Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am quite happy that Mr. Braden has moved this motion. I plan on supporting it, but I will start my comments off on the fact that I do believe this is an important initiative by this government. However, seeing as we have a $1 billion budget that we just passed and by our estimates we are currently spending about $2.51 million on PYs and activities that are directly associated with the pipeline development through various departments of this government, I find it very hard to swallow that this government couldn't have gone out to the various departments, coordinated some positions and some activities into this new pipeline office and not had to come back to this assembly for $850,000. I have a great deal of difficulty with that. I know how important this initiative is for some of my colleagues and some of the ridings that they represent and I certainly wouldn't want to stand in the way of this happening, but Mr. Braden has some good points. I don't think the government has taken the full picture of this office and what it should be and what it was meant to be and try to coordinate some of the aspects of that and certainly the social side of things seems to be left out of the equation, left to maybe some other departments such as ECE or MACA, maybe even Health. Where is the coordination? I don't think the full government picture was looked at prior to developing this office.

As I mentioned, the Department of RWED has, I believe, close to 600 employees, maybe even more. I know some of them are tasked currently with pipeline. I know the Mackenzie Valley development section there has four PYs. What is going to happen to those PYs? Where are they going to go? This government currently spends over $2 million. I just don't see how you can, in good conscious, come back here looking for another $850,000 when I believe we have the expertise, we have the personnel in place through various government departments to effectively -- and I mean effectively -- carry out this initiative without having to come back here for $850,000. So I am going to support the motion and I would task the government with maybe doing some more homework on this and more coordination. Quite honestly, Mr. Chairman, I don't think that's all been done. Thank you.