Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, that has been the approach up to now in regards to tag allocations. The government sets a tag number, industry pushes back and the government reallocates a number to where the outfitters or the users want to have that quota set. Mr. Speaker, we set the tag number at 750 this year. Our intention was to have it at 350. That may not be a big number to bump it up from 750 upwards, but if we start looking at where we wanted to be, 350, it's a huge

amount. We have to start conservation somewhere. The decision to go with 750 was made by this government. It's an amount we can live with for this year. However, next year we are expecting that tag allocation to be reduced. I would not be in a position to reconsider the number that we have already put out to industry. The decision has already been made. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have made the arguments. Aboriginal groups have made the arguments. Other Premiers have made the arguments on our behalf of the federal government with regard to both the formula and resource revenue sharing. The Prime Minister has committed to giving us good news in the upcoming budget. I think that's roughly around the 20th of March. Mr. Speaker, he has also made statements to the effect that we are entitled to the principal amount, the main amount of the resource revenues free of a clawback. We shouldn't get it on one hand and then have it taken away from the other. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Is part of the delay for the negotiations, Ottawa's position, that we owe them for all the transfer payments that they have made in the past? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, no, I don't believe that factors in in a big way with the delay. Mr. Speaker, the fiscal imbalance is an issue right across the country. Of the 10 provinces, this affects provinces as well as territories. Five of them want more resource revenues included in equalization; five of them want more excluded. All three territories have taken the position that we want the O'Brien report recommendation that 50 percent comes to us. So there is no consensus across the country. The dilemma the Prime Minister has had is trying to get a consensus. He hasn't been able to. Mr. Speaker, we were going to have a Premiers' meeting last week. It was downgraded to a teleconference call, because we went into that knowing that we were not going to get everybody onside.

So, Mr. Speaker, the biggest delay was caused by the absence of an agreement among all the provinces as much as it is by the federal government delaying. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Premier for that. We do look forward to the good news coming down on March 20th. I would like to ask the Premier, he spoke a few times about some outstanding issues that are delaying the negotiations. Have we made any progress on the outstanding issues? I believe there was six of them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I don't believe that there has been an initialled-off agreement on any of the six. What has happened in the last couple of negotiating sessions is a great deal more understanding by the federal negotiator of why we are taking the position we are on those issues. Mr. Speaker, some of them, on the treatment of human resources, for example, we've made some good headway and I think now we know more clearly what the federal government's position is going to be on that. Transition costs we've made headway on. On the A-base we've made headway on, but we've not initialled off any of the six, to my knowledge. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I continue to ask the Premier these questions. I think this is the kind of pressure we should be putting on Ottawa all the time and maybe they will...I would like to ask the Premier, how many people do we have dedicated to this file and are they in Ottawa negotiating right now as we speak? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the Member's questions because I agree with him; we have to keep this as a debate issue in our Legislative Assembly. Mr. Speaker, we have a negotiator and we have, depending on the issue, usually two or three people who are there to provide backup to him. There was a negotiating session the week before last, and the next

one, I believe, is scheduled for the first week of March. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Transportation, Kevin Menicoche. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of issuing out winter road contracts, some of the contracts fall outside our region. Sometimes these contractors come into our region and they bring their own workers, they bring their own supplies in. What type of arrangements do we have for outside contractors coming into the region? Do they have to work with the local community people? Is that part of awarding their contracts to the contractors? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is bringing up some contracting issues. Our government follows the business incentive policy, preferential treatment, and using local resources and local contracting companies to fulfil those needs is a priority that we continue to press. We continue to look at those contracts seriously in all our regions and communities. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member his supplementary questions. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question to the Minister is, when these contracts are given out to outside contractors of a region, does the Minister direct these contractors to go into a community and negotiate or talk with the community businesspeople and then at the end of the season, do these businesspeople show the amount of work that this company brought into our community through the winter road contracts or winter work? We can see it in black and white. This is the amount of money they left in that community with that business. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.