Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber.

Colleagues, I will now provide my ruling on the point of privilege raised by the Member for Hay River South on Thursday, February 5, 2009. An unescorted visitor to the Legislative Assembly entered her office without permission and is alleged to have seen confidential documents about which that visitor allegedly spoke to the media. My role as Speaker is to determine whether a prima facie breach of privilege took place. I quote Mrs. Groenewegen from unedited Hansard from Thursday, February 5, 2009: “Unauthorized access to the private office space of any Member is a breach of that Member’s parliamentary privilege. Mr. Speaker, this is particularly so when confidential and sensitive information acquired as a result of such unauthorized access is released to the public. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I view the release of this type of sensitive information to be contempt of this House.”

Breaches of Members’ privileges are very serious. Privileges of Members include freedom of speech and freedom of obstruction and intimidation in relation to their duties as elected representatives. The question here is whether the Member’s ability to do her job was compromised by these events. I find that it was not, as these events did not prevent her from acting in the House as she had planned. A proven violation of the privacy of Members’ documents could be seen as a breach of privilege. However, there is no evidence that the visitor viewed the confidential documents or released information thus obtained to the media. Yes, he entered Mrs. Groenewegen’s office, but there is no proof that he saw any of her documents or spoke about them to anyone. In the absence of any evidence that the Member’s private documents were viewed, I find there was no prima facie breach of privilege.

However, there has been a breach of the Legislative Assembly’s security policies on visitors and on Members’ offices. In reference the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Members’ Handbook, point 135(2), Visitors:

“Visitors, while in the Legislative Assembly Building, are required to display their visitor’s pass on their person at all times and be accompanied by the person or staff of the person they are visiting at all times”

I will also reference 135(4), Access to Offices: “Other than an emergency situation, access to any office by anyone other than the occupant is only permitted by invitation or prior permission of the occupant.”

This is a very serious matter and it is not to be dismissed lightly. I would like to remind all Members of the importance of adhering to the security policies of this Legislative Assembly. They are there for your own protection and for the protection of the workings of this House. This is a serious matter, but I rule there is not a prima facie breach of privilege. Thank you, colleagues.

Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, February is Drop the Pop Month in the NWT. Drop the Pop is a partnership that includes Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment and Environment and Natural Resources. We have strong community partners including Northern Stores, the Yellowknife Co-op, the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative and the Food First Society.

This is the fourth year that schools in the Northwest Territories have participated. The event, which raises awareness about the importance of making nutritious and healthy choices, has expanded from one week to two and now is celebrated for the entire month.

Drop the Pop raises awareness amongst students about the alternatives to sugary drinks. Sugary beverages provide no nutrition. A can of pop contains between 9 and 12 teaspoons of sugar. Drinking two cans of pop a day for one week provides about a pound of sugar a week. That's nearly 60 pounds of sugar from pop alone in a year. Drop the Pop is about a lot more than not drinking pop. It’s about helping our students figure out the best, healthiest foods to choose.

Last year, 35 schools participated, using Drop the Pop funding to host a range of fun and informative projects from healthy cooking classes to awareness videos done by the students themselves. Drop the Pop is a lot of fun, and for good reason. Students that receive proper nutrition have an easier time concentrating in school, and are better equipped to get through the day. Even further, if children and young adults can feel good about healthy eating, they aren’t just set for the day, they are set for a lifetime of healthy behaviour.

The reasons for making “real” food choices are provided directly on the Drop the Pop advertising. Good nutrition not only helps with concentration, as I have mentioned, but lowers the risk of diabetes, helps with bone and muscular development, is less wasteful for the environment, and keeps teeth healthy. Healthy food choices are also closer to a traditional lifestyle instead of processed foods.

This year Drop the Pop happens to fall during this session, and I invite other Members to join me in celebrating the spirit of the event, through making our own healthy choices while we work long hours through February. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to speak today about the government’s move to entertain a proposal from ATCO to merge in some fashion with the NWT Power Corporation. Yesterday I had some questions for the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation about the high power rates residents are paying.

The fact is that because consumption is down as a result of residents implementing energy efficiency in their homes and businesses, and what were sky-high oil prices of $140 a barrel, that is why the rates

went up. Now oil is at $40 a barrel and residents want some answers.

According to the Premier yesterday, these rates will not be reviewed again for three years. This is too long to wait. People can’t afford these rates, even here in Yellowknife. That is why it is timely that the GNWT is at least exploring possibilities on the distribution and development of electricity here in the Northwest Territories. I believe we owe it to our residents to not just take the first proposal that comes through the door. We need to have an open and up-front process.

My fear is that in reviewing this one proposal, the GNWT’s working team is comprised solely of senior bureaucrats. I have a great deal of respect for those involved, but the reality is that ATCO will be putting forth their ‘A’ team, make no mistake about this, on this merger proposal.

We shouldn’t fool ourselves. We will be swimming in a pool full of sharks in these discussions. In order for the government to protect our residents, the corporation itself, and our interests, we should have at least two individuals assigned to our review team that have a background in power distribution, generation, and/or the sale of power, and are able to speak the same language as ATCO.

We also need to find out if there are other companies out there that may be able to put forward a proposal. Let’s throw the doors wide open and go to an open, transparent call for proposals. Let’s see what we can get back.

As for now, we need to protect our residents from high power rates, and we cannot afford to lose more of our residents and population to the South due strictly to the high cost of living. I agree that we should, at the very least, examine this proposal, but do so armed with some knowledgeable people who have a background in this very complex and specialized area. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Today on CBC I listened to our chief medical officer talking about the toll being taken amongst northern Canadians by the exorbitant cost of food as profiled in a National Heart and Stroke Foundation report.

