Mahsi, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have already dealt with the compensation. This year we plan to go in and clean up any of the leftover equipment and fencing and things of that nature and remove it. There will be one final, I assume next year, to go and do a final assessment to determine if there is any contamination of the site.

Mahsi, Mr. Minister. Anything further, Mr. Villeneuve?

No, that's fine. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have one quick question with regard to the Species at Risk Act. In your opening remarks, you talked about species at risk. I am just wondering can you tell us how far the development of this Species at Risk Act is? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, after some time the whole process was at a standstill this past spring, the Species at Risk Act started moving forward. There has been a lot of work with the aboriginal governments and we have agreed that we would hire a contractor to do the drafting, and discussion has been taking place and translation has also taken place. However, our target to have this piece of legislation brought forward to this session is something we weren't able to meet. We are hoping we are able to come forward. I am not sure we will be able to commit to coming forward for the spring session, but that's something we are looking at.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Anything further, Mr. Pokiak?

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really, along with my staff, really wanted to see this whole process speed up, as the Member has indicated, so that we could see the introduction by this session. We looked at ways of how we could accommodate that and we weren't able to do so. Hiring additional contractors to do drafting doesn't work. We need to have the same drafter to work on the document so we are consistent. We need the translation to take place and the aboriginal governments are telling us that they need a process that will allow them to have comfort that they will have good analysis and provide quality feedback. We've received a number of letters, since word has gone out that this Species at Risk Act wasn't going to come forward during this session, that we stay on course and continue doing the good work and moving it forward, so we can look at either an introduction late this summer or early in the new government.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Anything further, Mr. Pokiak? Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To follow up on Mr. Pokiak's question on the Species at Risk Act, I mentioned it in my region and they certainly want to see some development. This has been long overdue in terms of this whole Northwest Territories development policy. It seems like we would certainly be in favour of seeing this come together and see some light on this Species at Risk Act by having this come to some reality by the end of the life of this government.

I certainly encourage the Minister to know how important this Species at Risk Act is to our people here, to get the players on board to move it along in a speedy fashion, as Mr. Pokiak was saying. I certainly would support the Minister in whatever he can do to get this Species at Risk Act into some form of document that we could be proud of at the end of the life of this government. I guess I wanted to convey that message also to the Minister in terms of my correspondence with my region over the last couple of days. This was a big issue and I just am relaying that

message to the Minister on behalf of our people in the Sahtu region.

Mr. Chairman, the question I want to ask specific to the Minister is on the Protected Areas Strategy. As you know, our region is one of the areas that are indicated for the Protected Areas Strategy. I want to ask the Minister regarding the areas around the Sahtu; Great Bear Lake and the Fort Good Hope area. How is this government going to work with the federal government to ensure that these areas receive the proper protection under the Protected Areas Strategy and those areas that were identified by our people and this government? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair, we certainly plan to continue to support the communities as they submit their proposal for Canada protected sites. We have right now 16 communities with 20 different sites at various stages. We hired a person to work with us to help us guide through this process and work with the communities. We will continue to support the Protected Areas Steering Committee and continue to promote the Protected Areas Strategy.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask the Minister, what does he need from this government to push it and knock on the federal government's door and say we want to get the land protected under the Protected Areas Strategy? He mentioned 16 communities, that's a lot of communities. Everybody is probably wanting to make sure their land is protected. I am not too sure which communities, whether it's settled or unsettled land claims. What is it he needs from us in terms of asking the federal government to do the honourable and right thing to protect these lands from the government as elders wish to do under this strategy? It's a good strategy. We need to get some movement on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member has referenced a number of sites in his riding and in his region. We have worked with his communities of Deline and Good Hope to move the sites forward. Our people have gone with the delegations that have met with the federal government. These are federal sites and I think we just have to continue to pressure the government to start moving these sites forward. Some of these have been in place for some time. Communities have worked hard and long and we expect this coming year we will start to see some positive results.

Mahsi, Mr. Minister. Mr. Yakeleya.

I look forward to the Minister's announcement that some of these sites will be protected with regard to working with the federal government.

Mr. Chairman, the oil company that worked in our region that was planning to do some work on a sacred site identified by Tulita elders in the community of Tulita also identified a site. The oil company voluntarily withdrew that piece of land because of the nature of the site and the sacredness of the site. I am hoping that we could have that type of a meeting to show that there are areas around Great Bear Lake, Fort Good Hope and other areas that are identified in the Northwest Territories that would see some withdrawal of land. That's more of a comment to the Minister. I know he's working on it and I hope we can give support where he needs it to get the federal government to start withdrawing some of these lands. I know it's a balance between pro-development and resources development in terms of protecting our land. It's something we need to see; how serious the federal government is in protecting some of our lands and not just giving it away to oil companies and mining companies to say go ahead and you work a deal with the communities, you work this deal out with the communities. Let's stand up for the little guy here in the North.

Mahsi, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, the federal government, the territorial government and also the environmental non-government organizations have collectively contributed over $16 million for implementation of the action plan up to 2009-10.

The Sahtu is of real interest. There is a lot of activity there. Ducks Unlimited and INAC have contributed some money towards putting a position in that region. That person has been hired by ENR and will be working as a regional Sahtu community coordinator. I don't have the name of the person, but it's a lady from Deline. She came on stream to assist this process as of September last year.