Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have so many questions; there are a number of questions that come to mind. I'm going to try to ask this final question, and that is to the Minister of FMBS. According to the FAA and the government contract regulations, I'd like to ask the Minister how it is that he can spend $450,000. Where in the government contract regulations does it state that a review at HR would allow him to do that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact is, with any department, when work is needed to be done, the Minister initially would look from within his resources to try and get the work done. If he can't, then he has to come to FMB for request for further monies. The work, as I stated, was done in a manner where we've had to put off some of our internal working, reduce some of our travel and training to go ahead with this work. As for going back to departments to try and recoup some of that funding, Ministers have already stated, and correctly so, that when this was devolved out from back in the mid-'90s when the Department of Personnel existed and it was sent out to each department to manage their own, they were not given additional funds at that point. So that's a point of contention, as well, of trying to go back and say, well, we need further monies for this HR process. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Premier for the update on this meeting with the Prime Minister and Minister of Indian Affairs last weekend. Maybe what I didn't hear in regard to his opening comments about the meeting is, I'd like to ask the Premier, with his discussions with the Prime Minister and Minister of INAC, was there any discussions in regard to connecting Corridors for Canada II and connecting Canada from coast to coast to coast with the Prime Minister and Minister of INAC, and were they able to acknowledge these documents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I did make reference to the documents with Minister Prentice, and, very generally, with the infrastructure demands that our heated up economy is creating for us, when I met with the Prime Minister. Mr. Speaker, the

Minister for DIAND, Minister Prentice, has committed to coming to the Northwest Territories to meet with us sometime in March. He has acknowledged that he understands the cost to us of maintaining our existing infrastructure and the demands to increase our transportation infrastructure in particular because of our heated up economy. So, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to meeting with Minister Prentice in March to further the discussions on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Premier. I would just like to ask one other question as follow-up here. Have they indicated that they will commit to the two documents? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, no, they have not committed to the proposals in the two documents. It's early in the government. They have only been in government for a few weeks. But, Mr. Speaker, I would say that both the Prime Minister and Minister Prentice acknowledged that the present situation is just not tenable where we face the costs of deteriorating infrastructure and yet go and get the benefit from resource revenues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible of the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are reviewing the mandate of the corporation. We are looking at our programs trying to find a better way of streamlining it so it's simple, straightforward and more accommodating to our clients. If anything, we are doing that, Mr. Speaker, and we could continue to work with the Members here, but, more importantly, work to deal with the programs we have, make them simpler and also make them user-friendly. So we are doing that at the present time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As well, another thing that happens in the housing industry is that construction techniques, standards and building codes periodically change. Has ours changed since 1978, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've come a long way since 1978.

We have evolved to a point where we are actually delivering programs in the North with the CMHC of Canada, but I think we also have to realize that we used to have programs where individuals were able to get their homes, own their homes outright. Now we are in the process of delivering housing, which will allow individuals to go to a bank or EDAP programs, so they get some assistance from us and they move to the bank to get the rest of the money they need to build their homes. So we have evolved from a process where we used to give people homes, they built their own homes, such as the old HAP units. We have devolved from that stage to where we are today by using bank financing, third-party financing and working with the private sector. So, Mr. Speaker, we have evolved a long way since 1979.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we have come a long way; I agree with the Minister, but there is a way further to go yet. Constituents increasingly call for further participation in the construction of their homes. I am not convinced, and the constituents I represent aren't convinced, that the corporation knows best for us that they have to build the houses for us. That's what I am saying; let's have the flexibility for us to be our own general, to build our own houses and find our own contractors. So, Mr. Speaker, just once again, will this ministry look at reviewing the programming, as well as the mandate? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Krutko.