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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister what is the average number of remand inmates housed per day in the remand unit in SMCC, during the last calendar year? He made a reference to 1.5 earlier today and he mentioned 34 inmates in remand on an annual basis. I would like to know what is the average number of remand inmates per day who were in SMCC over the last year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Mr. Speaker, I don't have that information with me on a daily basis. I provided the Member with the number earlier, but when I talked about there being 1.5 people remanded over the past year, I was talking about 1.5 people per month, from the community of Hay River or Hay River Reserve. There were additional people in the remand facilities, that is correct, who came from other communities in the South Mackenzie, but from Hay River and Hay River Reserve over the past year, there have been, on average, 1.5 people per month housed at the unit. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker I would like to just make reference again, the Minister mentioned again the $18,000 that is going to cover the additional cost of travel and now it's only a cost for travel but it's going to cover bringing in extra people to work in that unit. This is an amazing $18,000. How far this is going to go. Does that $18,000, Mr. Speaker, include the cost of the RCMP for their travel, their time, their overtime, and their accommodations? Does it include the impact on the RCMP budget in Hay River? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our expectation is that there won't be any extra cost that would have to be borne by corrections. The costs for transportation, right now, are already worked into our contract with the RCMP and the expectation is that that will continue, whether it's from Hay River or Lutselk'e. There is still the cost for transportation. The RCMP tries to schedule their aircraft to move prisoners around in a method that makes economic sense and they are quite vigilant at working to be as economic as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

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

Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure of the context here the Member is referring to; some statement by the ambassador to the United States and I'm not sure exactly what is meant here.

Mr. Speaker, I take the Prime Minister's letter seriously. He has committed to consulting with us and I am expecting that he will do this as the Missile Defence Program moves ahead or doesn't move ahead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Time for oral questions has expired; however, I will allow Mr. Hawkins a short supplementary. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate my long-winded intro to that, but it was important to get that information out on the record for discussion here.

Mr. Speaker, would the Premier of our Northwest Territories be willing to engage into direct communications with the Prime Minister of Canada to reaffirm whether we are participating or not participating in the missile defence, as stated in the Prime Minister's letter to consult with the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, yes. The Prime Minister has confirmed that he will engage us in discussions on missile defence. As the Members know, Arctic sovereignty is one of the issues being considered as part of the Northern Strategy. I will make certain that in our negotiations with the federal government and other jurisdictions that we not only deal with sovereignty in the other respects, but also as part of its relationship to the Missile Defence Program, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again referring to the same letter I tabled before this House, there was interest from our Foreign Affairs department by the Government of Canada with regard to our future Territories position paper on missile defence. Is it any intention of this Premier to bring forward a position, a discussion in this House in regard to potential missile defence involvement and that position could, therefore, be articulated to the Government of Canada? Is there any intent by this Premier to bring forward that type of discussion in this House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, some notions have been thrown out there by the President of the United States, about the proposed Missile Defence Program. We don't have enough information of exactly what is being proposed and how it impacted our territory for us to be able to formulate a government position at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Premier. Mr. Speaker, would the Premier agree, as I had asked earlier, to engage directly, not wait for the Prime Minister to call us, but would the Premier of our

Northwest Territories agree to call the Prime Minister of Canada to ask him what do Mr. McKenna's statements mean by we are already involved? Would he agree to do that today and bring forward those remarks to the Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have enough information on what Ambassador McKenna may have said to be able to answer the question right now, Mr. Speaker. But certainly I will undertake to get briefed on it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.