Dr. Corriveau has been working on a project in the Beaufort-Delta called Healthy Foods North, which has found that in our isolated northern communities there are significant deficiencies and intake of basic nutrients of calcium, vitamin D, and other essential

nutrients. He mentioned that with the move away from traditional diets, we have turned to milk as the source of calcium and vitamin D for people.

Because of the prohibitive cost of milk in many communities, parents often provide their babies and young children with sugar water, like Tang and Kool-Aid, in place of milk. This occurs even using baby bottles, contributing to baby bottle mouth and other serious and expensive health problems. Ensuring that young children are provided with sufficient quantities of milk prevents large costs later in life in areas like health and education. Milk contributes to healthy brain development and physical activity.

At the risk of being repetitive, milk or equivalent substitutes in the case of allergies is known to be the single most important nutrient for children, essential for healthy and normal growth and development.

The Standing Committee on Social Programs, the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, and the people have spoken out clearly in support of a milk subsidy where it’s needed. This Assembly has passed a motion in support of this program. The absence of a milk subsidy in this budget is a hole that gapes widely in our small communities where, as my colleague from Nunakput says, people must decide whether to buy fuel or food this day.

Calcium is important for growing and keeping strong bones. Vitamin D has recently been found to play a key role in preventing cancer. While this government looks at it and considers how to improve the food basket, the nutrient deficit to children and all that this means to their health and our mutual long-term costs continues.

For a year I have tried to get this government to support a new subsidy for milk in those communities where the price is 10 percent or greater than in the city of Yellowknife. Subsidizing milk is actually an investment in the health of children and seniors will pay large dividends on modest costs.

For the sake of goodness, let’s get this done. Drop the Pop, yes, but where’s the milk?

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

In responding to oral questions from Mr. Hawkins last Thursday the Minister of Health

and Social Services stated, and I quote from page 25 of unedited Hansard for February 5, 2009, she said, “It is a regular practice in this Legislature that any policy changes go to the standing committee for review and consultation.” I was very pleased to hear that, but I was also very surprised. Because up to now, that’s not been my experience as a Member of the 16th Legislative Assembly. My

experience has been that policy changes, meaning government positions, changes affecting GNWT operations are discussed, debated, and decided by Cabinet or FMB in isolation without consulting or communicating with Regular Members. An example: The assets of the now famous, infamous perhaps, Opportunities Fund were until recently invested in low-risk accounts. Some time before the end of 2008, Cabinet sitting as FMB decided that the funds could be invested in high-risk ventures; ventures that are fully guaranteed by GNWT public funds; your tax dollars and mine. The only time this change was presented to standing committee was after the decision had been made. No chance for input then.

A second example: the Supplementary Health Benefits Program policy change that would go from full coverage to seniors to partial or no coverage. This change didn’t even make it through a 16th Assembly standing committee. Cabinet put into force a policy change decision made by the previous Assembly without ever discussing it with Regular Members.

I recognize that this Assembly has put Cabinet in place to manage our government departments and to carry out direction set by Caucus during our strategic planning sessions. I have no desire to micromanage and I’d agree that the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, consisting of Regular Members, can’t be consulted on every contemplated policy change. But substantial changes to policy, such as the Opportunities Fund policy change, which has the potential for a large, negative financial impact on this Territory’s finances, must be presented to Regular Members for their input before the decision is made, not after.

Members stated last week that there are communication problems between the two sides of this House. I trust advance communication of policy change is one of those problems that we can visit and correct.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Today I’d like to speak about a project that was worked on a couple of years ago in 2003 coming forward to 2008-2009. It was the Main Street Chipseal Program which was requested by the Special Committee on Rural and Remote Communities back in the 14th Assembly. Out of

that, one of the recommendations was to deal with dust control in all of our smaller communities and improve the quality of life, the health of our residents and, more importantly, finding a way to deal with an ongoing problem such as drainage, road conditions, and doing an overall assessment of those communities.

Part of that process included some 12 communities including Kakisa, Hay River Reserve, Fort Providence, Enterprise, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Wrigley, Fort Liard, Rae-Edzo, Tuktoyaktuk, Tulita, Fort Good Hope, Fort Resolution, and Dettah. Yet today we still have communities asking for this government’s help with regard to this program.

I was totally alarmed to find out that there is $6 million going to be spent in regard to one of the larger centres to chipseal that community’s roads under the Building Canada Fund. Yet there’s no mention of community dust control to deal with chipseal programs for our rural and remote communities. I think it’s essential that this government seriously looks at reinstating this program for the benefit of all the smaller communities in the Northwest Territories and enhancing the program so that all communities can have a quality of life by way of improving the infrastructure in our communities, including moving the dust from our streets in the summer months and ensuring the health and well-being of our elders and people with chronic disease.

I think it’s important that this government reinstate this program. We do have the resources through the Building Canada Fund and there’s no reason that work has to take any time. The Department of Transportation has done a lot of the legwork. They’ve done a lot of the assessments. They’ve looked at the drainage systems in our communities. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation at the appropriate time, or even the Premier, if it is possible for this government to seriously look at implementing that program to benefit our small communities.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

[English translation not provided.]

Over the past year I’ve talked about problems the Tu Nedhe communities are having with dust. I realize that dust is not an issue today, however, spring will soon be here and the snow will melt and there will be mud. The mud will dry and dust problems will take over.

In Fort Resolution dust will continue to be a big concern for residents until a permanent solution is found. There is about 10 kilometres of roads in the community and if we use the synergies and the reconstruction and chipsealing of Highway No. 6 we can have chipseal roads for the entire community of Fort Resolution for $2 million to $3 million.

