Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier mentioned that he would offer briefings to some of the other groups. I would like to ask the Premier. Have any of the groups taken him up on his offer yet? Is there any indication that they may be willing to sign on to the AIP quite soon? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Akaitcho have said they would like to have a briefing. They contacted us and a date has been set. I don't know exactly when it is, but our people will be going out to meet with them. I don't believe we have an acceptance yet from the Tlicho and the Dehcho, but we are certainly hoping to brief them and not bring them under any pressure but simply let them know what is in it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my understanding, this AIP is going to be forwarded on to Ottawa. Has it been forwarded on to Ottawa yet? When can we expect a response back from Ottawa? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke with Minister Prentice the day before yesterday on it. It has been forwarded to him. His response was that he would want to have a look at it before making any commitment and further action. Mr. Speaker, it is my intention that we will meet with Minister Prentice as a group, those who have signed on and those who have signed on between now and whenever the meeting is, and determine a course of action from here towards working of a final agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Premier for that. I also would like to ask the Premier if we have a federal election and there happens to be a new government, does this fall off the table or would it still be dealt with by Ottawa? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, to be clear, the agreement-in-principle that we have now is only signed by the GNWT and the four aboriginal organizations we mentioned. The federal government has not signed anything yet with us in terms of the AIP, so we need them to come to the table.

Mr. Speaker, I can't speak for future governments, but I expect, as has been the case for the last 20 or 30 years, every federal government has said that it supports devolution and resource revenue sharing. So we would certainly want to pressure the next government, whoever it may be, to continue and in fact work more aggressively on resolving this thing once and for all now that we have reached the AIP stage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today, I talked about the water quality in Tuktoyaktuk about an elder's concern about the chemicals, especially chlorine and fluoride, added into the water treatment plant. I have a question for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, the Honourable Michael McLeod. What sort of training does the hamlet maintenance staff have in regard to the water treatment plants? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the responsibility for drinking water falls across a number of different government departments. ENR, or Environment and Natural Resources, is responsible for the location and the source of drinking water and ensuring the water is clean. Public Works has the responsibility of ensuring the water plants are run properly and infrastructure is in place. The Department of Health is responsible for testing the water and MACA plays a role also working with the communities to ensure all this works in a good, safe fashion. One of the things we do is the training and certification for the water plant operators.

We have a partnership with a company called Circuit Rider that goes into the communities and provides training to the water plant operators. Also, we have some programs within the School of Community Government that provides certification of water plant operators, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is this intensive training in regard to the certification they are receiving? How long does it take? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the certification I think really depends on the education level or the skill level of some of our water plant operators. In some cases, it takes some time. We have to do a number of different types of programming including some hands-on training where we have either a Public Works officer or a Municipal and Community Affairs officer work right in the facility with them to provide hands-on training. But in some cases, it is a very short number of courses through the School of Community Government

that would certify them. Mr. Speaker, it really depends on the level that the individual is at in the community and the level of education is certainly a factor.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After the water is treated, how often do they check the levels of chemicals that they put into the water treatment plant? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a multi-barrier approach to treatment of water. It is tested in a number of different ways. Our water plant operators are expected to be in the facility on a daily basis. The Health people test water I think on a monthly basis. The source of the water is also tested by ENR on an annual basis. So there are a number of different tests that happen throughout. There are also tests that happen within some of the households to ensure that the water that is in the tanks in some cases is safe. So there are a number of different schedules that are out there. At the actual facilities, it is something that happens on a daily basis. Thank you.