Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To the topic of the proposed new courthouse; this, too, has been something that has occupied a fair amount of the committee's time. The expenditure of this amount of money on one facility, no matter what it is for or where it is going, is a very big piece of change for us.

Through this discussion, I have been more and more convinced of the need for this and the program that the department has laid out for bringing this project through. I saw efforts that the department had tried to do something collaboratively with the City of Yellowknife on an available piece of ground; regrettably, that hasn't come forward. We do, though, have the option of the land that the Commissioner already has access to and that is very close to the site of the Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Chairman, we looked at the revised feasibility study that was done in 2003. It very much echoed the findings of a study that was done in 1999 or 1998, which said virtually the same thing; of course, with a few more million dollars added to it. The judiciary is the third foot of our governance system in any parliamentary democracy and I am quite convinced that the financing of the building is something that, in the long term, is the right way for us to go. The sensitivities that have been expressed; the debate about whether this kind of money would do us better out in the communities or in the streets is a very good one. You can never argue against investing more money on the frontline, but the reality is that we do need an efficient, modern courthouse.

It is not a matter of having $41 million to spare and can we put it out here. It is an expenditure that the government would be making regardless. The factor that is the most convincing one for me, Mr. Chairman, is when we put the element of time into this and not just over the next couple of years; this is a building which I envision would be of a calibre of this building here or of City Hall or the DND building. They are substantial public institutions, they are built to the best of technology and they are going to be with us for many, many decades.

This is the element that I believe really turns, for me, the argument in favour of investing in this new facility and doing it now. We are also in a lease situation with our existing territorial courthouse facility, Mr. Speaker, that compels us to make this decision now.

The expectation that our justice system has is that the facility is being built in Yellowknife for sure, but it is not a Yellowknife facility; it is a territorial facility. I would ask people to give it that consideration as well. As much as I want to see and will continue to press for programs at the community levels in all our towns and cities and villages, this is an expenditure that we really should continue to proceed with. We have managed to do with the existing courthouse for 20 to 25 years now; the Minister has indicated that we find ourselves more and more going off-site to rent facilities. Consolidating this into one building is indeed the way to go.

I think the department does have a responsibility here or an opportunity to do some communication on this; to show us Members of the Assembly...We have seen a fair amount of paper on this and I would like the opportunity at some time, hopefully in the near future, to perhaps have a walk-through of the existing courthouse for as many Members as possible, to really see what the situation is there and where some of the improvements are going to be needed.

I would like to see some explanation and a communication plan that MLAs could take to the communities and show them and at least help people be better informed of what the need is. As I say, this is a major expenditure. Let's be sure that we do understand and see the need for it, and make the effort to help people be better informed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.