Thank you. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to have a look into this. If there's the only one posted there, certainly there are other agreements that have been signed off and have been in place for a number of years and I will ensure that the ones that are signed off and in place, that we will have them posted on the website. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can assure the Minister that all those agreements are there, but most of them are unsigned, most of them are undated. I had to go to secondary sources to try to actually find out when they signed, like, news releases and so on. In any event, I look forward to having them all there.

As I raised in my statement earlier today, there are few, if any, legally binding commitments in the current socio-economic agreements. Can the Minister confirm these agreements are really best-efforts arrangements with few, if any, specific binding commitments with penalties and sanctions for non-compliance?

These socio-economic agreements that we have in place, which benefit Northern businesses, Aboriginal groups, and Northern people, are a great partnership, and that's how the Government of the Northwest Territories looks at these agreements. We take the partnership approach to it and corroboration and collaboration with these companies to try to bring as much investment and employment opportunities and business opportunities to the residents of the Northwest Territories, and that's the basis of these agreements.

That's great that these are partnerships, but when people don't live up to them there have got to be some sanctions there or some way of ensuring compliance again.

So there's a mix of commitments in terms of office locations and functions in the current socio-economic agreements. When I looked at the Voisey's Bay development agreement and our inability to retain head offices for large resource development projects, what is the Minister prepared to do to ensure that there are no further main office closures in Yellowknife by resource developers?

These are agreements that are presently in place. When they were signed back in the early 90s and later 90s, we never had the regulatory authority over this; this was done under the federal government, the system that was in place at that time, and we have to live up to what was taking place then. When we move forward, as we try to attract new mining companies to the Northwest Territories, we will try to enshrine the stuff that's important to Northerners and the Northwest Territories and ensure we get the best deal for the people of the North.

Thank you, Minister. Final question, Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, monsieur le President. Glad to hear the Minister say that we're going to start being a little bit tougher with our negotiations so that we can retain more of the benefits here for Northerners.

One way to perhaps help that: can the Minister commit to having a thorough and independent review of our socio-economic agreements conducted so we can learn from others and our own mistakes, and will he agree to make such a review public? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

As we move forward with the new socio-economic agreements with up-and-coming mining companies, some of this conversation is already taking place with the potential new mines that are in place and negotiations are under way. As for the Member's comments of having a full review, I'm not committed to doing that just yet. We have to get our mine regulations and stuff in place, as devolution has come upon us and we have to work on how we're going to make our House better; once that sort of stuff is in place, then we can have a better look at it.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's statement. I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. I'd like to ask the Minister: how frequently are contracts for ice road construction and maintenance awarded? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Minister of Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to probably look into that. I imagine every section may have different appendices to it, but if he wants to ask on a specific contract I can look into that for the Member. Thank you.

How does the department plan to award the contract for the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, maintenance contract?

We're waiting to have the completion of that road. We are having a hard look at how we are going to tender this process out for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. It is no different than any other contract, and it will have to follow our procurement steps as laid out by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

I would like to ask the Minister: will the Minister award the contract for the maintenance of the ice road between Aklavik and Inuvik to an Aklavik contractor, since the road primarily serves the residents of Aklavik?

As the Member knows, the section of road between Aklavik and Inuvik right now is between two different contractors, but the one section that is closer to Inuvik is the part that goes to the Tuktoyaktuk section, which will be closed off after this winter season with the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. The present contractor for the majority of the road is from Aklavik. He presently has the contract, and I believe he has three more years, roughly, remaining on his contract. What I will do is have a look at that once the Inuvik section is done and see what we are going to do.

Thank you, Minister. Final question, Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about 30 kilometres of road, here, that is to the junction of the Aklavik turn-off. I don't see why we can't just add this to the remaining contract, which is majority to the Aklavik contractor. Will the Minister ensure that this is straightened out before the fall? As you know, it is on that section of road to Tuktoyaktuk that will be no longer needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, there are two contractors on that section. The last 30 kilometres in the Inuvik section is a different contractor. Once the contract is done, at the remainder of this winter road, we will have a look at economies of scale. It probably makes more sense to have one contractor for that whole section of road versus two, but I will have to have a look at it when the time comes.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, I talked about volunteerism, and my questions will be for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. During the 2016 nomination period, how many people and organizations were nominated for the awards that the department issued? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through the 2016 nomination period, actually 23 nominations in total were received for the four awards: 10 were from elders; 11 were individuals; one group applicant; and one youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.