Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, I had the pleasure of returning home to attend and help out the Connie Loutit Memorial Soccer Tournament.

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Loutit was a secretary at the Bompas School, and the manager of their family plumbing company. She was very active in the community, whether it was sports, school, or community events that improved youths' lives. Her and her husband have two daughters who love soccer, and she could be seen at every game. She was very supportive, did a lot of fundraising and chaperoning through her life. To keep her memory alive, the Mackenzie Recreation Association asked the family if they could name the annual soccer event after her.

This year, they had 20 teams from Hay River, Detah/Ndilo, Fort Resolution, Fort Liard, Saamba K'e, and Fort Simpson, plus athletes from Wrigley, Nahanni Butte, and Whitehorse, a total of 140 athletes. This year, each community was successful in winning at least one banner for their community.

Similar to the Paul Stipdonk Memorial Tournament, it was a great weekend of soccer, but most importantly, connecting old and new friends. Arriving at about 9:30 on Friday, I came into the community hall, and all I heard was a lot of laughter and chatter among the athletes and fans. It was great to see. As well, I was honoured to have the athletes and coaches take the time to catch up with me.

As the previous tournament, the parents and fans came out in full force to support all the teams. The whole weekend was full of "oohs" and "aahs" cheering for each team. I had a number of coaches and referees and athletes comment on how friendly the fans were throughout the weekend. I'm proud to say my home is in Nahendeh riding.

Mr. Speaker, to help the athletes recognize Connie Loutit and Paul Stipdonk, and help future athletes understand why these tournaments are named after them, the organizers are going to make a plaque and a brochure and a poster that will be hung at the recreation centre.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the following:

● the referees;

● the Fort Simpson Speed Skating Club;

● the Dehcho Friendship Centre;

● Thomas Simpson School;

● the recreation staff;

● Brendan Welly;

● MACA sport and recreation funding; and

● the Mackenzie Recreation Association.

A special thanks to Jackie Whelly, Ashley Gillis, and Nathan MacPherson. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Colleagues, I'd like to draw your attention to people in the gallery. We have with us, Dolphus Nitsiza, Behchoko constituents. Masi for joining us. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and you beat me to it, but I would also like to recognize Denae Lafferty, resident of Kam Lake and my constituent; and I'd also like to recognize the grade 6 students who were here from Ecole St. Joseph School earlier today. Thank you.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going to do it on Thursday, but I guess I will do it today and I can embarrass Briann Nelson and Hailey Sassie, both from Fort Liard, who are pages here. Briann was actually one of the individuals I was talking about who won the opportunity as part of the NEG Games team. Thank you very much for being here.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Did we miss anyone in the gallery? Welcome to our Chambers. Always good to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my question are for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, my first question to the Minister is: what is the status of the marine resupply contract? Thank you, Mr. Speaker?

Minister of Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is presently in the process of entering into a contract with the staffing contractor to provide crew, operations of tugs to operate the tugs and the barges for this year, and we are hoping to have that in place this week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my second question is: when will the barging schedule be drafted and shared with the public so the communities and suppliers can start preparing?

Traditionally, NTCL publish their sailing schedule closing to the operating season, in May, if I remember correctly, of each year. The government is committed to providing a firm sailing schedule prior to that date. I know the people in the Department of Public Works and Services who are taking on this work are working very hard and diligently to put this altogether so we can come up with a schedule that will satisfy the communities and staff so they can start their planning session. We are hoping to have something out to them by April.

That's very helpful, Mr. Speaker. My third question is: what steps is the government taking to ensure that, under the new contract, the price of petroleum products and other goods will be kept at levels that are similar to previous years?

As I had the opportunity in committee to explain some of this stuff, the department is looking at all aspects of costing out of revenues and expenses moving forward. There are a number of business opportunities that have also come forward since the purchase of these assets, and we believe that, if these come to fruition, it will help spread the cost out and keep the fuel prices down to where they are, close to the present levels, subject to the markets on the fuel in the open market.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response, Mr. Speaker. More of a comment than a question, Mr. Speaker. My final question is: when will further information be available to Regular Members? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I committed to keeping committee well-informed as we move forward, as we secure opportunities of different types of revenue of moving forward, the sailing schedule, the staffing issues and stuff, and in the coming months and weeks I am hoping to update committee on where we are at with these new assets.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do know that the negotiations with Saskatchewan have occurred and are expected to resume this year. We have had some preliminary discussions with the Government of Nunavut to start the work towards a Transboundary Water Agreement. We do have an existing bilateral water agreement with the Yukon. This was signed in 2002. We are having discussions with the Yukon regarding the renegotiation of this agreement to better align it with the other agreements that we are working on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for his response. It looks like we have at least one of the three in active negotiations. That is helpful information. I wish the Minister could put that sort of detail on the departmental website.

Have water quality objectives and learning plans been started under any of the existing agreements with Alberta and British Columbia?

We are still a little early in the process. We do have the representatives on the board. They are continuing to meet. I will get an update on the plan, and I will share those with committee.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. These agreements have been in place now for about a year and a half with Alberta and BC, and I really look forward to getting that information, and hope that the work has actually started. We actually have a more environmentally friendly regime in Alberta right now, and I would have thought we could make very good progress towards full implementation of that agreement. Are the bilateral management committees under the Alberta and B.C. agreements actually set up, and are they meeting?