Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, we are not committed to committing any part of the road system first. We have not decided if that is what we want to do. It was part of the Corridors for Canada submission that we connect all the communities by roads. That was not accepted. Our desire right now is, through our vision, through our submissions and through our agreements with the federal government, to continue to improve the winter road and we are doing so. We are working on the bridges. We have completed a number of bridges. We will have all the bridges in the Sahtu in place hopefully by 2009. There are still a few challenges. The rising cost, of course, is a concern. We want to improve some of the approaches and do a lot of the grade work over the next while, but the focus will not be to connect the communities first, as the Member has requested. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is correct in terms of finishing off the bridges. In terms of the connection, the Sahtu in terms of building capacity, having oil and gas stay longer into the regions and supporting our economy, that is what the people want in the Sahtu. Connect the communities first before pushing the road south. That is a long-term vision. Would the Minister consider having that type of discussion with the people in the Sahtu, to connect our communities first before moving south on the all-weather road? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the budget that we have, the funding we have for allocation to the Mackenzie Valley winter road is only for during the winter months. We don't have the resources right now to commit to connecting the communities. It would involve a lot of investment. That is something that we are focussing on in terms of some of our submissions to the federal government. Right now, our desire is to improve the winter road, the safety and the reliability of that road, and also put in the necessary signs and improve the visibility of the number of corners that had been raised by the members of his riding. That is what we are focussing on. We are not in a position to commit to connecting the communities first. That would involve a huge investment and resources we don't have at this point. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for some concentrated effort into the Sahtu in terms of improving our winter road. Would the Minister consider committing other departments to any programs and huge investments in the Northwest Territories that start investing into the roads in the Sahtu to connect the communities where you have longer exploration activities happen in our region, but also, at the same time, start looking for long-term investments in terms of Education, MACA, DPW, start putting small projects together on a small scale for the next 10 or 15 years? You can start connecting our roads. That is what I am asking for. It is some commitment to begin those types of discussions with the people in the Sahtu. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, training projects fall under the jurisdiction of another Minister. I am sure he is paying attention. Most of our projects are contracted out. There have been some attempts by some of the contractors to incorporate training as part of their projects. It is very difficult to do so. We need to have the companies in a position where they are able to do it. Time is, of course, a factor in this whole concept. We encourage it. We have supported it in ways. However, to take a lead, as the Member is requesting, is going to be very difficult for us. We will pass that information on to our contractors and the other departments that we work with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. It gets back to my Member's statement from earlier today. Since June 5th of last year, the taxes are adding up on the former Giant Mine site. Today, I think that total arrears amounts to $97,000 and change. The federal government says they are not responsible and that the GNWT is the owner, but the cooperation agreement would suggest that INAC is occupying the site and thus they should be responsible for paying the taxes on the former Giant Mine site. What exactly is the current disposition of that property? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess we should, first of all, be very clear that we expect that the federal government should take responsibility for the grants-in-lieu. This has been an issue for some time, as the Member is aware. As one of the first steps we had to do in this whole process is to establish the tenure of the land. We have, as of late, established a reserve by what is called a reserve by notation for the entire parcel of the previously leased land to Giant Mine in the name of INAC. This, as per federal legislation, requires them to pay the taxes. We have informed the city that they should forward their invoices to INAC. We expect the federal government to own up to the fact that they are responsible for it.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it would seem to me that INAC and Public Works and Government Services doesn't own up to the fact that they are responsible for paying the taxes on the former Giant Mine site. How can the Minister's department get the message through to INAC that they are responsible for paying the tax arrears on the former Giant Mine site? Nobody has paid the bill yet, Mr. Speaker. Who is going to pay it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, as I said previously, we expect the person that is the registered owner of the property to pay it. We have established an oversight committee which is chaired by the Minister of ENR. We don't have a formal seat on it as MACA, but we provide advice. This government is very clear that our position is that INAC is the registered owner. By federal legislation, by the payment in lieu of taxes legislation, that is federal government legislation. They are required to do so. We expect them to do so. We have no tenure to land at this point. We have been waiting for confirmation that the federal government will do so. The city has been growing very impatient. We continue to push the issue. However, as of lately, we haven't been able to confirm it. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what can the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs do to get past this impasse? When will a meeting be able to be set up between the co-chairs of the cooperation agreement and the City of Yellowknife so that this issue can be put to rest once and for all? What can his department do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess there were several steps here involved in this whole issue of payment in lieu of taxes to the city. First of all, it was to establish the land tenure. I think that has been established by the notation of reserve. The next step is to confirm whether INAC was going to honour the tenure and its obligations. They are consulting with their superiors. We expect them to come back with a confirmation on this. We will raise it again. We have been raising it on an ongoing basis. It is an issue that we are concerned about. We will continue to raise it. We will have more discussion with the federal government. We will also ask that our chair of the oversight committee bring it to their attention again and have more discussions to have some settlement to this issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Finance. It is in regards to the new housing concept from ABCD Company.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I remain to be convinced, but if we are going to go with this, I am going to do my utmost to make sure that we get as best a deal as possible. My questions are to do with the risks that this government seems to be assuming with this deal.

Mr. Speaker, I had a chance to look at appendix 2, page 1. It reads, and I quote, "In addition to the outright cash contributions by the GNWT, the GNWT is also accepting a high proportion of the risk. The GNWT will assume ultimate responsibility for any shortfalls. Even though the GNWT will try to mitigate this risk as the individual pieces of the deal are negotiated, the GNWT will be assuming a much larger portion of the risk than will the federal government." I would like to ask the Minister why he would put the government in that position. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.