For $2 million or $3 million, this government has an opportunity to see restored confidence in the government by the residents of Fort Resolution. In addition, chipseal roads have many benefits to the community, including better health for our children, adults, elders, and those with respiratory problems.

For various use activities, roads that are chipsealed have many advantages for things like skateboarding and rollerblading. All things go towards the betterment or self-esteem of our youth. I think we all know the huge benefits of youth with good self-esteem.

By expanding the Highway No. 6 project we can chipseal the community’s roads, which will benefit all residents of Lutselk’e, including immediate economic benefits by creating new jobs and long-term benefits for a permanent dust control solution. It’s an opportunity for the Department of Transportation and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to work with the community for building good relationships between communities and government.

Later I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs on this project.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

One long-standing issue facing the community of Wrigley has been the absence of RCMP officers and nurses who live in the community and provide regular daily services. After years of pushing the government to provide these services, the community has succeeded in

acquiring an RCMP station from the Minister of Justice. Community residents continue to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services to provide primary health care services to the community.

Wrigley has been without resident nursing services for many years. Community residents deserve some reassurance that they can access primary health care services in their community.

At the beginning of this Assembly we identified a commitment to help foster vibrant and healthy communities and their individuals. How can we possibly meet that goal if our smallest communities are denied reasonable access to primary health care services?

Small NWT communities like Wrigley have a higher percentage of elders than other communities. These people have chosen to live in their community for their entire lives. They deserve a community-based health care service.

The Minister knows that elders often approach me with their concerns about health care. Elders do not want to travel to Fort Simpson and wait in a line at the airport or at the regional health centre. They don’t want sporadic visits of non-resident health care providers. When elders come and talk to me about these problems, they are in pain and discomfort and I get frustrated at the current situation of primary health care services. Health care is the highest priority of this government. That priority needs to be reflected at the front line of the smallest communities. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to join the discussions on the dust control in the Sahtu region. Several years ago, the community of Fort Good Hope, along with government, worked in partnership on how to put together a chipseal program in their community. At that time the government worked very closely with the communities in terms of what is the best, most efficient, economic way to put a chipseal program in our communities in the Sahtu. Once the Fort Good Hope project was underway and they were developing their programs, I understood from the then-Minister that the community of Tulita was going to be next in line in terms of the chipseal program. People there were very happy in terms of this initiative being led by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Later on, it was noted that this chipseal program will no longer be on the

books in terms of support to the communities. As a matter of fact, the government turned over the responsibilities to the communities in terms of if they want to chipseal or if they want to have another infrastructure in their communities, knowing from the small communities, there is so much need in terms of infrastructure in their communities. They had to make some big decisions. Because of the high cost of the various methods of how we control dust, it became apparent that there wasn’t going to be enough money in the pot to even do a proper job in terms of chipsealing the whole community.

Mr. Speaker, throughout my visits in the communities, I have been approached by a number of elders in terms of the chipsealing program and that it should be something the government should take a real serious look at and work with the various departments to see how creative they can be in terms of putting a program like this back into the system. That requires sitting down with the hamlets, the bands and the Metis organizations to come up with some solutions that would be beneficial to all.

Dust control continues to be an issue for my people, especially the older people who have to go out and buy filters to have clean air in their houses there. So, Mr. Speaker, I, too, will be joining my colleagues in terms of asking the Minister in terms of how something like this, the chipseal program, can be implemented back into the system where all the communities can work on a good solution to have chipseal in their communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, one only has to turn on any news channel these days and much of the coverage is devoted to the fallout from the current global recession. While the statistics and employment figures and job losses speak for themselves, we also hear of what other jurisdictions, national and international, are doing to address this recession.

The numbers in terms of financial assistance and stimulus that countries and jurisdictions are committing to is a sign of the magnitude of this problem. Here in the North we will not be insulated from the repercussions of this recession and the effects are already beginning to be felt. I am concerned about what our government is doing in response. We constantly hear that small business is the backbone of the Canadian and our northern economy. Many of these businesses may find

themselves resorting to laying off staff, cancelling plans of expansion and experiencing credit challenges as mortgage payments come due and loans come up for renewals.

Although interest rates have fallen, the reluctance of the usual sources of loans and credit have, at the same time, tightened their lending criteria and policies. I realize that many jurisdictions are looking to capital infrastructure as a means of stimulating the economy during these difficult times. The good thing about this is that we have something tangible to show for the dollars invested, and in the process create jobs and economy.

I am aware of the various sources of infrastructure dollars to our government through federal programs, both for municipalities, housing and transportation infrastructure. This is welcome news and we look forward to the rollout of these projects and initiatives. But is there more that we can do with our own resources, programs and policies?

I want to ask the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment later today what our government is doing to be proactive, to collect feedback from businesses about their needs and challenges at this time. We have a government lending policy through the Business Development Investment Corporation; business support through the SEED program; Community Futures lending program; but the GNWT has the latitude, the same as other jurisdictions, to consider things like interest only or interest deferred loans. If we lack the capital to create a larger pool of funds for lending, as I’ve already suggested, can the government borrow from the Opportunities Fund to distribute loans to a broad number of small businesses?

It’s time to think outside of the box on our business support policies, but first of all we need a forum to collect feedback from our businesses that may be struggling at this time, and I would suggest our regional ITI offices are that point of contact. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

In recent years the government has seen an increased immigrant population. Over 100 cultural groups are represented in Yellowknife, but only three of these visible minorities have registered cultural organizations in the city.

