Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As politicians we all must be impeccable with our words. Our residents listen closely to what we say and make personal and professional decisions based on what they hear in this House and statements quoted in the press. This is especially true for Ministers. When a Minister or one of his or her staff makes a statement to people of the Northwest Territories, those people take those statements at face value. As a result, there is significant value in thinking about the statement and understanding the ramifications of the words before making them public.

Unfortunately, from time to time incorrect statements are made by Ministers and/or their representatives, statements which only residents rely on in good faith and make decisions which ultimately hurt them, decisions they wouldn’t have made had they not received incorrect information from the GNWT. When people rely on incorrect statements from Ministers or their staff to their detriment, that Minister and department have a responsibility to work with that resident to mitigate the damage as much as possible.

Precedent has already been set. There was a significant flood in Hay River during the 2007-2008 fiscal year. After the flood a representative from MACA met with affected residents and provided them with some incorrect information indicating that many of them would be covered for flood repairs. These individuals relied on this incorrect information and made the repairs believing they would be reimbursed. Afterward they were told by MACA that they would not, in compliance with their

policies and procedures, be reimbursed as originally promised.

Fortunately, the new appointed Minister of MACA, R.C. McLeod, recognized that these individuals relied on this information to their detriment, showed some common sense and compassion, and arranged for the promised reimbursements. This was the right thing to do and I imagine that MACA will be very clear on policy direction to residents in this area in the future.

Recently a similar situation has occurred. During a barren-ground caribou meeting on December 18, 2008, a senior ENR official informed attendees that their access to tags -- 750 in total -- would not change for the 2009 or the 2010 hunting seasons. These outfitters relied on this information and proceeded to book hunts for the 2010 season. Then the Minister put in the emergency measures cutting them off completely. As a result, outfitters who relied on the department’s information and commitments are facing significant financial challenges as a result of returning deposits which had already been spent as part of doing normal business. They would not have booked these hunts had ENR not indicated...