Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, as of last Friday afternoon, an application was filed for judicial review in the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories regarding the Government of the Northwest Territories reduction on big game hunting tags for barren-ground caribou for 2007, and since the application for judicial review has been filed, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on these issues at this time.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since we're talking about reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and what our government can do to lead by example and show that we are serious about this, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask this government -- and I'm not sure which Minister; maybe the Premier would like to answer this -- how the government would feel about servicing more communities with the Taltson hydro right now when Pine Point shut down the transmission line was built to Hay River, which took Hay River off of diesel, which put us onto hydro. We just use backup for diesel now. Now there are three communities on the way to Fort Providence. There's Kakisa, Dory Point, Fort Providence, all on diesel power at this time. With the investment of some capital we could realize those communities shutting down those diesel operations, keeping them for backup only, and going onto the Taltson hydro. This would require some capital money from this government. We're encouraging diamond mines to go from diesel to accepting the fact that hydro is a more viable way and it would be a great way for the Government of the Northwest Territories to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. I would like to get the government's response to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have an energy plan which will be made available next week, and within that there is a hydro strategy. Generally, Mr. Speaker, we're in favour of it. Again, it has to be reasonably economical. If the costs are too high, then sometimes it just doesn't pay to do it. But if there's power available and if it's economically competitive, then it's something that this government is in favour of. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the cost of such a transmission line would require about $10 million in capital and that would be too much for those consumers, for those power plants that are now diesel, to absorb. But industry could come forward with a cost sharing on the capital costs. So at a cost of about $5 million to this government we could significantly reduce the consumption of diesel and the greenhouse gas emissions to service these communities. How would a proponent go about making such a submission application to this government for $5 million in capital and how would that be received? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the proposal like that would be received openly. We, first of all, want to make sure that we have a supply of power. So assuming we proceed with the expansion of the Taltson as a joint venture with other partners and there is enough power there, then we'd be open to do it. Mr. Speaker, of course, depending on the costs and how much our government is willing to put in and how much we might get through the federal government, this could be very feasible and would certainly be a way of getting cleaner energy to those communities, Mr. Speaker. So we'd be very interested in looking at it and doing things creatively as we are with Fort Smith, where we're piloting some electrical heat projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that this is a project that could very easily become a reality and, in order to determine what the benefits would be, I would like to suggest that we would be saving over a million litres of fuel per year and it would also reduce the government's requirement to the territorial support program for these communities. So there are a number of factors that would need to be taken into account. I'd like to ask the Premier if he would commit to at least the cost of a cost-benefit analysis of a review that would show all the potential savings versus the costs vis-...-vis the $5 million capital that we'd require? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, if we have a proposal we would review it and if there is some money to do a preliminary review, then I'd certainly commit to doing that without, and then know whether we have to go into a full-blown detailed review. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Premier made reference to the potential of some federal support for this. Is the Premier aware of any program currently available through the federal government that could also add support to what this government might be able to do to realize a conversion from diesel generators to hydroelectricity? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we haven't got all of the detail yet on the eco energy trust. I think that's a program that's aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, finding cleaner fuels. That program is, I think, just one example of a fund that could be tapped into for this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're working with the Government of Canada and also the Government of Alberta to find ways to ensure that the people of the Northwest Territories know about upstream development, and also to learn more about the aquatic environment. There has been a number of conferences that have been held, one in the Deh Cho and one called the Tlicho Water Gathering. We've also had discussions in a workshop that was hosted by Ecology North and Dene Nation. We played, as department, a supporting role providing some technical expertise. Mr. Speaker, we want to continue down that line of providing information, and as we move forward with our bilateral agreement with Alberta we will be also working on a communication plan that will share the information with the people of the North. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Great Slave Lake is a big lake in terms of the users and the people that depend on Great Slave Lake, just as Great Bear Lake is the seventh largest lake of freshwater in North America. I want to ask the Minister in terms of his working with his department in terms of providing some support to people around Great Bear Lake area, people around the Sahtu in terms of the issues of water, in terms of the traditional knowledge. I want him to really know what Paul Wright did say, what did Chief George Kodakin did say when they said in the future you're going to have some issues with water. What did they mean by that? Do we have enough information from our elders in that region as around Great Slave area also? Thank you.