Mr. Speaker, although the people from different ethnic communities may organize themselves

informally, they have common needs and areas of concern. The Centre for Northern Families has offered the services of a welcome centre for immigrants for two years, in an effort to help immigrants transition to a new country and community, and to ensure immigrants have access to services and the opportunity to achieve and maintain social and economic independence.

Mr. Speaker, in the short life of this program the centre has helped 157 individuals from 29 countries. The services available in the welcome centre focus on providing information, immigrant consultation, workplace orientation and job coaching, English language classes, computer classes and social networking programs to help new Canadians become part of their new community and the Northwest Territories.

The centre’s activity help people adjust to life in the North. The director herself is an immigrant, giving the program a distinct advantage of being supported by someone with firsthand experience of the needs and challenges experienced by new Canadians.

The centre is open from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to accommodate varied work and family schedules and strives to be as accessible as possible. The centre is open to all immigrants, with specific programs for youth and adults, both men and women.

The Centre for Northern Families is interested in providing outreach to regional hubs of Hay River and Inuvik to help those regions support immigrants there. Mr. Speaker, the Centre for Northern Families wants to work with the GNWT to build effective programs and services to welcome newcomers, and help them transition into life in the NWT and Canada and expand upon the services they currently provide. Unfortunately, the lease of the existing multicultural facility ends this month. If it’s not renewed, the centre will be forced to close its doors. They need government support. If they shut down, it will be a loss to our community, to the Northwest Territories and to the immigrants themselves.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will have some questions for the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, plans were moving forward with the Taltson Hydro expansion. The

investment of this project has been significant and the government has even identified a further $2.5 million in this upcoming budget.

For the most part, Northerners support the expansion of the hydro because of the environmental benefits of a cleaner source of power that will hopefully reduce our electric bills and, of course, Mr. Speaker, I fully support the advancement of the North’s hydro potential over diesel.

Mr. Speaker, the benefits of cheaper, cleaner electricity for residents in the NWT all depends on the route chosen for the Taltson expansion. The route favoured by the proponents of the project is constructed over land, power lines, around the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. This route supports the commercial sale of power to the diamond mines only, but does not move it closer to building a grid here in the North to help the other communities get off diesel-generated power.

Are we working for the corporations, Mr. Speaker, or the people? I question where the public interest is being sought after. Mr. Speaker, there are some good reasons to re-evaluate the route being chosen here. We need to start focussing in on the residents as opposed to just the diamond mines.

The two diamond mines have less than 20 years of production left before them and, of course, what isn’t known yet is the power purchasing agreements have yet to be signed. So without those energy corporation agreements signed, we don’t have a customer. So who is carrying the cost and the risk of this development so far? The northern taxpayer.

Mr. Speaker, we also have to keep in mind that the proposed route also crosses land set aside for a new national park. The construction of those power lines in that pristine wilderness will have some environmental consequences, and I certainly have no doubt there will be opposition.

Mr. Speaker, given all of these issues, it seems that the proposed route is very risky and perhaps even shortsighted. If the government is making this kind of investment, we need to ensure that the long-term needs are for northern residents first. Surely we can find a route that allows us to sell the power to our people as well as mines.

Mr. Speaker, we have all heard about the road to nowhere. We’ve all heard about the bridge to nowhere. But my fear is we may end up having a power line to nowhere, certainly if the economic climate continues the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this Cabinet to think carefully that if there are extra costs associated with putting a new power grid into play, that they should think

about the benefits associated with it and that alone will make it better for our Northerners altogether. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Today I would like to thank Minister Lee in regards to my last community tour I had in my riding of Nunakput. The first day we travelled to Sachs Harbour, we met with community leaders and some of the staff and we had a really good visit. I saw the new hall that’s been constructed in the community and we are still waiting for an answer on the funding from the government. We had a really good visit in Sachs.

Ulukhaktok, we spent the night in the community. We had a really good time. We had a community feast and I’d like to thank Joseph and Elsie Haloosit, Robert and Agnes Kuptana, Gary Bristow, and my good friend Patrick Joss. We had a really good visit. I played hockey that night in Ulukhaktok, Mr. Speaker, and they don’t have a Zamboni; they have shovels that go around the rink. I tell you they do a really good job in that community for that. It was a really eye-opening experience I had there in regard to that. What little they have, they make do with.

I had Minister Lee go to the community singalong, so hopefully when she was at the sing-along, she had a good “I Saw the Light” experience.

---Laughter

I’d like to thank the community as a whole and everybody that came out to the meetings and brought up the concerns, thank you again.

The next day we travelled into Paulatuk with the community, met with some of the community leaders and constituents and it was good to see my elders, Eduard Ivik and my little sister Mabel Ruben.

Any concerns to my riding, any concerns brought up in my community tour will be brought up in this session that we are having now. So thank you, and hello to Nunakput. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to welcome to this House Mr. Paul McAdams, a resident of Fort Smith and works at Aurora College. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

I’d like to recognize Paul also. He was an instructor at Aurora College when a couple of us were there -- Mr. Beaulieu and myself -- and I’d like to welcome him to the House. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. It’s my understanding that the federal government is transferring $600,000 to the GNWT for the purposes of supporting immigrant and new Canadians transitioning into their new communities and country.

For the last two years, as I mentioned earlier, the Centre for Northern Families has been delivering a similar service, with a proven success rate. Earlier this year the centre actually made a proposal for $200,000 to Education, Culture and Employment, which is one-third of the total $600,000, and I believe it wasn’t supported. Could the Minister please commit to me today to review that proposal and work with the Centre for Northern Families to build upon their existing program and support immigrants using the money from the federal government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we do appreciate any additional funding from the federal government. With this $612,000 that has been allocated to the North for basic funding for settlement, anti-racism, enhanced language training an…(inaudible)…initiatives.

