Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last number of years, the Members in this House brought forward a plethora of issues pertaining to the WCB, not the least of which are the deficiencies in the chronic pain policy and another long-protracted file dealing with grievances filed by workers who are not receiving the benefits or fair practice from the WCB that they're entitled to.

In answering my latest written question on this topic, Mr. Speaker, I was advised of two things: one is that the Governance Council will be considering the new chronic pain policy, or the issues surrounding that, at their February 13 to 16 meeting; the other one is that the new legislation will make sure that WCB remains independent from political influence.

Mr. Speaker, as we have not been advised, I don't know what the outcome of this latest meeting is. I am also aware, Mr. Speaker, that the WCB is pressing injured workers hard to settle the long-outstanding files as we speak. Mr. Speaker, I'm willing to give the WCB the benefit of the doubt that it will finally do right by these workers and do what is best for them. If they are entitled to their benefits, they should get the full extent of the benefits that they are entitled to. They should not in any way be forced to get anything less just because it's in the interest of cleaning up longstanding files. Mr. Speaker, if there are shortfalls in the WCB policies or legislation in addressing these files, I would expect that the WCB would include them in the upcoming introduction of WCB legislation for our review.

Mr. Speaker, as well, I'll be looking very closely at the Governance Council decision on the chronic pain policy to see that they meet the interests of the workers and reflect the progress required by a series of court decisions on the substance and procedure of chronic pain policy that they have been advised of.

Mr. Speaker, lastly, I must tell you that I'm clearing up my desk and my schedule for the summer to be completely ready to receive the WCB legislation that is set to be introduced in March. I also believe this will be, Mr. Speaker, the opportunity for this House to once and for all address many of the long-outstanding WCB issues that we have been grappling with over the last number of years. Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, lastly, contrary to the written question that I received from the WCB, I don't believe this is a political influence exercised, or political interference that might be implied on this matter. Mr. Speaker, I believe strongly that this is what we do as legislators and I look forward to doing that job with this new legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone in the gallery today. I hope you're enjoying the proceedings. It's always nice to have an audience. Oral questions. The Member for Hay River, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you. I'm not a legal expert either on exactly what our rights are through the NWT Act and other legislation, but certainly it is limited in that the federal Minister of DIAND holds a lot of the authority for the Northwest Territories and also for Nunavut; somewhat less the case in the Yukon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if we don't have the legal authority, then, in our control now to control the land and resources of the Northwest Territories, surely we have some moral authority when you consider the vast percentage of our population which have unusual and extraordinary connections and rights with respect to the land. With that moral authority, is there any -- and I guess, again, looking at legal precedent -- is there any way that we can advance our case for control of our resources through the courts? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, as a territorial government, and given the provisions in the NWT Act, unless it was a very specific instance, then I think we're limited in what we can do in advancing it through the courts. Now, Mr. Speaker, there have certainly been court challenges taken forward by aboriginal people who have inherent rights, who have treaty rights and so on. They have a much better case and we certainly do track what they are doing. In some cases, those are advancing the

rights of northerners in a way that we can't, because we don't have that kind of same status ourselves as a territorial government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, another source of potential support for our aspirations is the other jurisdictions in Canada who already have provincehood. I'd like to ask the Premier, Mr. Speaker, if he could share with us what his sense of that level of support is from his meetings with other Premiers and other Ministers of various portfolios. Mr. Speaker, does the Premier think that there is support for what we would like to achieve here in the North? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that there is much stronger support with the other jurisdictions, and I'll speak specifically about Premiers. I've been through this issue with them and they shake their heads and just find this totally unfair and unbelievable that today we would have a situation like ours where we're generating wealth, making decisions about protected areas and trying to get that balance and we don't have any authority. Mr. Speaker, I'll say further that even with talking with bankers in Toronto or talking with the public across the country, there is definitely a growing awareness that this situation cannot continue this way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week in this House I asked the Minister of Justice questions about the proposed changes to the judiciary appointment process at the federal level that affects Supreme Court judges and Appeal Court judges and he indicated that he would take that matter back to Cabinet and would return to this House before the break, which is tomorrow. I'd just like to ask the Minister if he would be prepared, or is he ready, to report back on the discussions and the position that Cabinet may have? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Government doesn't have a position. Cabinet doesn't have a position on something that is largely under the federal authority and is a federal matter, but I'm more than prepared to give my opinion about what I see as a lack of change in terms of the appointment process. The one change, I think, that has legitimately been identified is that the police will have a voice on the nomination committees, there will be a seat, I think it's one of the seven or one of the eight that will be reserved for the Canadian Police Association. Aside from that, I don't see a change, personally, Mr. Speaker, but again, I'll make the point that we don't have a Cabinet position or a government position on something that's largely outside our authority. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that we're the creatures of the Northwest Territories Act; we're heavily influenced by decisions of federal judges both at the Supreme Court level and the appeal level. I would just like to ask the Minister, I mean, clearly there's a difference of opinion where those on the right say this is a good idea, there is a change and there is going to be an ability to put all sorts of party faithful, good Conservatives on the new committees. I want to ask the Minister, are there not issues of great concern to us in the federal courts that would advise us to have an interest in how judges are appointed so that we can ensure that there is an impartial system and one that's not going to be so politically driven? Thank you.