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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Jean Marie River has agreed to be part of the band’s bundled water treatment plant. They are

hoping to have construction start in 2010-11. Thank you.

I think there was an existing reservoir. Did the Minister say a reconstruction and building a new reservoir? I just need some clarification there. Thank you.

It certainly does clarify it for me. On the interim, Mr. Speaker, I would like to use an image. Since our washing machine is broken over there, what are the interim steps the department can help with this community? I raised the issue that the water is discoloured. It does have a bit of an odour. Can it look at assisting the community with filters on their taps or temporary water supply? They really are driving to communities and buying water bottles and water supply for their own needs. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll commit to the Member that I’ll instruct the staff to go in there and have a look at it and do an assessment and come up with some options as to how we might be able to assist the community. Thank you.

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

That’s something the community will certainly be looking forward to and when the staff go there, please bring water.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, it’s to talk about what’s the best way in the interim to provide clean potable water to the residents of Jean Marie. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the staff are already looking into the situation as to the options that can be used, and I’ll follow up with them and then I will inform the Member as to where we’re at with this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, regarding my Member’s statement today on transportation, why is the department making permanent carriers give up counter space to a temporary carrier when we’re letting long-term

leases go? I hope they’re charging a good amount for that space. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this is the same question that was asked earlier. Mr. Speaker, we have a new carrier coming on the scene in the NWT. Our mandate is to treat everybody fairly and responsibly. We have, at the Yellowknife Airport, a total of 16 counters. Not all of them are being utilized. Some of them haven’t been utilized by the carriers for some time. We’ve had a review done on the requirements and we’ve decided that we need to allocate for these counter spaces to the new company that’s coming in. Thank you.

I’d like to remind the Minister that both these airlines are good corporate citizens and both aboriginal owned by the IRC and the Nunasi Corporation, which is Canadian North, and First Air, the Makivik Corporation out of northern Quebec. Mr. Speaker, the money won’t stay in the North, it will just go south to the southern shareholders. Why is this government not supporting northern airlines?

Mr. Speaker, I have no intention of challenging whether the company is credible or not. That is not my point at all. We have no protection measures and we’re not in a position to incorporate any protection measures that these companies are maybe looking forward to us doing. The air carrier system in Canada is not regulated and we’re obligated to provide space and we are obligated to treat them fairly. Thank you.

Well, Mr. Speaker, is it fair to treat a temporary airline just as good as a permanent airline? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. You’re asking the Member’s opinion. I guess, Mr. McLeod, would you want to respond?

Mr. Speaker, we run a very efficient and high-quality operation at the airport. We intend to treat everybody fairly. We intend to treat everybody with respect. Mr. Speaker, we don’t have a lot of choices as to where we can locate a new company. We can’t put them outside. We are not in a position to build an addition. We have to look at, and we have looked at, the options in front of us. We recognize there is some space available, some space that has limited use or no use. We have space that sometimes is being shared. This is our best option going forward. Thank you.

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

So the Minister is telling me just letting the southern airline come in for five months and take all the money and run and have no support for northern airlines. That’s my understanding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is using editorial licence here. Mr. Speaker, we certainly recognize the situation in place of northern companies, the companies that are bit...We do support them in other ways. In terms of providing counter space, our options are very limited. We are mandated to treat everybody fairly and that is the case in this situation and it’s the case when we treat any of the carriers that we work with in a fair and responsible manner. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and it’s related to a Member’s statement and questions asked on February 10th . The Centre for Northern Families

has offered a Welcome Centre for Immigrants program for two years and it helps immigrants transition to a new country and community. The lease in the existing multi-cultural facility ends this month; actually on Sunday. In asking questions, the Minister had agreed to meet with the executive director and try and identify some possible solutions. Given that they’re shutting down on Sunday, I was wondering if the Minister could please just give me a bit of an update. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.