The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? You may conclude your statement, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I am proud to say that even after three years of constant dialogue and many mind-numbing sessions on many of these ongoing issues, I'm still optimistic that we can at least reach one or two very significant milestones that we, as northerners, can all be proud of this 15th Assembly for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, before I get into my statement, would like to express my condolences and send my prayers to the families of Vince Steen, our former colleague and someone I really enjoyed working with, as well as the families of Laura Lennie, mother of our colleague, Norman Yakeleya, and a lady who was highly respected and very wise, as well as the families of Danny Gordon of Aklavik, a father of another well-known leader, Evelyn Storr.

Mr. Speaker, the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre on the Hay River Reserve has been a vital part of the alcohol and drug treatment and healing program in the North for many years. However, over the last number of months, the doors to the centre have been closed and the workers of the centre have been locked out. Mr. Speaker, I must say this has been going on too long and it just has to end.

Mr. Speaker, this has been especially difficult for the workers. Some of them were in Yellowknife in mid-January and I was happy to accept their invitation to meet with them. We have also been receiving a lot of e-mails and correspondence from constituents, for me anyway, in and out of Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, I must say I am more optimistic now about the dispute and possibility of that resolving than before, because we know that both parties are back at the table talking. As is the case with any labour dispute, there is always hope as long as the parties are talking. This hasn't been the case for a long time and I feel that we are close to, and I am hoping that we are close to, some kind of resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I also believe that both the union and the Nats'ejee K'eh board have the best interests of the workers in mind as well as the need to provide the

programming. There is no question this is a very difficult issue. It involves a lot of jurisdictions even though it involves a union that is a union for the government but it is not really a government program. There are a lot of layers and authorities and jurisdictions. Having said that, I think it is in the interest of all of us that this centre gets reopened and the programs be provided. Most of all, my sympathies go out to the workers who are really just wanting to get back to work. I would like to urge all the parties to keep talking until they resolve this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I start my statement, I, too, would like to pass on my deepest condolences to my colleague Mr. Yakeleya who recently lost his mother, Ms. Laura Lennie. My prayers are with him; also to the family of former Member Mr. Vince Steen.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to address a very disturbing decision made by NAV Canada to close the weather centres in Norman Wells and in Yellowknife. As I understand it, northern pilots will now have to rely on information which is relayed to a base in North Bay, Ontario, some 3,000 kilometres away, to get much needed weather information. The North, as we all know, is very reliant on air travel to access our people, our communities and our resources. In fact, air travel is actually fundamental to our transportation needs throughout our entire territory. The decision to close the weather centres here is absurd. We do not have a well-developed highway system like most of the rest of southern Canada. Air travel here is a necessity, a way of life. A safe environment for our pilots and the travelling public to operate in is a must.

I was very concerned that recent news articles would suggest that the decision by NAV Canada to pull out of Yellowknife and Norman Wells was because of a dispute they were having with the Department of Transportation over leasing space at the Yellowknife Airport. Is that worth losing our vital weather service? What exactly is the real story in all of this? The reality is that the Yellowknife Airport is amongst the 10 busiest airports in this country. Last year it had 66,137 takeoffs and landings. Pilots servicing our constituents need and require detailed, up-to-the-minute weather forecasts.

Mr. Speaker, there have been recent tragedies in the Northwest Territories that may have, in fact, been weather related. As a government, we can just not afford to discount or erode the safety of the travelling public any longer. These weather centres need to be reopened immediately. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time today I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation in this regard. Mahsi cho.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Lafferty on October 25, 2006, regarding the amount of resource wealth losses.

During the question, Mr. Lafferty asked for just a rough figure on how much the GNWT has spent on devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations with the federal government over the past few decades.

Mr. Speaker, accurate numbers are difficult to report as negotiations have involved different governments and departments in different ways, and the true costs include both direct and indirect costs.

But since the Member is interested in rough numbers, I can advise that in the late '80s and early '90s, the GNWT was involved in the Northern Accord negotiations at a probable cost of one to two million dollars a year. Through the mid-'90s, the GNWT was spending approximately $600,000 annually on similar devolution-type negotiations, and since 2002 four GNWT departments have been allocated a combined total of $2 million annually for what today we refer to as devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations. These costs include contributions to regional aboriginal organizations to assist with their participation in the negotiations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize a constituent of mine, Ms. Faye Duval, in the audience today. She's also a graduate from the Community Wellness Program that goes on. So welcome to the House.

---Applause

I'd also like to welcome friends of mine from our other territory, John and Janet Hodgson. They were former residents of Hay River and Yellowknife. John is now the executive director to Kivalliq Inuit Association. Welcome to the House.

---Applause

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a pleasure to recognize a group of people in the gallery who promote healthy living through prevention and public education. These dedicated people are the most recent graduates of our Community Wellness Worker Certificate Program. I understand in the gallery we have Alice Zoe-Chocolate of Behchoko; Cecelia Deneyoua, Faye Duval,

Angus McKay of Hay River; Rick Alexander, Debra Buggins, Diane Hrstic and Patrick Kotok of Yellowknife; Shirley Elias of Ulukhaktok; and Darla Rabesca of Whati.

I'm also pleased to recognize an important partner of the Department of Health and Social Services, the president of the NWT division of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Kathryn Youngblut. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Alice Zoe, Darla, they're in the gallery. I just want to thank them. They're teaching, they're in the wellness program and I just want to thank them.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time I'd like to recognize Shirley Elias from Ulukhaktok, who just recently took the Community Wellness Worker Program. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize a constituent among the community wellness workers, Diane Hrstic.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize a couple of people. First of all, a constituent, Mr. Mark Bogan, an advocate for the rights of fathers in family court situations. I see him here today.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to join the Minister of Health in recognizing Kathryn Youngblut, the president of the Canadian Mental Health Association here in the NWT. I had the pleasure of serving on that board with her and she is a tireless volunteer there.

As well in the gallery is Ms. Lydia Bardak, another advocate on the social front here in the Northwest Territories, especially for that of the homeless people, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize three members from Nahendeh, Ms. Mary Neyelle, Ms. Grace Williams and also Laureen Donaldson. She's the young individual that made our beautiful coasters that are in front of us. I'd like to say thanks.

As well, I'll recognize a friend, Ms. Tawna Brown. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, with great pleasure, would like to acknowledge Kathryn Youngblut. She's quite active in our community, so every recognition she gets she certainly deserves; Lydia Bardak, and one of our Pages today, Mr. Michael Malakoe. He was our youth parliamentarian for Yellowknife Centre and he was sitting behind me a moment ago. I saw him looking at my chair. That being said, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.