Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to be clear, I do not have any reins when it comes to telecommunications. There's a little thing called a constitution and the jurisdiction over this is exclusively with the federal government. That said, Mr. Speaker, under the Department of Finance, we do have the Office of the Chief Information Officer. The OCIO does represent us with respect to northern interests on internet broadband. And we were able to get a bit of information and some support with respect to telecommunications radio -- or rather with radio broadcasting. So in that regard, while this isn't going to be a Cabinet position, and again very clearly do not have that constitutional authority, I have indicated, and I will be writing a letter outlining the position -- a general position of support to the FM license application that's been put forward. Thank you.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that excellent explanation. I said in my statement that while I respect the authority of the CRTC, I disagree with their decision in this case. Can the Minister tell us whether Cabinet is going to do anything about this CRTC decision, and if so, what? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I don't really have any authority and don't have the authority constitutionally to do anything per se. That said, Mr. Speaker, having the opportunity to raise the issue publicly, as the Member's doing here, probably is one of the strongest things we can do to get all of the public aware, and they can make their own choices and decisions and participate as members of the public vis-a-vie the federal government in terms of raising the voices from the North. As I've indicated, we certainly can write in general with respect to this decision, keeping in mind that it is a decision by an administrative body and that does put some obligation to be respectful, given that we are, again, also a level of government that is not directly responsible. But having this conversation here, again, Mr. Speaker, there's a lot that members of the public may want to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am also aware of the appointments to the CRTC insofar as they are known on the internet. The federal government does not have an obligation to come to me with respect to their decisions over who they appoint. They are appointments done by the Canadian heritage minister, federal Canadian heritage minister so, again, they're five-year appointments. It may well be that it's an opportunity to put forward some names if people in the Northwest Territories are interested in this area. I would certainly be interested in hearing from them or hearing about them. But, again, it's an appointment made by a federal minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. Glad that the Minister offered a free advertisement there for people interested in the CRTC and that Cabinet's willing to maybe even nominate some people. That's great.

So when this subject was last raised in this House a couple weeks ago, the Minister committed to write a letter to, quote, "comment upon or to express some concern around this decision," end of quote. So I think the Minister said that she hasn't written the letter but can the Minister actually confirm that she does intend to write this letter, and will she commit to table it in the House before we break on March 9th? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department and I do have a draft letter that we are working on. It will be ready I think by the end of today or tomorrow. I am mindful again that this is a federal adjudicative body that has made an adjudicative decision whether or not we may now agree with it. And so in my role, I do want to be conscious of what I comment upon and how I do so. When I made that determination, I'd certainly be, if it's appropriate, happy to table it or at the very least to share it with Members confidentially. But, again, this is a good opportunity to let members of the public more broadly know that they certainly can also lend their voices if they may choose to do so, depending upon how they feel about the matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.