriginal health that is going to be developed. As I told the Minister of Health in Vancouver, these are not money issues, these are structural issues, they are process issues. I agree with the Member. There is more and more attention being paid to this because it affects so many jurisdictions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.