Mr. Speaker, I am certainly willing to sit down with the Minister of Health, but I think we all recognize and acknowledge and take the Member's point. We certainly provide people a disservice if we do not provide them with the treatment and help they need. Obviously, there are personal choices to be made here. But we also have to live up to our end of the bargain, which is to make sure there are resources available, Mr. Speaker. It is a last resort to lock people up. We are certainly not trying to do that. We are not trying to unnecessarily lock people up when there are other options. I think that and will commit that, as a government, we will continue to work on treatment options. I know the Minister of Health has a personal interest in ensuring that we do that, as does our entire government. So we will continue on that course. I will have discussions with him and certainly invite discussion with committee as I know the Minister of Health would as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cash in your trash is based on a price per container. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the cash for your trash is based on the per unit, what is the

government doing to ensure that when there is a discrepancy between the large centres and the smaller centres that are transporting all of these materials to their depot, that they are communicated that the government policy is on a per unit basis and not on a per weight? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that I have been made aware of this discrepancy as the Member has indicated, then we will be following up today and tomorrow to ensure that the proper facts are communicated to all of the participants in this program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is good to know that the Minister will be sending out some kind of a memo to all of the main operators. Is there any avenue in our appeal mechanism that the government would have? Is there an office that these small depot operators can call when there is a dispute and that they can get some mitigation to resolve it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would recommend that, if there are questions in any particular community, they contact the local ENR officer or the local regional office. They should be able to hopefully resolve the issues and clarify any misunderstandings. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is just for the Minister's information. I am sure he is well aware that a lot of these small centres don't have Renewable Resource officers. They don't have ENR officers. When they do phone the ENR office in Yellowknife, Hay River, the South Slave, North Slave, or the Inuvik office from these remote communities, these calls usually go unanswered, then these people just give up. I know of a few small community depots that are just shutting down because they are not getting any feedback from the government. They are not getting any support in trying to mitigate these disputes that they are having with the larger operators. The larger operators are definitely not taking up their small community concerns to the government because there is a dispute in place. How can people get some positive feedback from the government in saying, yes, we can look into it and we will check into your concern? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member would provide me with the detail of the information that he has talked about in the communities and contractors that he is referring to, I will ensure that they are followed up with and that we can clarify circumstances and make sure that they have the support they need. We can hopefully resolve this issue and maintain and continue the recycling program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) My previous statement regarding payment to elders, I would like to ask a question. Can they make some kind of arrangement with community services with the new government? There is a lot of concern regarding this from the elders. (Translation ends)

...trip worth for many years negotiating an agreement because they knew that it was self-government. We could do a better job of serving our people than the GNWT or DIAND. We did not go to all this trouble only to have GNWT bureaucracy imposed on us. This is a question to the Minister of the Financial Management Board Secretariat. In light of this government's position on the value of traditional knowledge as passed by my elders, will the Minister commit to making whatever policy changes or arrangements that are necessary to allow the Tlicho Community Services Agency to pay elders for their services within a day? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue has arisen as a result of the payroll systems being amalgamated where we would use one system of pay. Previously, boards and agencies outside our system or who had their own systems would cut off-cycle cheques. Since being requested to be incorporated in our payroll system, this issue has arisen. We have been working together with Education, trying to come up with another form of off-cycle cheques being issued. Part of the problem is that we need to try to shorten that timeline. Right now, they have fallen into the casual payroll system. To try to shorten that timeline, we would need the information from the Tlicho group or agency in advance of who would be paid, how many days they would be working and then we might be able to try to do something. So we are working on an avenue to try to bring that closer together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my previous Member's statement, the Tlicho Community Services Agency is in a unique position. We are a new government since August 4th of last year. So we are different from any organizations here in the North and also throughout Canada. My next question leads on to...Can the Minister please clarify how he can continue to impose four to six-week delays on payments to the elders from the Tlicho Community Services Agency despite the clear wishes of the Tlicho Government that is consistent with the spirit and the letter of the Tlicho Agreement that was signed by three parties in the government service agreement, and, Mr. Speaker, in particular, section 3.2(a)? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Roland.