Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and have Committee Report 2-15(3) moved into Committee of the Whole for today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You have unanimous consent. With that, Committee Report 2-15(3) is now moved into Committee of the Whole for today. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Menicoche on Tuesday, March 16, 2004, regarding the NWT housing needs survey.

Specifically, Mr. Menicoche inquired about the lack of allocations in Fort Liard and how the needs and allocations are determined.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation has allocated three units in Fort Liard this year and there are six new houses being completed this spring for clients partaking in the corporation's homeownership programs.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation bases allocations to communities on the results of the housing needs survey. The survey is used by the NWT Housing Corporation to monitor changes in housing conditions and needs. The survey findings provide the NWT Housing Corporation and communities with the information needed to make decisions on where funding should be directed to address the specific housing problems and needs identified.

Mr. Speaker, we hope to table the results of the 2004 NWT community survey later this session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Roland.

Welcome to the House. Item 7, oral questions. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. It has been 10 years since the Sahtu Dene/Metis land claim agreements were signed, and still the Government of the Northwest Territories has not yet lived up to its obligations, such as the amendment to the Wildlife Act and the Forest Management Act. I would like to ask the Minister how does he plan to ensure that the Sahtu beneficiaries receive these obligations? Thank you.

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's true that the Wildlife Act has been under review for a long time, and we're continuing to work on it. The Minister of RWED is the lead Minister on this and I know it's his intention to complete the draft of the act by the end of this year, as well as the Species at Risk Act. The latest delay has been because of requested consultation by some of the land claim beneficiaries in the various regions of the Territories. We expect to have that done this year.

On the forestry side, the same thing has happened there, Mr. Speaker. We're moving ahead with our obligations on that side, but I don't have specific information on that with me today. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A lot of my people in the riding of Sahtu are directly impacted by the Sahtu Dene/Metis land claim agreement. They had high hopes and they still have high hopes of some security in this agreement to fulfill our rightful place in the Sahtu region and in shaping this great territory of the Northwest Territories in Canada. I want to ask the Minister would he consider putting in place a review process with the land claim groups to address and to respond to outstanding implementation obligations of this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under section 12.1.4 there is a review process that is laid out, and one that I would expect we have been following. As agreed, Mr. Speaker, the government shall meet with the Sahtu Tribal Council not less than once every three years to review the effectiveness of programs relating to the objectives of the economic measures section in the land claim agreement. Those sections relate to both traditional economy as well as to broader economic self-sufficiency. We will continue to honour that obligation. If we don't, then certainly there is a dispute provision in the agreement, as well, but I hope we never go there. It is our intention to honour the spirit and the intent of all of the land claim agreements. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister commit to assist in the regional land claims, with both financial and logistical support, to develop action plans to prioritize the implementation of the chapters of the agreement that are urgently needed to ensure that we can manage and take care of our lands in the face of a major development such as the Mackenzie gas pipeline to be delivered to the federal government?

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Minister Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I would have to look at the implementation agreement with the land claim agreement to be specific in terms of our obligations on that side. But if those were built into the implementation plan, then we certainly want to honour that. In the meantime though, Mr. Speaker, we will work with people in all regions where there is economic activity to help them to be able to identify what the opportunities are, what the potential is, and we are doing that in some specific cases. For example, our government, through the Power Corporation, invested a fair bit of money helping on the hydro development, and we would be prepared to do that in other areas too if it seemed that there was good economic opportunity there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister. In light of the Sahtu Dene/Metis land claim agreement, we had a good meeting this morning with regard to the Aboriginal Summit and the Minister. I've been hearing that we need to work together in partnership, and I want to support the government in supporting our land claim groups; that we can jointly pursue the federal government in terms of its obligations. My question to the Minister is really that this government needs to make it a priority to fulfill its obligations under the land claim agreements and how do we demonstrate this together with land claim groups and with the federal government? Thank you.

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like the honourable Member, I was also very pleased with what moved, the attitude, the commitments that were made around the table this morning in the Intergovernmental Forum meeting. I think it was an excellent beginning. I am really pleased that the federal government has now signed on to the framework agreement. I think those are all good things that mean we are making significant progress here.

Mr. Speaker, I intend, as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, to ensure that we will always be proud to have the Auditor General or anybody else come and look at the steps we are taking in implementing the spirit and intent of all the land claim agreements, to make sure that we are doing what is right here. I think if we do that, and work in partnership with aboriginal leaders, that that bodes well for our government and our people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 7, oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. It is in regard to a proposal submitted last year in regard to flat rent scale rates for public housing tenants of the Northwest Territories. The intent of that proposal is to increase this from pro forma from $2.7 million rent recoveries to $5.4 million, which would be reinvested back into economic housing strategies. I will ask the Minister then, would he provide this housing update of that proposal? Thank you.