Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development met on January 18, 2006, to review Bill 14, Public Airports Act. The committee received a written submission from Mr. James Pokiak of Tuktoyaktuk, asking that the rules restricting public access to the apron be made less restrictive in smaller communities. The committee also received a letter from the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation in support of Mr. Pokiak's submission.

Mr. Pokiak gave the examples of family members needing to unload coffins and people wanting to access aircraft

that they have chartered. As Mr. Pokiak stated, people going out on the land often have bulky and heavy items and it does not make much sense for a family on their way to a camp to have to drive to the fence with a load of 45-gallon gas drums, unload the drums from the truck and then roll them over to the aircraft to reload by hand.

While committee members are sympathetic to Mr. Pokiak's concerns, we understand that airside operations are regulated by the federal government and it is, therefore, not possible for the GNWT to address this issue in its own legislation. However, impractical or unreasonable the rules may be in situations such as the ones Mr. Pokiak described, the Minister advised us that the federal government is unlikely to change them.

Committee members questioned the Minister on whether the act would allow for the creation of airport authorities. The Minister and his staff confirmed that it does not.

Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 14 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.

The committee would like to thank Mr. Pokiak and the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation for their letters, and the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. This concludes the committee's general comments on Bill 14. Individual committee members may have questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.