Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government has completed quite a bit of work on this and has some ideas for how to move forward with employment equity. We are at the point now where we are ready to discuss it with Members of the Legislative Assembly and the standing committees and then see if there is a willingness to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, has the document been circulated outside of this Assembly so that the other stakeholders as well could get a sense of what is to transpire, what is being proposed, or is everything dependent on feedback from AOC? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As is the tradition with how we do business in this House, we have offered to brief the committee. We have shared the information with the committee. We are prepared to have a discussion with members of the standing committee. That would be the first step before any document would be shared outside. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the time left in the life of this Assembly, is the government of the opinion that they would be able to roll it out, or are we looking at a policy decision that is now going to be made by the next Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government believes that this policy could be brought into place. So the affirmative action policy fairly quickly and it could happen during the life of this Assembly, depending on how our discussions go with Members and other stakeholders. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister indicate to this House and to the people listening, whether the current classification of P1, P2, and P3 would be retained, or in light of the human rights legislation and other legislation that has been enacted over the years since this policy was developed whether there would be a change that would be reflected in the new policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, the definitions now, the P1, P2, and P3 would disappear, but the employment equity program would involve the identification and removal of systemic barriers as well as the identification of groups that might be underrepresented and then specific targeted actions to work to bring the representation in various parts of government up to the standards that it should be. So it is in many ways similar. Employment equity is similar to affirmative action, but it is a more active process of identifying where the problems lie and then trying to find ways, whether it is through bursaries, training or other targeted employment measures, to rectify the situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for Mr. McLeod, the Minister of the Environment, related to our regulatory regime for

environmental management, Mr. Speaker. As we well know, mega development means mega consequences. Just look at Alberta and its tar sands. I believe they are the single largest contributor to greenhouse gasses in the country. Here in the NWT, we are on the cusp of something of a similar size. The government can do many things when it comes to environmental management. One of them is having a sound process to make sure that everybody plays by the rules, and that is the regulatory regime.

Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada and the National Energy Board have jurisdiction in this area over federal lands but we have a number of other kinds of lands and jurisdictions here in the NWT. When it comes to managing the impacts of a pipeline on these lands, Mr. Speaker, what is the GNWT's plan for ensuring a comprehensive regulatory framework for the Mackenzie gas pipeline?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of work that has been done in the area of greenhouse gasses. We have looked at a number of the other issues that are facing us in terms of air quality standards and resource development, pollution and climate change, and looked at some of the documents that have been used as our guide. We have our Greenhouse Gas Strategy that was developed some time ago and recognize that we need to have some update. That is in the works right now. We expect to have that document as part of the Energy Strategy. The greenhouse gasses will be addressed. As to some of the points that the Member has made in terms of the pipeline project, air quality standards is addressed through the JRP and that is the process that is being utilized to do that. In some cases, when industry moves into an area, there is some requirement for baseline assessments to be produced by the proponent. That is handled and done through that process also. So there are a number of different things that are out there. Whether or not we are going to be doing a comprehensive environmental assessment or review, as the Member has indicated in his statement, is something that we haven't determined yet. We are, however, participating in a summit that will be held in January. It is being hosted by Ecology North and the Dene Nation. We expect that will bring a number of issues to the forefront. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you for the answer, Mr. Speaker. Where I would like to go with this is in getting some assurance that there is adequate jurisdiction on the various kinds of lands in the Northwest Territories -- federal, municipal, Commissioner's lands, aboriginal lands -- and the regulatory framework that is assigned to each of them. Is there a comprehensive and a cohesive regulatory framework that will enable this project to be properly regulated as it goes through these various types of lands and has various types of impacts, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly all have to take responsibility when it comes to air quality and environmental issues across the board. At this point, we have shared responsibility with the federal government. We are looking at more than just our lands. We want to ensure that all lands in the NWT are covered. That is my position on where we are going with this. I will continue to monitor the situation. We have regulatory bodies out there that are in charge of ensuring that this happens. We will look to see if there are any areas that are not covered and certainly ensure that we have something in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada recently pointed out to the Joint Review Panel that there is indeed a regulatory gap for the jurisdiction and the management of the project on these lands. Is the Minister's department or some agency of the GNWT actively working this file with municipal, aboriginal and federal agencies to close this regulatory gap, Mr. Speaker?