Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to say first that Cabinet will be voting in support of this motion.

---Applause

We do appreciate very much the strong support that the Members have taken for the position that has been put forward in this motion.

Mr. Speaker, this pipeline project is the biggest project in recent Canadian history and its happening in our territory. We can't sit back and just be happy that we've got the biggest project and be satisfied with that. I agree with the Members and with northerners, if not all northerners, that we also have to have a fair resource revenue sharing arrangement. We have to have a fair amount of that money stay in the North.

Mr. Speaker, that is important to us. We've heard numbers already about how much money is being made

in oil and gas and diamonds and how little of it stays in the North compared to what goes to the federal government.

Mr. Speaker, this project is huge. It's so big that the oil and gas companies...Imperial has told they have to start booking space in the steel mills this coming January in order to have the steel pipes that they need when construction happens in 2007 or whatever their schedule is. They need to start booking it now. This is huge.

Mr. Speaker, I also believe and maybe every government believes it's at a critical point, but I believe we are. We have a lot of the aboriginal claims settled. We have a number that are underway. We have a mood out there that says we want to get on with this and we want to work positively towards settling the processes, settling self-government, setting devolution, getting a good resource revenue sharing. People want to get things done. We have the right mood, economic activities and the right political agenda moving along.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that this next three or four years, and hopefully within the three years left in the life of this government, we are going to be able to set a course for our government and for the North that is going to result in long-term, sustainable benefits and a strong economy. We probably have 20 to 40 years of good oil and gas and mining activity that we know about, but we have to think longer term than that and set the stage now to have things done right.

Mr. Speaker, I like the idea, as being raised by some Members, about a heritage fund or a trust fund. I think it's time for us to begin to talk about putting some money aside for the future. That will certainly be one of the messages that we will take to Ottawa this trip and on future trips. It is something we will talk further with the aboriginal leaders about.

Mr. Speaker, as we move ahead on this we want to work together with all northerners and we also want to work with the federal government and all Canadians. We want to work with the aboriginal leaders, with the municipal leaders, with business leaders, and with the people generally in the North. We know there are going to be differences and we're going to have arguments and it's going to take some compromise on all our parts. But we also know that there's an attitude out there that we want to move ahead with this and we want to find ways of making it work. We're not going to stop or walk away from the table every time there is a disagreement about a particular point. We'll find a way of working together. I think we have made a lot of good headway on that, starting with the meeting of the Circle of Northern Leaders last year and subsequent meetings that have been followed up.

I like the attitude we have in this House, Mr. Speaker. I think it's a very positive one that sends the right message to Ottawa and to the people in the North that we are working hard on their behalf, because it's on behalf of the people that we're here. I've heard a number of Members make reference to that, that what really counts here is the extent to which we make a difference in people's lives.

Mr. Speaker, even before the pipeline is moving ahead we have begun, as a government, to take steps not only in negotiating resource revenues, but also preparing people. There are a lot of training initiatives that are going on right now and a good example of working together is the ASEP money that was announced, the Aboriginal Skills Employment Partnership. There's training happening today as we speak. There's a Pipeline Operation Training Committee that is in place. There's apprenticeship training going on. We're getting ready.

Mr. Speaker, to be clear, it isn't just about the pipeline. The pipeline is really just the beginning because, yes, there's only going to be a few jobs on the pipeline, but the pipeline is going to enable and encourage a lot of other development to take place. It's that other development, the exploration, the development, all of the systems that come together as we take advantage of this opportunity that are going to make a difference. I see the pipeline as being a way of getting benefits for many, many years, but not forever because it's a non-renewable resource and we've got to, now in this Assembly, chart a course that's going to take us for a look at the next 40, 50, 100 years of what's our future. We are going to see a lot of change in the next little while.

Mr. Speaker, I feel strongly that we need to take advantage of this kind of economic opportunity. There has been mention of competing pipelines or other alternatives people can look at, but, I tell you, it is a lot better to deal with the social impacts that this pipeline may bring -- and no doubt it will bring some social problems, whether it's drugs or people spending money in ways that they shouldn't be -- there will be problems, but I tell you it is a lot better to have this kind of activity and employment, that positive feeling, than it is to have nothing and just have despair and suicide and just a lot of sadness and frustration in people's homes. We support this project. We feel strongly that we can, as 19 Members here, chart a course that is going to take advantage of this and use it in a way that it will benefit everyone.

Environmental concerns are certainly a big issue and again, as a government, we feel very strongly about it. We feel very strongly about the Protected Areas Strategy. We strongly encourage the federal government to find those few million dollars they need in order to move ahead with that Protected Areas Strategy and, also, to take on the other environmental challenges we face in the North. It isn't just protected areas, it is also the remnants of old development that we see all over the Northwest Territories, from Great Bear Lake to around this area to everywhere. That kind of stuff has to be cleaned up, and we'll continue to work with the federal government to make sure that is happening.

Mr. Speaker, I am maybe too optimistic in some people's eyes, but I am very encouraged by the Prime Minister's interest in the North. His first trip as the Prime Minister was to Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. He has also included in the Throne speech the commitment to work on a new vision for the North. This wouldn't be a federal initiative that the federal government would go and develop our vision for us, but one that would be worked out with us and with aboriginal leaders and with all Northerners, in fact.

So, Mr. Speaker, this is a project that we strongly support. I believe as part of the new vision, devolution has to be a key piece. I've heard some Members talk about devolution. We're not in this discussion today ignoring devolution or setting it on a back burner or anything like that. Devolution has to happen. We have to have control over our own resources and we will continue to work on that agenda. As I said earlier, there are meetings going on next week at negotiations. We will continue it. I'm told that

we could have an agreement-in-principle as early as the end of the year. We're going to continue to move that agenda along as well, and certainly not take our eye off it.

In the immediate term, Mr. Speaker, we need to stop the bleeding of those resource revenues from the Territories to the South, and take some action that is going to result in a quick agreement that will keep some of those resources here to be spent today on some of the social needs in particular, some of the infrastructure needs, but also for some I hope to be set aside as a heritage or a trust fund for future.

There are a lot of areas we need to do more in. I mentioned training; we're doing a lot and that's happening and we're proud of what we're doing in training. We are beginning to prepare communities for the impacts of the pipeline. We are, as I mentioned, taking steps on the environmental side and making our views known and ready to put our money on the table to ensure the Protected Areas Strategy moves ahead. We're doing a lot on mitigating a lot of the social impacts that we know are going to come along with this.

But, Mr. Speaker, in spite of the social impacts, let me just say anybody who has doubts about the value of some of these big projects, take a drive down in Detah and Ndilo, two communities in my constituency. I tell you, there are a lot of people who have a very positive improvement in their lifestyle as a result of good jobs in the mining industry. I see people living in big houses, I see people taking their kids to hockey, I see people with boats, with ski-doos. They have not lost their contact with the land, but it has made a big difference. Yes, there are problems, but we're working as a government with all people to be able to overcome some of those.

Mr. Speaker, I want to close by saying that we're very appreciative of the debate and the statements that have been made today. These are strong statements and they certainly will help us, the Minister of Finance and I, as we go to Ottawa. The meetings in Ottawa are going to focus largely on our territorial financing formula and on equalization with the provinces. But we also have an opportunity while we're there to meet with Ministers on this issue, on resource revenues. We also have an opportunity to talk with the Prime Minister about the vision for the North. Mr. Speaker, let me close with that and say I do really appreciate the statements that are being said today and I can tell you that these are being listened to in Ottawa. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause