Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Health and Social Services, along with Municipal and Community Affairs, has been working on a document that's going to allow us to do some of the things the Member is suggesting in terms of rationalizing our approach to ambulance services in the Northwest Territories. That paper will be coming forward and will be available to the Members here in the very near future. It's going to go to Cabinet very soon. It's in the second stage. We've already put out one discussion paper. The intent is to identify those areas that need to be addressed and by whom to address some of the potential capital issues, the regulatory issues, the training issues and the legislative issues, so that, as the Northwest Territories and as a jurisdiction, we have a clear plan and every community knows what the standards are and what the expectations are when it comes to this service. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister again. So the Minister, from my understanding, is committed to and is coming out with a paper that will ensure that all the ambulance services in the Northwest Territories follow the same set of standards and that will be territory-wide. Am I correct, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The document we will be making available as soon as we can to the Social Programs committee. The intent is to rationalize the service across the Northwest

Territories and speak to the issue of ambulance services, try to address the highway rescue piece, as well as recognize that there is a ground transportation issue, as well, so there is a common framework for all communities and all authorities to work within.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Oral questions. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Mr. Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Returns to written questions. Petitions. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Tabling of documents. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled GNWT Response to CR 4-15(4): Report on the Review of the Information and Privacy Commissioner's 2003-2004 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Notices of motion for the first reading of bills. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 18, Committee Reports 5, 6 and 7, and by the authority given the Speaker by Motion 9-15(4), Committee of the Whole may sit beyond the hour of adjournment until it is prepared to report, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.

I call Committee of the whole to order. Yesterday when we left off, we were on Industry, Tourism and Investment. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Madam Chair, committee wishes to consider ITI.

Does committee agree?

Agreed. We will do that right after lunch. Thank you.

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I would like to call the Committee of the Whole back to order. Yesterday, we were dealing on general comments on ITI. I would like to ask Minister Bell if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Does committee agree?

Agreed. Thank you. Then we will ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witness to the witness table, and then we will ask Members to be prepared to go with general comments on Industry, Tourism and Investment.

I think it went well yesterday. As we did yesterday, I will ask Members to please keep general comments to comments. Unless the Minister has a compelling reason to respond to the general comments for the purpose of clarifying something for the record, I would ask that Members contain their questions to the pages of detail.

With that, I would like to welcome Mrs. Magrum and Mr. Vician back to the Chamber. I will ask the Members for general comments. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just with respect to the Department of Industry, Trade and Investment, being from a riding that has a lot of constituents and businesses involved in tourism, it is good to see that there is some recognition and some more resources put towards tourism in the ITI budget. That is something that our riding always needs support on and continue to create opportunities there.

I know, with tourism, often the First Nations groups talk about even actually getting into rafting and providing those tourism sources to the tourists that are coming there. For the large part, the major licences are held outside of the NWT, but there is a licence there that is for the North and northerners to be used and utilized. Quite often, in this case, there is a bit of a barrier there because no one really has the capacity to utilize that licence or where to begin. If there is a gap to be said with respect to this, it is that we have to show our people how to use that licence, how to make an impact to the tourists that are coming up North and develop our guides, as it were. I know that we have a guide training program. I don't know how well developed it is. Perhaps, at some point, the Minister can address that, but it is something that continually needs stimulating. Our young people are coming out of school. They use it as a summer job. It gets them interested to a certain point, but I am finding that they don't just stay there and make it a career choice. It is a tough career choice, too, to be a guide. I was just talking with a few guides that come up North. I find that, to make it a career choice, they have to give up quite a bit. They have to actually never be home to their home base, wherever that is. They always have to be on the move because our guiding season is only three months long. After they are done there, they are going to have to move on to continue their job in other areas of the world. Quite often, a lot of them go. It is a good opportunity if we can stimulate and find some local guides that want to do that. It is kind of like a non-traditional trade, as well. It is how do we keep them interested and going forward and even maybe one day run that licence that is in the North for us. I think that is very important. Often, we are so critical about southerners holding northern licences and doing all the work and taking all the benefit. How do we massage that and how do we work together with the communities and the existing licence holders and develop a strong northern guiding workforce for them and for ourselves too, Madam Chair, for the most part?

I see in the Minister's opening statements as well, based on the gross domestic product of the NWT, we are kind of like a net contributor to Canada now. They are saying that our gross domestic product is like $4 billion and transfer some of the feds into the NWT is about $1 billion, so about $3 billion going out and $1 billion coming in. That is a good signal. Finally, we are becoming a net contributor to Canada. Just by monitoring those statistics, it will just help us with our argument in Ottawa. Yes, we know and realize they've have been pumping probably on the average $500,000 into the North for the last 30 years. Now we are becoming a net contributor. I know that the Treasury Board has a long memory, but it doesn't mean that we have to keep repaying Ottawa's investment in the

North from 30 or 40 years ago. They have to recognize that we are a major contributor to Canada. It will help us with our argument in terms of devolution and resource revenue sharing, Madam Chair.

