Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Achieving devolution and a fair share of resources revenue sharing must continue to be the top priorities of this government, but in last November, Mr. Speaker, that priority, in my opinion, took a major setback when Premier Handley and Finance Minister Roland delivered a letter -- no ordinary letter, Mr. Speaker -- to the four major producer groups in the Mackenzie Valley pipeline and TransCanada Pipelines. It was a so-called letter of comfort demanded by these stakeholders before they would proceed with the regulatory hearings now underway. The letter offered strong encouragement to proceed to the next phase of the regulatory process.

Mr. Speaker, while this is a letter of comfort to the multi-billion dollar producer groups, it is a letter of extreme disappointment and dismay to many MLAs, communities, and northerners. The reason for the disappointment in our Premier and Finance Minister is that I thought their job was to protect, first and foremost, the interests of northerners. The letter went on, Mr. Speaker, "...we can provide you" -- the producer groups -- "with assurances that the GNWT is committed to promoting a stable and predictable fiscal and royalty regime..." What about promoting a stable and predictable fiscal and royalty regime for our own people, Mr. Speaker?

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The Premier and the Finance Minister did not. When we have fought so long and so hard to get a share of our own resources, they gave away a major bargaining position. Mr. Speaker, this was after the gas producers themselves got some $2 billion in fiscal concessions from Ottawa. Even after the Deh Cho region, which did hold out for something, got $31 million from Ottawa; even after the APG, the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, got a greater assurance of its share of the investment will get a backup loan from Ottawa; even after the communities along the pipeline route got $500 million, a $500 million commitment for social and economic impact, the Premier and the Finance Minister gave away our bargaining chip, which was to force Ottawa to do the right thing for us. Even now, Mr. Speaker, after 30 years of this ongoing project, the public Government of the Northwest Territories is no better off today than we were three decades ago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Braden. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a privilege to be back into the House. I just want to emphasize that. It's wonderful to be back after our long break. Mr. Speaker, today I'm very concerned about the fact that we don't have citizen judges here in the Northwest Territories. There's always a lot of news out there about the apathy of the Canadian public when it comes to elections and definitely their participation. However, in recent news, a Yellowknife resident and their family travelled all the way to Edmonton to become Canadian citizens just so they could vote in this past election. I personally applaud their dedication; however, their circumstances cause me to wonder why such heroic measures were required in the first place to obtain citizenship. Why couldn't they get their citizenship here in their new home of Yellowknife?

I contacted the MP's office, and with their assistance they said citizenship can only be obtained once a year, on July 1st, here in Yellowknife. They also mentioned the difficulty of finding judges to come up to Yellowknife to perform this ceremony. We know citizen judges are responsible for making the decision on citizen applications, presiding over ceremonies and administering the citizen oath, but apparently it's so simple; it's not difficult or complex. All it requires is simple accreditation by judges. That's it.

Mr. Speaker, I have to underscore my concern that the citizen ceremony is only held here once a year. That does not seem fair for one of the territories and the Canadian cities here. We should have more respect from the federal government. If you miss the deadline, Mr. Speaker -- that is the July 1st deadline -- you have to wait a whole year to get your citizenship card. That is a lot of hardship on a particular individual; for instance, if you want to travel or if you have to leave the country on holidays or special emergencies. Even worse, Mr. Speaker, you could be deprived of rights and privileges that Canadians enjoy or have as a safety net outside of Canada. Why are we treating these new Canadians terribly? I don't think it is fair. I can appreciate and acknowledge that citizenship is a federal issue, but I think this territorial government, in conjunction with the pan-territorial government such as the Yukon and Nunavut, could do something.

Respect is a Canadian value. It is what draws some of these people here. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Justice Minister later today. I will be encouraging him to find less bureaucratic ways of welcoming new Canadians to our country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Yakeleya on October 20, 2005, regarding the Food Mail Program pilot project.

In order to reduce the cost of nutritious food and promote healthy eating, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, INAC, with funding from Health Canada carried out a series of Food Mail Program pilot projects in three isolated northern communities: Fort Severn, Ontario; Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik; and Kugaaruk, Nunavut. The GNWT did not participate.

The pilot projects will be reviewed in the near future to evaluate the impact of reducing the cost of priority perishable foods and introducing measures to improve their recognition, quality and variety. Any decision to participate in a future program of pilot projects will be up to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Returns to oral questions. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Lafferty on October 25, 2005, regarding the rent scale used by the NWT Housing Corporation for public housing.

Specifically, Mr. Lafferty asked how the rent scale is determined.

The rental amount is derived from a household's monthly income. This is the same in all communities. The cost of living and unit condition reductions are then subtracted from this. The cost of living reduction is a variable number and is dependent on the community and the number of people in the household.

The rent scale embodies the principle that residents of the Northwest Territories with the greatest need should receive the most help. Thus, the public housing rent scale ensures that all social housing tenants are treated fairly and equally across the NWT with regards to access and costs of shelter.

The rent scale also reinforces the principle of affordability as no tenants pay more than 30 percent of gross household income towards shelter costs. On average, public housing tenants currently pay 13 percent of gross household income for rent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize an important resident in the Sahtu now living in Yellowknife, an artist, Antoine Mountain; and also, I am not too sure if she is behind me, Ms. Cindy Gill, also from Deline who is importing to Yellowknife now. Two treasures we lost to Yellowknife. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to recognize the Tlicho Government in the building, Grand Chief Mr. Mackenzie.

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Former MLA for North Slave and now currently chief of Behchoko, Chief Lafferty.

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I can't see from here, but other Tlicho community government leaders are here, as well. I would like to recognize them. I would like to recognize my constituent assistant, Pamela Richardson, as well. Mahsi.

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Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the president of the Native Women's Association of the NWT, senior president in Fort Resolution and an organizer of many events, organizations and committees in Fort Resolution and in Tu Nedhe, my mom, Terry Villeneuve.

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Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps today is Mother's Day here because I am so proud to recognize my mother, Esther Braden, and to tell her I love her very much. With her, Mr. Ed Jeske, a regular attendee of at least our opening days every session here in the Legislature. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Braden. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to welcome everybody, the leaders, artists, interested public, and the parents. I would like to recognize Mrs. Esther Braden and Mr. Ed Jeske who often chauffeur lots of seniors from Avens Court. I would like to thank Mrs. Braden for convincing my mother to come and see the first day because she usually likes to watch us on TV, so my mother, Taejeong Lee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Ms. Lee. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize everybody that is here today with us, but specifically I have a constituent, Miss Tawna Brown, who is a graduate student at Carleton University, a long-time Yellowknifer, and I would like to welcome her here today. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. I would like to recognize some people in the gallery today, too. David Clark, the president of the WCB is here; constituent Barb Wyness who is often with us during our sessions; and a former constituent and friend, Jennifer Babiuk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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