Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in Hay River transient assistance is available for three nights' accommodation and $25 a day for those three days when it is needed by somebody who is a transient. That's provided through the Income Support office and program. For homelessness, that would be Mr. Miltenberger that would be involved; but when it comes to dealing with transients, it is an issue that is dealt with through income support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To be clear, I am talking about transients, not homelessness. Mr. Speaker, my question then is, since this program is available for three nights' accommodation plus $25 a day for food, where is the point of contact within the community for transients when they arrive in Hay River? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current point of contact would be with an income support worker. They would be able to help an individual. We used to have a local agency that was delivering the program but, unfortunately they are no longer able to deliver it. We would be interested in finding another agency in the community that was interested.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister then how a transient would be aware of who to contact, or even how another agency within the community would have knowledge of this information? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past, the program has been delivered by the Ministerial Association. I would hope that members of that association would know that they should refer someone who they might know needs assistance to the income support worker. If there's an issue with people not knowing who to contact, I'd be happy to have our department look into how we can better make that known.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Your final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I think that awareness would be very good. My final question then, Mr. Speaker, would be is the income support worker on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week? Because obviously there's no predictability or set time at which a transient arrives in Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, the income support workers in Hay River are not available 24 hours a day. However, the program could be made available through the regional supervisor in Fort Smith. So I guess we need to make sure that people need to know how to contact that person evenings and weekends. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent and Mrs. Groenewegen. A very good example of how question period should go.

---Interjection

Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first of all I should clarify that there has been no permission to occupy this land. The permission was solely to do some geotechnical work, some early soil sampling. In the meeting with the Yellowknives Dene First Nations that was held along with Aboriginal Affairs, we had a discussion about their intentions. It should be noted that the application has not come to us for lease of this property or for purchase of this property. That has gone to the City of Yellowknife. The request was made to us for an opportunity to get in early to see what the land was like, to see if the soil was suitable, and we agreed to do that. We insisted and we had a thorough discussion about the process that has to be followed and that has to go to the City of Yellowknife. That's where we left off. It was an open discussion. We had Aboriginal Affairs there and the Yellowknives Dene and ourselves. The notification went to the City of Yellowknife, as well as all correspondence was cc'd to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister who from Aboriginal Affairs was present at this meeting with the Yellowknives Dene. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I don't remember all the staff that were there. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs was there, along with myself and some staff. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Considering the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, who is also the Premier, was there -- whose constituents happen to be the Deton'Cho Corporation and the Yellowknives Dene -- can the Minister answer this question? Would he find the Premier in a compromising position having to be the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and also deal with you on this land acquisition issue? Thank you.