Those are federally funded directly to our NWT.

There are certain criteria and specific guidelines that we do follow, Mr. Speaker, and in the past ECE -- Education, Culture and Employment -- did provide a support letter for the Centre for Northern Families to access funding towards the federal government.

Also, our department has contributed funding towards this centre as well in the past and we continue to work with them through that fact. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to thank the Minister for that response. In just over two weeks the doors to the existing welcome centre will be closing. This will be a significant loss to the new immigrants coming to the Northwest Territories. To ensure continuity and support, will the Minister commit to providing funding to the Centre for Northern Families prior to February 28, 2009, so that it will be able to extend their lease and continue to provide services to new Canadians in their existing facility? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have to reflect on the federal funding that we received; the $612,000. As I stated earlier, there are funding criteria, the guidelines that we need to follow. We certainly cannot just give out the various funding to certain organizations because they would have to fall under the criteria, which at this time the centre does not fall under.

However, Mr. Speaker, the federal government has a settlement agreement to assist organizations such as the Centre for Northern Families to deliver programs and services for newcomers. So ECE staff continue to work with the Centre for Northern Families to access this funding as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I am happy to hear that. I think we need to do something quickly to support that organization, because two weeks isn’t very far away and they will be shutting their doors.

In the centre’s proposal they included a component about reaching out to other communities in the Northwest Territories, Hay River and Inuvik as examples, to help these communities establish services for recent immigrants there. Will the Minister commit to working with the Centre for Northern Families to provide outreach services to those regions of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Education, Culture and Employment does have service centres across the Northwest Territories that we work with, including, as the Member indicated, Hay River and Inuvik, to provide outreach services to all NWT residents. Providing services such as employment

development training opportunities. We will continue, as the Member indicated. ECE is committed to working with all non-government organizations to provide services and also program delivery across the Northwest Territories, including the Centre for Northern Families. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of the fact that this government is looking at the Nominee Program and immigration into the Northwest Territories as a reality, this is obviously an incredibly important initiative. What will the Minister do or what will the Minister and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment do to support the welcome centre and new immigrants into the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as Members are aware, we are in the process of initiating an Immigration Nominee Program and it is progressing well. We are working with other jurisdictions on that new initiative, and at the same time, we will continue. I will commit in this House to continue with working with the Centre for Northern Families, and their staff is also working closely with us, because we…This is an issue that we have focussed on as a department, as you know, with the new initiative, the Nominee Program. So this is one of the areas that we need to deal with and dealing with various organizations, we will continue to assist any way that we can. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation. Getting back to my Member’s statement, I would be the first person to stand up here and say we need to help our residents that are coping with these exorbitant power rates in the Northwest Territories. However, I don’t know if we should jump all over the first proposal that comes through our door. It seems to me that that is what we are doing. We are going to be discussing with ATCO a proposal, a merger proposal. There is a review team that’s been struck by the Government of the Northwest Territories. On that review team are four senior bureaucrats. I mentioned in my statement that I have a great deal of respect for each of those individuals; however, when you are dealing with a company the size of

ATCO and what is at stake in terms of for our residents, the government and the corporation itself, it would seem to me that the government would want persons on this review team that had a background in power distribution, sale or generation, and that’s not the case, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier, has the government got any thoughts in regard to putting some individuals on this working group that do have that background and ability in terms of power generation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the proposal that has been submitted, we are looking to have a review of it, as the Member has pointed out. We have a number of senior staff involved. We also have a past member of the Auditor General’s office as part of that review team.

We’ve also kept open the opportunity to have that type of experience the Member has spoken about when we need to bring them in on specific areas of the review. So we have kept the avenue open of bringing people in when required. Thank you.

Again, to protect the corporation, the residents and the Government of the Northwest Territories, I think these experts need to be plugged in, if you will, all throughout the entire process of this review. It sounds like they are going to go on maybe an issue-by-issue basis, but I don’t think that’s good enough, Mr. Speaker. I think we have an opportunity here perhaps, but we have to get it right. Again, I’d like to ask the Premier, can we get some people on this review team that have a background in power generation, sale and such? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The first part of looking at this proposal is, one, do we proceed any further than having a look at this? At that point, we would have to look at…If we are serious about this and get into an actual negotiation process, then we would definitely be bringing that type of expertise in. At this point, as we review this, we have left the ability there to hire expertise to help us out during this initial phase. Thank you.

If the Premier and the Minister responsible is reluctant to have this expertise there through the entire process, I am wondering if at the end of this review process of this proposal whether or not the government will go out for an independent review on the analysis that was done by both sides, by ATCO and by the Government of the Northwest Territories, for the NWT Power Corporation. Can we get an independent review of

the work that’s been done, that is going to be done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Before we go and want to do independent reviews and hire other people, the Member himself has said we need to put our own people to work and make them do their job. So here is one of those examples. As I stated and as we have let the information out, we’re going to have this initial review done, bring a report back to myself and I can go to Cabinet and then to Members and decide if we should pursue this to the next level. At that point we’ll decide if we need a further independent review, and that opportunity is available to us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I‘d like to ask the Minister responsible where the government stands in terms of looking at other proposals. This one is on the table, yes, but is the government willing to throw the doors open and go to a call for proposals once it establishes a terms of reference? Go out to other companies and see what the best deal is we can get for our residents. Thank you.

