...in my riding to hold this government to account and I'm going to continue to do that.

My colleagues from the smaller communities affected by housing crisis are absolutely right that these are desperately needed units, and I am going to do whatever I can to make sure that affordable, decent, sustainable housing is made available to everybody in the NWT.

---Applause

But I am not going to accept, Mr. Speaker, that the first deal that comes along is going to be the right one, and that is the accountability that I want to ask the Minister of Finance about this afternoon. Mr. Speaker, the document here, the government's response to the pre-budget consultations, has a considerable chapter in here on the Novel deal as we know it. It has talked about the memorandum of agreement that we have signed now with ATCO and the MGP on this. Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to find out, what does this agreement commit the Government of the Northwest Territories to? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the memorandum of understanding, let's be clear, and it's written down there, the memorandum of understanding is between ourselves and ATCO. Mackenzie gas project hasn't signed this agreement. We're in a situation where they've approached us, they have a patent pending on this and if we're going to take that and work with them through the Housing Corporation and say yes it sounds like a good idea, and then take that and shop it around to three other international companies, wouldn't it be their right to ask if we're going to share this information? We want to keep it confidential because we think we have a potential market. Doesn't that make sense? It's the thing to do, Mr. Speaker, to try and ensure that we meet what's expected of us: accountability and providing services to the people of the Northwest Territories. So, no, Mr. Speaker, there is no dollar attachment; there is no commitment to buy units. Our commitment through this agreement is to work on a concept that maybe can be put forward and if it's accepted by the Mackenzie gas project, we then can have a deal. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, the note in the information also suggests...it doesn't suggest, it states that there is urgency attached to this. You know, I'd rather put in front of me a plan that talks about sound business practice and good stewardship on behalf of this Assembly and the taxpayers' dollars that we're talking about putting into place here. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what is the urgency about, and what should we be anticipating with this memorandum of agreement, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the memorandum of understanding is one where we commit to work with ATCO Structures and the Housing Corporation in sharing ideas and information to see if this concept will work, and is workable, and meets the requirements for affordable, suitable, energy-efficient housing in the Northwest Territories. The urgency around this, Mr. Speaker, is when you look at the Mackenzie gas project, and they're going through the hearing stage, the urgency is the fact that as the Mackenzie gas project prepares to ramp up, or offering out contracts to prepare for this, they're starting to make some of their calls. They've got a window. When the decision is finally made, the window for actual bids and so on to be entered into is very short. We've got to work from that date backwards. The ability for a company to put this many units out to the satisfaction we would have, the work has to be done up front and that's why we've come to this House before any deal has been signed, besides that of basically a confidentiality agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Okay, we have a confidentiality agreement. Now we've really boxed ourselves in, Mr. Speaker. Can we not go out and seek other ideas and other options for the $220 million that's on the table here between this government and Canada, and the $70 million that we're speculating private homeowners are going to be putting out there? That's 300 million bucks. Are we not going to be able now to go out and explore other options? This is it? This is the only deal we have, Mr. Speaker, on $300 million?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member talked about accountability himself, being elected as a lobbyist for the people of the Northwest Territories. I, as well, was elected by my constituents and then elected by the Members of this House to lobby on their behalf, as well, and I see an opportunity, Mr. Speaker. I see an opportunity where we can take a product and make some changes and put homes in the hands of residents of the Northwest Territories for substantially cheaper than we can do it in our traditional manner. The timelines that we have to work with, the concept that we've worked with, along with ATCO Structures, is one that is visionary, let me put it that way. The opportunity is there to put homes in the Northwest Territories in the smaller communities at an affordable price. Mr. Speaker, not everybody in the Northwest Territories can afford $360,000 for a home that's been trucked up the highway and been put on stilts here in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister make public, will he table the memorandum of agreement that somebody signed with ATCO some time ago? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, seeing that this is a confidential agreement with ourselves and ATCO, we will have our discussions and look at if that is a possibility. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to continue where my Member's statement sort of left off with

some questions to the Premier of this House. Mr. Speaker, every time this letter of comfort is raised on this side of the House it seems that the response we receive back is like we've hit a nerve and this government can't wait to get back and to speak to us harshly and make fools of us as a response. So, Mr. Speaker, I can only imagine at why does it cause such a sensitive issue with this government that they have to strike back by saying that Members are too slow to keep up or whatnot. So my question to the Premier is, what did the citizens of the NWT get as a trade-off for directly signing this letter with Imperial Oil? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the answer is very simple: the more likelihood that the pipeline will be built. This letter was one last piece that was needed in order for the pipeline to move along to the next step in public hearings. Mr. Speaker, if that pipeline goes ahead, we get a lot; and I've mentioned before a list of things that we get, starting with the jobs, and the contracts, and the supply and material, the housing, the $500 million, which is, in some cases, bigger than what the land claim groups got. We get a lot from this project and I'm proud that we were able to provide a bit of certainty for those who want to invest over $7.5 billion in our territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that from the Premier, but there seems to be that there's serious defence of this letter. Last week the Premier had said it's unfair to take one little letter...Well, it's not a little letter, Mr. Speaker, it's a big letter; it's a big statement signed by our Premier. So will the Premier admit to me today, and to this House, that a letter written and signed by this Premier is something to be treated seriously as a bold policy statement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.