Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the framework agreement is the first step towards a final agreement on water. It outlines a number of different things in the contents. It proposes a timeline, a process, it gives definitions and it lays out a vision and costs and funding, and a number of different things, Mr. Speaker, and we're quite confident that this will lead to an agreement. The time frame laid out in this agreement is a period of three years, and that's what we've embarked on and we signed off the agreement, this first step, last week. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has indicated three years for a time frame for this agreement. I'm asking the Minister, between now and three years in terms of this framework agreement with Alberta, it's almost like a devolution issue here in terms of responsibility for this water issue with the Alberta government. I would like to ask the Minister what interim do we have as northerners to protect our waters, like the recent agreement that the Alberta government or the National Energy Board gave in terms of the Alberta tar sands projects going up? We might see another one next year and the year after. What strong interim measures do we have that would not deplete our quality and quantity of water in the North?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I think some Members already raised the issue that there are initiatives that are coming forward. Mr. Speaker, at this point we are still dealing on an individual basis. We will be meeting with the Minister of Environment from Alberta. We will also be talking to the federal Minister of Environment and also the Minister of Natural Resources. We need to bring the issue to the forefront and have some comfort that we will be able to deal with issues that are coming forward, and have the proper resources to deal with these issues, and also to have that we're the first point of contact when these are coming forward while this other agreement is being negotiated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie River Basin Board is six members. One of the members is our manager from the federal government. We're also one of the members from the territorial government, and then there are other provinces involved on this board. I want to ask the Minister in terms of the Mackenzie River Basin Board, they're going to meet in 2008 at the summit. What is this government doing to ensure that northerners have a strong voice to sit with the Mackenzie River Basin Board to give them some guidance and direction and give them a good boot and say look after our water here?

Take care of us in the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are the department that provides some of the technical advice and some of the support to the board. We do have a member on the committee and we have very good communication with the board. As to giving them a good boot, I don't know. I think the board is very motivated, very concerned, over the issues and they will continue to work hard towards protecting our waters, as we will as a department and as a government. Thank you.

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

Well maybe, Mr. Speaker, I'll give him a good pair of gumboots, because that's all we're going to have in the Mackenzie River to cross the river one of these days if we don't take care of our waters. This board has an obligation to take care of our waters. The Government of Canada is on there. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister what is this government, his department doing to rally the troops in the Northwest Territories to sit down and give a strong presentation to the Mackenzie Valley Basin Water Board to ensure that the northern interests are taken care of? Otherwise, we're going to have gumboots to walk across the Mackenzie River because there won't be any water left. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This agreement that we are working on and negotiating and the one we just signed the framework for is an agreement that is developed under the Mackenzie River basin master agreement. The board is fully aware of the discussions. They are a board that's out there, but I have to advise the Members that they're an advisory board; the manager of water in the Northwest Territories is still the Government of Canada. So we have to work with them very closely and we have, for the last several months, made it very clear that we're concerned of the issues around water in the Northwest Territories. We've talked directly to the federal Ministers, and other Ministers of this House have raised it as they discuss other issues. So we are bringing it to the forefront, Mr. Speaker, and we'll continue to push that. Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I just want to raise some issues with the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. After the consolidation of the programs into four basic program delivery services, the housing issues are never water under the bridge. I just want to ask the Minister, with the four consolidated programs that came out with now, I notice that in all these programs there's reference to bank financing required. I know the Housing Corp is getting out of loan mortgage financing altogether with the huge debt that they incurred over the last 20 years trying to finance homeownership. How is the government going to accommodate people in the small remote communities that banks just don't look at? How is the housing program ownership going to be more accessible and how are they going to get financing through the government if they can't get it through the banks and the government's not going to do it either? How is it going to be better homeownership programs for them, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a first step we are going to offer courses for people who are taking on or considering taking on mortgages so that they understand what they're getting themselves into, they realize what they will have to do in terms of managing their own finances, and the obligations and paying down the mortgage. Mr. Speaker, it's true; we're, as a Housing Corporation, not wanting to continue to carry mortgages ourselves. That's a role for the bank, but, Mr. Speaker, we're open to looking at individual cases and determining how we can help people to facilitate them getting a bank loan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Great, they're offering courses for mortgage, but at the end of the day the banks have the final say in whether you get it or you don't. If they don't offer to a candidate who is probably, maybe in the eyes of the government, somebody that's totally capable of making good monthly mortgage payments, has a job for the last 20 years and hasn't defaulted on their truck or car, but the banks, at the end of the day, have the say of whether they're going to give out the mortgage or not. So if the bank says no, what other options do we have in these programs? There's nothing there that says that the government is willing to help if the banks should refuse your mortgage. How are we going to do that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of these situations, in fact housing circumstances and individual people's situations are very individual, so we cannot go galumphing along with some program for everybody that's the same. We're going to have to look at each case, case by case. Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that if someone has a good credit history for 10, 15 years, as the Member has mentioned, they should have no difficulty with the bank. If the bank is concerned about what would happen if the house had to be repossessed, we may make

arrangements that we would, as a last resort, take over the house in the case it ever had to be repossessed for some reason, which we hope it wouldn't have to be. But, Mr. Speaker, we're ready to work with individuals case by case and help them to understand their credit history and, as I say, not go off and try and do something that is a blanket that covers everybody but doesn't make anyone happy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.