In fact, when I last met with the regional aboriginal leadership this issue of the Power Corporation came up and I informed them if they were interested in submitting a proposal, that we were open to that. So the fact is that since this has become public, we’ve let others know that we would look at proposals that would come forward that would work for us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

As I indicated in my Member’s statement today, there’s been a lot of concern raised about the imminent fallout of this global recession and how it might impact the North. It’d like to ask the Minister of ITI what mechanism does ITI have to gauge the degree of impact that may be being experienced out there in the business community in the Northwest Territories already to date? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, a large part of responsibility for

resource development lies with the federal government. We spend a large amount of time working with the federal government, so they would consider the impact of the global slowdown on the Northwest Territories. I think we’ve been successful with some of the recent announcements in the federal budget and also announcements with regard to a Northern Economic Development Agency for the North and for the extension of the Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development for five years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to ask the Minister if there are any known sources of additional lending capital for northern businesses. Now there is a limit, I’m sure, on what the BDIC has that loans or that applicants can subscribe to. Is the lending portfolio of the BDIC already fully subscribed? Has there been any thought given to an additional source of money for that lending fund? Thank you.

The last time I addressed the board of the BDIC I requested that they bring forward some recommendations as to how we as a government could assist the small northern businesses, and they’ve indicated that they would review this at their board meeting. They’ve also advised that the lending rates of the board, of the BDIC, have been reduced to coincide with the reductions of the Bank of Canada.

As well, we do have the Opportunities Fund that we have moved to make a passive fund more active and we will be working with the standing committee on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister also made reference to a federal program. I didn’t catch the exact name of it, but I was wondering if he could elaborate on it. Would it be something similar to the former Economic Development Agreement, which was a joint lending pool that was co-managed by the territorial and federal governments? Is that something that has been announced? Is it in the works? When will it become available? Thank you.

There were two parts to the federal announcement. One was the extension of the SINED program, which is Strategic Investments for Northern Economic Development. That’s $90 million over five years and that’s spread between the three territories. So essentially it’s about $6 million a year for the Northwest Territories for each year over five years. This is something that in the past was part of the EDA, except for the SINED, it’s delivered by the federal government.

Also, the Northern Economic Development Agency, where it hasn’t been determined where it will be located, but that agency has $10 million annually

allocated to it. My speculation is that it will operate something similar to the Western Arctic Diversification Fund or FedNor, some of those regional economic development programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the Minister of ITI also has a panel that advises him on matters related to the economy. I’d like to know if that panel is still in place and have they met and has he received any feedback from them since this rather quickly...The onset of this recession and the escalating effects of it have been quite sudden. Has he had a chance to receive any feedback from that panel?

We’ve had very good response to a request to establish a ministerial advisory panel and we’ve now had nominations from all of the requested parties. We propose to have a meeting after both the federal and the territorial budgets were released, and we’re working to have a meeting in the very near future with the ministerial advisory panel to get some feedback as to what this government could be doing to deal with the slowdown.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Premier and is in regard to the statement I made and other Members have made in this House today. It is with regard to the Main Street Chipseal Program that was announced in previous governments and has been concluded with the income of this government.

I’d like to ask the Premier, with the $185 million under the Building Canada Fund and now with the timeline that we’re under to come forward and expend those dollars over the next two years, will the Premier consider looking at reinstating the Main Street Chipseal Program, of which a lot of legwork has already been done? We have identified 15 communities in the Northwest Territories and we did do the assessment work to implement this program. I’d like to ask the Premier if he will seriously consider looking at the possibility of reinstating this program so the communities can chipseal their main streets and, more importantly, deal with dust control in our communities.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To give the Minister the right information I’ll redirect that question to Minister Michael McLeod, who is the lead Minister on the Building Canada Fund and the work that’s been done in that area.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of dust and dust control in communities has been around for some time now, and this government, around 2003, had set up a program that would deal with putting chipseal on the main streets of our communities. That program has since wrapped up in 2007. The whole funding allocation to the communities has changed and over the last while, communities are getting funded on a formula basis. We’ve also increased the dollars available for capital from what was $17 million historically to $28 million now. We’ve also incorporated a Gas Tax Program through the federal government that provides, I think this year it’s going to be $15 million, and we also have the Building Canada Fund.

There is a lot of avenue for communities to spend money on chipseal. With the Building Canada money specifically, we work with the NWT Association of Communities and all the communities of the Northwest Territories to see what their priorities were in terms of bringing projects forward.

The initial request was to have the money flow on a formula basis that was outright rejected by the federal government. Communities then submitted projects and we have received 22 communities’ budgets and only one of those has included a dust suppressant. I think there is a huge shift now that the communities have dollars at their disposal. They can decide through their capital plan to use it on dust.

It would all be well if everybody had the capacity to take on this project, but the reason the dust control project was put with the Department of Transportation was because they had the engineering, design, and ability to lay chipseal. Most of the assessment work and design work was done by the Department of Transportation on behalf of MACA. I think the whole reason for that is because the communities do not have the capacity to do it in-house.

I’d like to ask the Minister again, knowing that there is one community that has requested $6 million to pave their streets, why is it that the 15 communities that requested the program that expired in 2007

have not had this program reinstated and funded through the Building Canada Fund, and not burden the communities with having to go back and do their reassessments and designs of the work that has already been done? The work’s already been done. Let’s get on with it.

I can’t explain why the communities set their priorities the way they did. I can explain that rather than having a $1 million budget for dust control in communities, a chipseal program, and $17 million earmarked for capital for a total of $18 million, we are now providing $49 million a year annually. Communities certainly have the avenue and the opportunity to use it on chipseal. I want to assure the Member that a lot of the communities are doing just that. They’re including it in the capital plan. But the Building Canada Fund has come forward with other options. There is one community that has identified it. We certainly can raise it with the Minister of MACA. We can certainly bring it to the attention of the NWT Association of Communities. But I don’t think the communities are going to shift their priorities.

Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like a copout from this government to really do anything for small communities. Mr. Speaker, our communities are running a deficit at this time. They do not have the capacity to spend $5 million on chipseal in our communities, so let’s be realistic here. I’d like to ask the Minister, will you implement and reinstate this program and I’d like to know why it is that you are allowing one community to go ahead with a $6 million investment in chipseal of not allowing communities who do not have the capacity and this department does, for them to reinstate this program that was already in place beforehand.

Mr. Speaker, the situation has changed significantly since the Members looked at the program. Mr. Speaker, at the time, as indicated, the communities only had $17 million at their disposal for capital and only $1 million for the chipseal program. They are now at around $49 million a year for capital. That includes chipseal and we certainly have the opportunity to pay for the capacity that they require. Historically, they didn’t have that. It’s a whole new ballgame, Mr. Speaker. The communities are funded so they can deal with the capital issues and pressures in the communities, but they have to decide what their priorities are. Thank you.

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

I thought the Minister was responsible for Transportation, not MACA, yet he seems like he is the Minister of MACA. So I’d like

to ask the Minister of Transportation, could you get the work that has been done and give that information to communities in regards to the assessment reports, the planning that was done to identify chipseal for 15 communities in the Northwest Territories, so that those communities can use that work so they basically don’t have to go out and redo all this work again? The government has already put efforts in that by way of Transportation where they have done assessments and design for 15 communities. Will the Minister commit to that?

I realize I am not the Minister of MACA, but he is asking me questions that kind of fall into the area of Building Canada. Mr. Speaker, that information I believe has already been provided to communities and I can certainly follow up with MACA to see if that has not been done in certain communities and assure the Member that they will receive the information in a timely fashion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, the majority of people in the House have jumped through all the hoops required and so on to urge a milk subsidy be given serious consideration. I am wondering if the Minister of Health has investigated the possibility of a milk subsidy program where needed, whether it’s been considered as part of the Healthy Foods North Program, and whether the federal Minister of Health, who is a Northerner and surely understands this issue thoroughly, has been approached. What is the progress on this? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The House’s recommendation and discussions on this issue have been before the Strategic Initiative Committee and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has been analyzing and reviewing the possibility of this initiative. I believe the costs have been worked out to be about $1.3 million. I can advise the Member that this idea is under active consideration, but no decision has been made. Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister of Health for that word. That is good news. Clearly there is a desire out there. We have spoken clearly on this. What additional information is needed to

make this a go decision and perhaps if this is...the Minister of ECE, that would be more appropriate; whatever. Has there been a consideration of tuning up the Food Mail Program as part of this as well? Thank you.

There is the issue of funding to deliver such a program as well as lots of details about how this program could and would be delivered if we were able to do it. Right now it is under the jurisdiction of the Income Security Program with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I will make the commitment to follow up with the Member and I will discuss that issue also with the Minister of ECE. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. I was assuming since the cost estimate had been derived there has been some research and decisions on how to do this, but maybe that is not the case. In terms of cost, I think the Minister must realize that there are big returns to be had here. To me this is not really subsidy. It is an investment that will give us big returns. Our health care costs in the communities are very high; travel associated with them and so on. This is great, where we want to get at the problem. This is a very precise piece of action that can give immediate results. Does the Minister realize this? Is that the perspective which is being used in approaching this subsidy? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, on the larger picture...Obviously I could say yes, Mr. Speaker, that the department and the government is very aware and focussed on the idea that we need to improve the quality of the food that our residents eat and consume healthy eating, healthy living. We all know that if our residents eat healthily, live actively and drink less and smoke none, we know that that is the fastest way to get to a healthier population. The department does send and invest lots of money to encourage people to do that. We are talking about providing certain food substances. I think good arguments could be made that there are lots of other stuff than food that our people should be able to be provided with.

The government as a whole is working on reducing power rates through subsidy of commercial power. The Minister of ECE is actively looking at this file under this responsibility. I expect that we should be going back to the Members with where we are and how we move forward as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those are all good points that the Minister raises and I

don’t want to take away from those many good programs. We need to keep doing those as well. I would be happy to debate milk against any other subsidy that we might think of in terms of food, but I am sure the Minister recognizes that as well. When can we expect to see those results coming forward? Thank you.

I will say that I don’t have a specific date. I will follow up with the Member on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, during my Member’s statement I talked about the Taltson expansion, and wish to make sure it is officially and clearly on the record I am definitely in favour of the expansion of the Taltson project. That is certainly not my issue whatsoever. The issue really in front that I want to draw attention to is that if we run the power route only around Great Slave Lake through the East Arm, really it is only benefiting one customer, which is the diamond mine. I am taking the position that maybe that is not thought out sort of the bigger picture, which is what is it for, which is to help the people of the North as well. I would like to see the people supported first and equally. The diamond mine corporations will be using them as paid customers to help to pay for this. Mr. Speaker, if the final recommendation in the next little while comes forward that states that the East Arm route is the only route they are proposing, would the Minister advise ITI...Would Minister Bob McLeod be taking to Cabinet a new position, saying that over the islands and towards the North Slave region so you can hook up to the largest customers would be the new proposed route that Cabinet would be willing to support to benefit all residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Taltson expansion transmission line is presently undergoing environmental assessment. There is a desktop analysis being undertaken, at the direction of the environmental assessment, to look at additional routes for the transmission lines. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My first question is, if it was a question, would be which route would be assessed? But, Mr. Speaker, it is on the street

already that the route has already been chosen and the recommendation will be the one that goes through the national park around the East Arm. I am taking the position, that is, of course, if that rumour turns out to be fact. Would the Minister representing this issue be saying, wait a minute? That doesn’t help the majority of citizens of the Northwest Territories and it doesn’t create a grid which helps lower overall costs in the Northwest Territories. Would he consider that position as a Cabinet position, just in case it is around the lake is the only option presented to this assessment? Thank you.