Just with respect to the private sector becoming increasingly prominent in the NWT, and the BIP, too. The BIP is still very important in the region and in the communities that I represent. Just before Christmas, I went to the communities and I said there is talk about just removing the BIP altogether. There is no value in it, but every community I went to resoundingly said, look, Kevin, we utilize that program, it is very important. Some of the impacts are that it helps us with the forced growth that cost in our communities. Yes, there is a five percent premium. It is often factored into the rest of the 15 percent premium. Sometimes we pay out in the contracts, but we are using that to pay for the gas link in Fort Simpson. It is still around $1.17. In Yellowknife, we are down to $1. It makes up for those differences. It equalizes the playing field. That is why it makes sense to the people in the communities. It makes sense that the BIP is there. It is the recognition of the government. It gets you paying your premium, but it is because we are paying higher prices over here in the communities. That is one view of how we look at it. The other view is that people in the communities still maintain that they all sign up for BIP. I know that, during our preliminary discussions, there was an argument made that not all businesses in the North have signed up to be BIP registered. After further discussions and further thought, it is like lots of businesses in Yellowknife don't have to sign up for BIP because they don't deal with government solely. A lot of their opportunities are with the mining sector or the diamond industry. They get 100 percent of their work from them. So they truly don't need BIP because they are not bidding on government work. But in the communities, we are. All the government work, particularly in the Nahendeh riding, they argue that probably 70 percent of the fixed economy -- I keep talking about it in my riding -- it is mostly government sources or government funding that stimulates our economy.

I keep talking time and time again, with jobs. Any senior job is about $150,000 contributed to that job, because, quite often, there is a part-time secretary, but it is $150,000 that is going to our community and to our region. It is there. When you spoke about the marvellous bouncing buck early this week and last week about how a dollar bounces around in the region and riding, it keeps our communities going. It keeps our little economies going. That is very important.

When we talk about government contracts, the other aspect of it is reviewing the whole negotiated contract aspect, as well. I am not too sure how much this department has with it, but there again, having negotiated contract aspect is very important.

I spoke about set-aside programs, which means that it is public policy that we are going to set aside contract dollar values for aboriginal communities and businesses and make it public policy. I know there is concern about accountability and everybody in the North should have access to public dollars, but if we make it a public policy, then people know where the public money is going.

In fact, I just heard that Imperial, in the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline project, even Imperial has had and is operating the set-aside policy for a lot of their work. They actually go to the communities and say, okay, you are not going to get the big contracts, but we could do as much of the local work as we can with you guys. I don't know if it is stringent or not, but in order to be eligible for that, you have to demonstrate real value and returns for the community. I think it is up to even quarterly reporting to show them employment stats to make sure that company is using local resources as well as to ensure that there is no -- a previous colleague of mine back home, a business colleague, referred to as -- low hung fruit, where a southern company comes in and says sign here. We will give you 10 percent. We are your northern company now. People are tired of that, Madam Chair, because the benefits, yes, somebody is getting 10 percent, but the community is not benefiting and 90 percent is going out. That is what is really happening. I see that my time is up there, Madam Chair, but those are the concerns that I would like to bring to the Minister and his ministry. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Next I have Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am glad to have a few opening comments or general comments on ITI. It is a very important time right now in the history of the Northwest Territories with all of the resource development that is going on. I believe ITI is going to have a big role to play in how businesses and all the opportunities that will be coming down the pipe.

I am pleased to see that the corporate tax is being lowered to 11.5 percent. Hopefully this will allow some companies, especially home-grown companies, to register in the North and file in the North, and then we can take advantage of some of the corporate tax. Still, many people out there are trying to live a traditional lifestyle. With the cost of living and everything, it is getting harder and harder for these people to try and earn a living off the land, but it is still something that they love to do. I am always glad to see the support that ITI gives to people trying to live their traditional lifestyle. I will always be a big supporter of any new initiatives that will help them do that because it is really hard now, as many people have stated, to try and earn a living off the land. ITI seems to be doing what they can to try and assist them. It is always appreciated.

I am in full support of the opening of the oil and gas sub-office in Inuvik. I probably have a few questions for the Minister later on into that operation. I would like to see the sub removed. Probably one of my questions is sub-office of where. There are a couple of positions going up in there. It is something that the leadership in Inuvik had always concern with: the lack of government presence in the community. As we know, the hearings are going on in Inuvik. There are just people from all over and people from all of the departments. I am kind of hoping all the departments have good travel budgets because they are going to be spending a lot of time in Inuvik. It is good for Inuvik and the local economy. They are bringing some money into the community. I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time on the positions that are going into Inuvik.

I was glad to see some money going into tourism. I have always believed that the Northwest Territories has so much to offer all over. I would like to see ITI work closely with Transportation and lobby Ottawa and see if we can get this Mackenzie Valley highway started. If we have to

take the initiative and go start cutting willows ourselves, then it is something that we should do, but the potential that this highway is going to bring to the Northwest Territories is just unlimited. It is just going to open up the whole territory. I have spoken to that a few times. Tourism would be right at the top of the list.

Just in closing, with all the increased activity that is going on in the Northwest Territories, I believe ITI is going to be a very busy department. A lot of people are going to be wanting assistance or advice in getting business started to take advantage of some of these opportunities that are going to come with the Mackenzie gas project, so I will have a few questions for Minister Bell at the appropriate pages in the detail. Thank you, Madam Chair.