Thank you, Mr. Speaker. By my best estimate, I think that construction of the pipeline will probably take place in 2009, around that area. That is still a little ways down the road. Is the corporation looking at any pilot programs for this type of program? I know that each and every one of the communities in my riding could use a pilot project.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we were looking at a pilot project by way of the Deh Cho Bridge, looking at these as workforce camps and then converting them into Fort Providence. That proposal is out there, but we are open to other potential opportunities that may come our way. We are talking about the expansion on the Taltson hydro system. Maybe we could use this sort of concept there in that context. Again, if there are any other opportunities out there, we should seriously consider them and work with communities, especially if these opportunities come away. We are open to other potential opportunities that are out there.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

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

Mr. Speaker, there were several parties to the discussion. Of course, the major partner in this negotiation was the federal government. The federal government indicated that they would only speak with those groups who either had a settled claim or a right to a claim along the pipeline route. They determined that that is the group that would be directly impacted and that is who the $500 million negotiations were to be directed toward and resulted in an agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Premier for that. If the Government of the Northwest Territories isn't going to stand up and defend municipalities that, by all assumptions, you don't have to look too far...I know the Premier is from Yellowknife and he's lived here for a number of years. There has been an impact here because of resource development. You can't say there isn't going to be. I would like to ask the Premier if the Government of the Northwest Territories isn't going to stand up for municipalities and demand socio-economic impact funding for them, who will?

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we are the public government in the Northwest Territories. We have a responsibility to all citizens in this territory. Mr. Speaker, we have worked with the Mackenzie Valley claimant organizations and communities along the valley to ensure that there was a process in place to make sure their socio-economic impact was dealt with. We also worked with the regions and the communities that were impacted by the mines and supported them in their right to have a benefit agreement. We were not party to those agreements, but we did make sure we did have that.

Mr. Speaker, the main way that we are going to be able to deal with the impact of development in the Northwest Territories for all people regardless of which community they live in is going to be through resource revenue sharing. We have to have the federal government agree with us that a fair share of those resources come here, and our position is that we have to be the primary beneficiaries. That's the money we are going to use to deal with socio-economic impacts and to deal with future economic opportunities and so on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker I do agree with the Premier. I think resource revenue sharing and having our own say in how we develop sources in the Northwest Territories will get us to where we need to go. In the meantime, until such an agreement is in place, I wonder if the Premier and his government can go back to Ottawa on behalf of communities like Yellowknife, like Hay River, like Fort Smith, and get some socio-economic funding for them. I am not talking about the $500 million. I have said it before and I will say it again, that money should go to the communities. I agree with that. What we need is a different pot of money, Mr. Speaker, that is going to give communities, like Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith, an opportunity to have some assurance the impacts they are going to face are going to be dealt with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We certainly will, when we talk with the Prime Minister and Ministers in Ottawa, make the case that all of the North is feeling the impact of our very strong, vibrant economy. We are all feeling it, whether it's Yellowknife or Behchoko, Colville Lake or wherever. We are all feeling that. Mr. Speaker, my preference is not so much to go to Ottawa to ask for some money for socio-economic needs and a little bit of money for transportation and a little bit for the water system. Rather, I would say to the federal government those are all good reasons why we need a share of the resource revenues to stay right here and then we will make or own choices. I think that's a better approach. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess, Mr. Speaker, what we can agree on is we do need some say in our own affairs and we need to get these agreements signed with Ottawa, and the sooner, the better. The one thing I wanted to ask the Premier, the last supplementary is, it seems to me that we settled on something. We settled on $500 million and I just get the feeling that that was the number that was presented to us. We took it. It didn't help everybody, but I just wonder why did we settle on $500 million?

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The first number that was offered to us as a serious offer that the federal government thought we would jump at was $60 million total. Mr. Speaker, that was absolutely inadequate. That made no sense from our view or from the aboriginal leaders' view. So we rejected that $60 million. It went up to $90 million and then it continued up. Eventually, Mr. Speaker, as with all things, you have to make a deal at some point. Rather than have everybody walk away, there was a feeling, a consensus among the aboriginal leaders and ourselves, after a lot of discussions back and forth, that the $500 million was adequate. That $500 million, Mr. Speaker, as I recall correctly, was a number that we put on the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) I want to talk about the ice roads. (Translation ends)

...high fuel costs and concerns about global warming, which has a significant impact in isolated communities. Last week, Mr. Speaker, during my visit to the Tlicho riding, the key concern was raised on the winter road to the communities. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to ask the Minister, in the Corridors for Canada II proposal, there is $12.2 million identified to align the Tlicho winter road. Where is the winter road being aligned and will this help extend the life of the winter road? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the number in the Corridors for Canada II is an estimate on some of the technical information that we have gathered over the last while. We have, over the last couple of years, met on a number of occasions with the leadership of the people of Whati and Wekweeti and talked about various issues around transportation, including the realignment of the winter road to take advantage of the road being on land versus being on the lakes. This has been a concern for some time. The

warmer weather has been causing problems and it's causing significant problems this year, as most people know.

We've taken a snapshot of where the road was going to go -- and a lot of the maps that we've been using are maps that were supplied by the Tlicho leadership -- and we had to come up with an estimate and these are the calculations that we've come forward with based on some of the information that was provided to us. We did want to have further discussions with the Tlicho leadership over the next while and we have done significant research that we'd like to share, and they've also committed to providing more information in terms of other areas that we should look at realigning. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.