There are plans to give an additional updated briefing to committee with regards to the Taltson expansion. It is quite a complicated matter that presently what is being looked at that is the business case to go take a transmission line to the diamond mines. There is a corridor through the East Arm expansion, and the main consideration is the significant extra cost to look at different options going around the lake. The way it was set up was that the Hydro Act was split up so it would be paid by commercial users such as the diamond mines versus communities. The big question is if you go around the lake, there is significant more expense and there are significantly less customers to pay for the transmission line. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement, I said we have all heard about the road to nowhere, the bridge to nowhere and certainly if something happens to that sort of diamond area and some of those diamond mine companies have trouble in the economic world as we are experiencing now, we will have a power line to nowhere. Mr. Speaker, that is why I am suggesting that there are other routes such as over the islands that could hook up and create a grid with some of the largest customers in the Northwest Territories such as the North Slave Region, which could hook up other mines, not just diamond mines as well as Ingraham Trail customers. Mr. Speaker, is that area of consideration a reality from this Minister’s point of view to be a potential or real option in this routing? Thank you.

The numbers that we have seen with the preliminary analysis of the four proposed hypothetical transmission routes would indicate that it is very expensive and it will come down to whether it would be seen as a feasible investment for developing those transmission lines in view of the number of customers if you went around the lake.

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

Mr. Speaker, I’ll be quick. I’m not suggesting going all the way around the long way, around the lake. I’m talking about taking a shortcut over some of the islands which plop you right into the north side region quite quickly.

Mr. Speaker, half the population lives in this region; more than 50 percent of the North lives in this region. Where should this government be investing its money and its future into? Four potential diamond mines or at least more than 50 percent of the customers of the North Slave. Which area will the Minister be supporting? Thank you.

I’ll be supporting a business case that would see a successful expansion of the Taltson and where the government and Power Corporation can make money.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of MACA and I think I want to specify the current Minister of MACA, not the Minister of Transportation.

I’d like to follow up on some questions that I posed about a year ago; questions related to amendments to the Commissioner’s Land Act. It’s my understanding that the Department of MACA is currently considering amendments to the act. I think the Minister should be aware of the huge impact on the environment that abandoned development sites, mine sites have and of the financial impact that these site cleanups can have on our government’s financial bottomline. At the moment, there is no provision for security to be provided by an existing or a developer, a mine company to provide security to the government for any cleanup costs that might be encountered when they leave the site.

I’d like to ask the Minister whether the amendments to the Commissioner’s Land Act that are being proposed will include wording to ensure financial security for the GNWT in respect to mining developments and other land leases and cleanup costs that might be associated. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner’s Land Act, as it’s being proposed now, I think there has always been regulations in

there to require performance security, but if we’re having to put it into legislation...This is an act that’s going to be going before committee and they will have an opportunity for input before it goes out on the road. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister, for that response, and I appreciate that it’s going to go to committee. I do know that the power is there in the regulations that are there currently, but it’s not being used by the department and that’s a problem. That’s why I think it needs to be put into the act itself. The Minister suggested it’s coming to standing committee and I’d like to know when Members can expect that changes to the act will be brought to the standing committee.

We’re looking for introduction of the bill in the winter of 2009, so the committee should be seeing the amendments and the legislative proposal very soon. Thank you.

I guess I’d like to know if the Minister can advise whether or not, in his opinion or in the opinion of the department, that the power that’s currently in the regulations is sufficient or whether or not the department is going to recommend a change in the word of the act itself to cover off the financial security that’s required for these cleanup costs. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, if it’s found that we need to have these as formal legislation instead of just a regulation, if that is what committee would come back with and that would be their recommendation, then it’s something that the department would have to look at and implement into the actual legislation itself, if it gives the security of knowing that performance security is required on these lands. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Mr. Speaker, it’s nice to know that in our new spirit of cooperation the Minister is actually going to listen to the recommendation of the standing committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. I didn’t hear a question there. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

I’d like to ask the Minister of MACA some questions. During the Premier’s recent visit to Fort Simpson, the LKFN raised some land issues and band taxation issues. Subsequently, we received that letter from the Minister of MACA saying that currently, at this time, they won’t be

entertaining any land transfers. I’d like to ask the Minister if he will look at this issue that is of primary importance to the Liidlii Kue First Nations. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, again in the spirit of cooperation, we will commit to having a look at this, and it’s something that we have to work with the federal government on at the same time. Thank you.

It almost sounds like a commitment there.

---Laughter

He’s just got to take that next step. Mr. Speaker, I’m glad that he’s willing to look at that and I think that’s exactly what’s needed, is to work with the federal government. I’d like to ask the Minister to help the community organize such a meeting where the federal lands people are at the table along with the GNWT and the Village of Fort Simpson so that they can identify these lands that have issues and direct some action on it. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’m getting closer and closer to a commitment here, but I will advise the Member that I will speak to my officials at MACA and have them try and coordinate a meeting with the feds and with the community of Fort Simpson to see what kind of plan they can come up with so we can move forward on this issue. Thank you.

The community will certainly be looking forward to that meeting. In the early ‘80s there was an actual land transfer swap that happened where some band lands were swapped for Commissioner’s land and federal land, only to address this very same situation. That’s the type of resolution we’re looking for. I’d like to ask the Minister if that can be the goal of that meeting. Thank you.