Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to express my personal condolences to the Lyall family and the Pokiak family for the loss of two great northerners, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to express some of my concerns about the Beverage Container Program in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that will be put into effect November 1, 2005. Mr. Speaker, currently there are eight community depots approved for licensing, which represents 76 percent of the Northwest Territories population. This is a good indication that northerners are supportive of everyone's environmental responsibilities and recognize the important role that recycling will have toward retaining a pristine northern environment for future generations to enjoy. This type of positive response, Mr. Speaker, is something that makes me proud to be a northerner.

But, Mr. Speaker, we cannot dismiss the legitimate concerns the other 24 percent of our population, who are approximately 11,000 people spread across 14 remote communities, have expressed. Although six of these remote communities have expressed interest in operating a depot, none has been approved to date. We are still left with many people who will experience more increases in beverage costs at their local stores, and who will be very limited in their ability to return their containers to receive a refund, simply due to the facts that:, one, the costs to store and ship their beverage containers will be above the amount of their refund, making it uneconomical for households to participate; and two, the sheer remoteness of some northern communities does not allow this type of program to be economically feasible for anyone interested in operating a depot, not when they have to sort, store and ship the empty containers to a processing facility which could be very expensive not only because of the high cost of fuel, but also because of the long distances between these remote communities and the three communities with processing facilities and operation.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that this program has to be considerate of the fact that the 24 percent of the population who are restricted in the number of options to receive refunds, and who have the highest cost of living in the Northwest Territories, will be contributing not by choice to an environmental fund from which they will not receive any benefits. This issue, Mr. Speaker, is very important and should be addressed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources prior to the implementation of the beverage container fees in these remote communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause