Minister of RWED, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We talk about the context or the frame in which negotiations were undertaken with DeBeers in this matter, in developing our socioeconomic agreement. I would say that we took our guidance from past SEA agreements with BHP and with Rio Tinto, and further to that, Mr. Speaker, followed the direction as laid out in the EA process by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. That EA process provided the frame of reference, and laid out a number of obligations that had to be met both by the company, by DeBeers, and by our government. So we've used that as our context or frame for developing the socioeconomic agreement. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Allen.

Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Bell.

I think philosophically we are talking about, Mr. Speaker, the same idea. We've been working to negotiate a protocol agreement with the producers group. That protocol agreement would be an umbrella agreement that would spell out the number of sub-agreements that come under it. I think there are -- I am going to guess between nine and 15 -- one of those agreements would be the socioeconomic agreement, and we've also had discussions about the length of time it has been taking to get the protocol agreement finalized. We are in discussions with the producers group and at the same time moving forward on the SEA process, starting to negotiate the socioeconomic process, because, of course, we are concerned about the time frame here, we want to move forward quickly. But, the ideas are similar. We are talking about business targets, we are talking about employment targets. Those kinds of things would be included in this agreement. In general, Mr. Speaker, we are talking about benefits that we think should accrue to residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Allen.

Minister of RWED, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. The Member is certainly right; we have monitoring obligations. We have obligations that are shared with BHP and with Diavik, and we will with DeBeers, as well. We are proposing to set up a joint monitoring board under the terms of the new agreement, and have done likewise in some of the past agreements. I think the Member is making the point that we need to be vigilant in monitoring. I agree with the Member. We have to ensure that the commitments being made, and that we spent so much time negotiating, are being lived up to. Obviously we have an obligation in that regard, and my department has an obligation, and I take the Member's point that we certainly need to be fulfilling that commitment. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Allen.

Minister of RWED, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. In terms of negative impacts on the people of the Northwest Territories, obviously we want to mitigate those wherever possible. I can assure the Member that I'm sitting down with my colleagues, the Minister responsible for the social envelope, to first identify what those potential impacts are, and we have some I would say track record now. We can take a look at our experience with the course of the last couple of mines. I think we need to learn from that. We need to understand where the challenges are, and where there are potential impacts seek to mitigate them. There certainly has to be structure and framework in place to do that. I give the Members my assurance that that's high on our radar as a government, and we are dedicating resources to making sure we collaborate interdepartmentally to meet that. Thank you.

Item 7, oral questions. The Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, no, this government has not had an opportunity yet to review the affirmative action policy. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, specific to the residency criteria, could the Premier advise whether he is in any position to consider whether this half lifetime requirement for eligibility for hiring in our government is still acceptable in today's human rights standards? Thank you.

Mr. Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I've asked the same question. First of all, what is the rationale for half of one's lifetime in order to qualify under the affirmative action policy, and I am also asking whether this is any inconsistency or possible violation of our other legislation. But, Mr. Speaker, at this time I don't know the rationale that was used at the time this was established. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, as the 15th Assembly has been preparing its work plans and its priorities in committee, and in consultation with other leaders in the NWT, a fair amount of attention has been paid to growing and sustaining a workforce with the government that is capable and willing to perform the tasks that we require as a new government. A number of areas of how do we do this, how do we enable our civil service to be the best it can be have been addressed? Is a review of the affirmative action policy one of the priorities that this government will undertake during the life of this assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.