Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to welcome the Premier and his staff here with us this afternoon. General comments on the Department of Executive. I would like to first start off with this SIF position, the new position that is proposed. I sound like a broken record again, but I have mentioned this a number of times. This strategic investment by the federal government, the $500 million over 10 years earmarked for

communities along the pipeline route doesn't do anything for 70 percent of the population of the Northwest Territories, and those are the people who live in Yellowknife, Hay River, and Fort Smith. If we want to continue to call ourselves a public government and a true public government, I don't think we would have let that happen. Again, I don't want to say that the communities don't deserve the $500 million. They deserve that and then some. What I am getting at is impacts from resource development are going to happen in the population centres, Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith. I lived through the resource activity here in the past 10 years with the diamond mines that have opened up north of Yellowknife. Most certainly, all you have to do is walk downtown Yellowknife and you can notice the change. The dynamic is completely different now than it was 10 or 12 years ago prior to a diamond mine opening on our back door.

In looking at resource development, who is going to help out the city of Yellowknife, or the town of Hay River, or Fort Smith, for that matter? We have to try...that is obviously why we need a resource revenue deal and devolution and more control from Ottawa. I am very much looking forward to that day; but in the interim, I don't see how we can manage without that. I don't understand the necessity for this position, the SIF position. To me, it makes absolutely no sense. The Government of the Northwest Territories is not going to administer the $500 million. It is going right over top of our heads directly to the communities. We are not going to see 10 cents of that money flow through the Government of the Northwest Territories. I am of the opinion that a firm guideline or policy that is put in place to communities on how this money can be spent is all that is needed. We don't need to hire somebody to give us a policy or some guidelines. I will leave that one there.

The other thing I wanted to mention as I find it really interesting how the Executive is requesting $28,000 in increased funding to the Status of Women Council and the Native Women's Association. I don't deny that they should get an increase, but how we could just pick these two and ignore the requests coming in every day from other NGOs and other people out there that are requesting some money because the cost of living is going up and everything is costing NGOs more money, and how we can, in good conscience, single out two of them and give them increased funding without looking at the whole picture is beyond me. Again, I think all the power to the Status of Women Council and Native Women's Association for getting the increase, but where is the increase for the other NGOs? That is a very big question that certainly has to be answered.

The other thing I wanted to mention, and I am happy with the way things are laid out in terms of the reorganization, that was a long time coming. I would like to thank the Premier and his department for taking a look at that.

One other thing that I want to bring up, and I guess I can get to it in detail, but the government has spent a lot of money in the Department of Executive in the past on the Visual Identity Program. This is a very interesting one, Madam Chair. I would like to know, going back to 2003, what it cost the Government of the Northwest Territories to come up with this Visual Identity Program. How come, if you look across the Government of the Northwest Territories across the web sites that are being developed, the amount of money that is being spent on these web sites and they are not even following the Visual Identity Program. It just does not make any sense. I am going to ask some specific questions just to prepare the Minister and his staff on this. It is like building a house and not putting any doors on it. What are we doing with the Visual Identity Program? Where is it at right now and where is it going? Those are certainly some questions that the Minister can look forward to. I will leave it there, Madam Chair. Thank you.