Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I guess let me ask the Minister if we're going to do it on a case-by-case scenario, the government wants out of the mortgage financing, the banks, perhaps maybe they don't see the whole picture in the community but they're willing to make considerations. Is there anything in these new government programs, these consolidated programs, that clearly says that the banks are willing, or the government is willing to put forward a loan guarantee should you maybe not qualify for a loan based on your individual standings with government, with your credit corporation, or anything? Is there something in there and, if not, is the government willing to put that in there? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Two questions there. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, the first step is going to be an education program with four modules to it that people will take. Second is we have a lease program where people can, for a period of time, lease from the Housing Corporation and prepare themselves for taking on mortgages, and then, third, Mr. Speaker, we will help to facilitate people getting bank mortgages. It might be in some cases where we would do a guarantee. In another case we may not do a guarantee. Mr. Speaker, we have to look at each case on its own merit rather than something that's blanket right across. But guaranteeing loans, that's a possibility, Mr. Speaker, depending on the circumstances. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's probably good news. I guess that's a good start. Just let me ask the Minister, is there any thought being put into...I know the housing wants out of the mortgage issue altogether, they're in debt by it, setting up something like a mortgage investment corporation, i.e. government bank, that can deal specifically with this like a bank, but more accommodating to the smaller remote communities which banks really don't pay much attention to. Is that an option, or is that something that they could consider? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we did have a look at that a few years ago where we looked at how do we provide better banking services in small communities. As a last resort, that may be something that either this government or a future government would want to look at. But at the time that the review was done, I think it was about five years ago, the recommendation was that we not get ourselves in the banking business, but rather we work with the existing banks and facilitate ways for people to be able to use those services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the honourable Member raises a good point. In the last while we've had a number of issues regarding environment and natural resources that have come to the forefront and the issue of water has certainly escalated in the last year or so. At this point we don't have it in our budget to have a summit, but we'll certainly consider it. I think we've experienced some good results as we've moved on some of the other issues where we've had some workshops and other summits, so I certainly will follow up and look at the issue and see what we can accommodate. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the size of the resource development projects happening not just in the South but in our territories as well, and the amount of money and resources that have been put toward getting those done, it's really actually, we should bow down our collective heads and think about how come we have not spent as much resource or anywhere near resource and time looking at the health of water. So I'd like to ask the Minister if he could make a specific commitment to do his departmental planning as to what sort of resources are needed in terms of scientists or water workers or water specialists and how to bring the leaders together. Can you come up with at least a departmental plan as to what to do to go about putting some action into place within the next number months? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our department, ENR, has been very focused on trying to get some movement in the area of these transboundary agreements. I think we've moved, we've made some significant progress. We certainly have to get the information out to the different people in the North, the community members, aboriginal organizations and governments, including our own government. I certainly will commit to taking a look and see what resources are available, what other resources we can attract, and I think we have a number of options since it's the International Polar Year and we also have our vital physical studies that we may be able to tap into. But I think there are a number of options out there. We'll do an inventory internally and see if there are other pots of money that we can dip into to hold a summit. I'm not sure we can put it all together given our relatively short time left in our government, but I certainly will commit to trying to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, the water summit is just one part of this. There are going to be a lot more resources and attention that will need to be paid to this issue and it is so overwhelming right now because there are so many different aspects to that. I'd like to know -- and maybe that Minister may not be able to do that within the resources he has -- so could I ask the Minister to put his thinking cap on, now that that's the kind of thing that ENR is supposed to be doing, and could he come up with some concrete plan? Water summit is just one of them, but what do we have to look at in terms of jurisdiction, other partners we need, the leadership we need, collective strategy, united front? What do we need to do to make sure that we are prepared to respond to the resource development needs and environmental protection? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We certainly take that as recommendation and...Oh, sorry, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, certainly we take that as a recommendation. We have the Department of Environment Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada that have responsibility in this area. We will have discussions with them. We've had good history with our workshops and our summits in other areas. So certainly we'll pursue this issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could I get him to come up with a plan in writing, at least from a departmental point of view, on what needs to be done and presented to one of the committees for review within the life of this Assembly? I guess it's by June. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We'll certainly do our best to try to accommodate that.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.