Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again I rise to bring the House's attention to the City's difficulty in getting the land it needs for development.

Yellowknife is a growing city; it needs land for homes, businesses and green space. It shouldn't come as a surprise to the MACA Minister. Although the Premier indicated in June that the government had no requests for residential land from the city before it, I understand now that that was not the case and that there were several applications still outstanding at that time.

I was pleased to hear the MACA Minister has recently made a timely decision on some parcels for the City of Yellowknife, but I was surprised and very disappointed that the majority of the requests were still at bay waiting further negotiations and the land selection process.

Despite the Premier's assurance last June that MACA and the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs were working effectively and cooperatively with both the City of Yellowknife and the Yellowknives Dene, I don't know how other people define "effectively," but to me "effectively" means getting results in a timely way.

Mr. Speaker, people need houses and land to grow their businesses in our city. It is growing, and it needs help from this government. I know that we can come up with an arrangement respecting the rights and definitely the needs of the Yellowknives Dene that also recognizes the city's needs because it is growing.

I am here today to tell you that the City of Yellowknife wants to grow in a fair and reasonable way with clear, direct and fair consultation with the Yellowknives Dene. I don't believe that there will be a loser in any way. We can work so everyone can win together. At some point, consultation needs to end and decisions need to be made by this MACA Minister so the city of Yellowknife can grow in a fair and reasonable way.

Later today, Mr. Speaker, I will have thought-provoking questions for the Minister of MACA, and I look for defined leadership from that government over there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.