Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Getting back to potential side deals, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to again ask the Premier if, indeed, he is aware of the private Member's bill in the Yukon, which is going to ask the federal government to exempt the GST being paid on energy costs and fuel bills, Mr. Speaker. It looks good on the Yukon, and I would like to see our Premier follow up with that private Member's bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I am only very generally aware of it. I don't believe it is a private Member's bill. It is a private Member's motion, at this point. But, Mr. Speaker, yes, I am generally aware of it.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier; what faith can the communities that are not part of this $500 million socioeconomic money, what have they got to look forward to? I have been here for two years and we haven't seen any movement on the resource revenue front, we haven't seen any movement on devolution, and, in my mind, we are going backwards. This $500 million, Mr. Speaker, in my mind, is an absolute smokescreen from Ottawa to take the light off of the real issue. The real issue is getting us resource revenue sharing, Mr. Speaker. I would like to know, and to ask the Premier when that will happen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we are making progress on devolution and resource revenue sharing. I just gave Members an update in my Minister's statement today, outlining that there are only six outstanding issues, and that I have given a proposal to the federal government on how we can resolve these to get onto an

AIP. We have our eyes on the resource revenue sharing; we are not going to allow a lot of resource revenues slip out of this territory, if we can help it. We are bargaining hard on it, and will continue to bargain hard. But there is progress being made. We are moving along, but it is a major initiative that is one that we entered into without expecting that the federal government was just going to roll over and give us something that we were asking for right away.

Mr. Speaker, we have that kind of progress that is being made. At the same time, we have made good progress on the Northern Strategy. We have got the $35 million that has gone out to the communities, plus another $4 million going into housing, and another $1 million going to youth and recreational programs. There is money going out there.

In addition, we have, through the Minister of Finance's efforts, also managed to improve our fiscal situation considerably, and are able to deliver a higher level of programs than has ever been achieved in the past. There is a lot going on. I could go on with the arrangements that we have with the mining communities as well, but we will do that another time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee. Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have made no secret that I grew up in Fort Simpson, and what a pleasure it was having that experience, and I wish more Members could have experienced what it was like to grow up in that community. I can tell you, from my personal experience, how important that ferry is to that community. We could speak at length, but we don't have the time today.

My question would be for the Premier, after I make this point. We don't have a technical reason to step in at this time, but, in my mind, we have a moral reason and moral obligation to ensure safety is upheld. If the ferry doesn't run as is prescribed in the contract, either tomorrow or in the days to come, what is this government going to do? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, that is related to the operation of the ferry itself, so I will refer it to the Minister of Transportation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we are reviewing our options. The contractor has given notice that they will be ceasing operations as of tonight, once they have dealt with the traffic volumes that are traveling that road system.

We are currently reviewing what we can do as a government. We have not decided, at this point, that we will be pulling the ferry or parking the boat for the winter. We are looking at a number of options. Of course, there are always the options of the government taking over with our own forces. There is the option of hiring another vessel to come into the area and provide that service. So there are a number of things that we can do.

We have our legal people that are reviewing the situation, and we will be deciding tonight what our next step will be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly hope that the Minister of Transportation isn't hoping for a quick freeze-up so we can solve this solution in the short term, because it is not going to come soon. This ferry is a needed asset in this community, so, again, on the moral obligation: The community of Fort Simpson is supposedly running out of propane; Wrigley's ferry, as I understand it, doesn't have diesel or it's running out of diesel, so we have a moral responsibility to make sure that our peoples' homes are warm and we have reasonable transportation. What are we going to do about food shortages that these companies didn't have notice of, to make sure that they could get food in?

Who is going to be responsible for those additional costs that will be incurred because of the situation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We indicated earlier on that we are doing an evaluation of what is required in the community. There are things that are critical in nature: fuel, food, or both in Fort Simpson and Wrigley, and we are doing an analysis of how serious things are. We are also looking at what our options are to provide transportation across the river. We are looking at the different options that I mentioned earlier.

Those things are all being done as we speak. We will be making that decision at the rise of this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answer from the good Transportation Minister. Mr. Speaker, all those answers are well and good, but I am still looking for clear-cut leadership on this situation. Has the Premier taken a moment to go to Fort Simpson to help calm and ease the nerves of those families that are put into this position? Does the Minister have an answer as to whether we have the right to seize the ferry tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. if it does not start up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.