My apologies, Mr. Speaker, and, of course to the Prime Minister of Canada. I would not insinuate that in a very negative way, and my apologies and I will retract that.

Mr. Speaker, I see the North is hurting from the way Ottawa is taking our resources, and I think you can tell from the passion in my voice I think our people will be suffering from that. Would the Premier tell us today how much has been invested to date in preparing for this pipeline? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, that is a very complex question and I don't know, I don't have the information in front of me of how much we have spent as a government or how much has been spent by others preparing for the pipeline. I can tell you that it is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, particularly by industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my last question to the Premier would be can you say for certainty, for concrete proof, that our territorial membership is onside with this deal? Can you tell us that we are ready? Can you tell me that all regions are onside? Because if we do not have our house in order, we will never be able to deal on a collective front with Ottawa. Can the Premier say for certain that our investment to date will not be wasted, because we are not planning this with a planned approach together? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I have not heard any regions say with any unanimous voice that they are not ready for the pipeline or for the economic opportunities we have today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 7, oral questions. At this time the Chair is going to call a 15-minute break.

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I would like to call the House back to order. Orders of the day, item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have written questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Michael Miltenberger, regarding housing for health care professionals.

1. What is the number of health care professionals per community, currently in need of affordable accommodations?
2. What is the number of social workers and health care professionals per community, who have not accepted work in small communities because of the lack of affordable housing?
3. What is the number of health care professionals that currently rent government-owned units and what are the rates of the rent that they pay?
4. Please provide details about what other jurisdictions in Canada provide housing for nurses and other health care professionals in remote communities.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item, 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 13, tabling of documents. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Charles Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 13, tabling of documents. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following documents: NWT Youth Corps Program, 2003-2004 Report.

I would also like to table the document entitled Community Initiatives Program, 2003-2004 Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 13, tabling of documents. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled 2004 NWT Community Survey, Community Housing Needs, Detailed Results, Report No. 2, October 2004.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 13, tabling of documents. Item 14, notices of motion. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, October 25, 2004, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that this Legislative Assembly endorses the Mackenzie gas project and supports efforts to ensure that northerners realize demonstrable net benefits from such projects;

And further that the Legislative Assembly urges the federal government to negotiate a fair resource revenue sharing agreement that provides northern governments with an equitable share of royalties from our hydrocarbons and minerals as essential to ensuring the people of the Northwest Territories are the primary beneficiaries of the development of our resources.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will seek unanimous consent to deal with this motion today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 14, notices of motion. Item 15, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 16, motions. The honourable for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion that I gave notice of earlier today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to deal with the motion she gave notice of earlier today. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Mrs. Groenewegen, you can proceed with your motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the 15th Legislative Assembly vision and goals document states that the people of the Northwest Territories should be the primary beneficiaries of the development of our resources;

AND WHEREAS there is no agreement at this time providing for Northwest Territories governments to benefit from a share of resource royalties;

AND WHEREAS it has been estimated, based on a natural gas price of $4 U.S. per thousand cubic feet, the return over the next 30 years on a Mackenzie gas project, in the absence of a resource revenue sharing agreement, would be $900 million for the GNWT compared with $21.7 billion for the federal government;

AND WHEREAS our governments are losing out daily on substantial royalties from minerals and hydrocarbons which are continually leaving the territory to the benefit of the Government of Canada;

AND WHEREAS major resource development projects, while they create employment and business opportunities, also create substantial infrastructure and program demands on our governments, and hardships for residents in the form of higher costs for goods and services and social impacts;

AND WHEREAS the changes created by the proposed Mackenzie gas project and other developments will pose challenges for our residents and communities that our government does not have the means to address;

AND WHEREAS a network of protected areas has yet to be established to ensure the preservation of the land for future generations;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that this Legislative Assembly endorses the Mackenzie gas project and supports efforts to ensure that northerners realize demonstrable net benefits from such projects;

AND FURTHER that the Legislative Assembly urges the federal government to negotiate a fair resource revenue sharing agreement that provides northern governments with an equitable share of royalties from our hydrocarbons and minerals as essential to ensuring the people of the Northwest Territories are the primary beneficiaries of the development of our resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. A motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.