Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of the Environment made a statement from the meeting held in Whitehorse with the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers. In his statement, he made reference that: “I am pleased to advise this House that after six years in development, the majority of CCME members endorsed national standards for municipal wastewater effluent.”

Mr. Speaker, it’s a long time coming but it’s also important to realize that this is a major capital investment that has to be made in our communities and throughout the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about 33 communities. Right now we are having a challenge just to put water treatment plants in our communities. For this major infrastructure to be taken on by this government is going to be a major capital expenditure. I think that we have to find a way to work with the municipalities and communities to deliver such a change. I think it’s important to take a close look at the services we do have, especially in a lot of our communities where we do depend on vacuum trucks to take the sewage out of the communities, take it to the lagoon, dump it off, and then return to the community. We do have to find a way to develop infrastructure in our communities, treat the wastewater, and protect the environment of the Northwest Territories and the wildlife.

I’d like to support the Minister’s endorsement on this, but more importantly the issue for me is how we, as the government of the 16th Assembly, are

going to be able to finance such a major undertaking that we have to have a major layout of capital dollars to implement this policy decision made by the Environment Ministers.

At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of Environment questions on what he signed and when we are going to see the infrastructure fund flow to the Northwest Territories.