Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am pleased to welcome a premier event for the Northwest Territories and Yellowknife. As a result of the efforts of Penny Johnson, president of the Northwest Territories Speed Skating Association, Speedskate Canada, the sport's governing body which represents speedskating in all the provinces and territories, is holding its annual general meeting in Yellowknife from June 22 to June 25 at the Yellowknife Inn. This is the first time, Mr. Speaker, that a national sport organization has held a national AGM in any territory.

I would like to recognize the president of Speedskate Canada, John Cavar, and the director general, Jean Dupre, for bringing this meeting to Yellowknife.

In addition, there are more than 70 participants from across Canada, including speedskating world champions and olympic gold medalists Jeremy Wotherspoon, Catrina Le May Doan and Francois Drolet.

Northwest Territories president Penny Johnson, Karen Polakoff from Inuvik and Karen McGee of Yellowknife, are the Northwest Territories representatives. The Speedskate Canada business meeting will also include workshops on competitions, gender equity and a soccer game involving the Olympic medalists and local speedskaters. At the awards banquet, the keynote speaker is the Northwest Territories' own Olympic champion, Sharon Firth, who distinguished herself in cross-country skiing for many years.

Mr. Speaker, at the last Arctic Winter Games, Northwest Territories speedskaters scooped 14 out of a possible 16 medals for the Northwest Territories. David McCann, of Yellowknife, is currently training in Montreal in an attempt to gain national and international recognition. It should be noted that the coaching in the Northwest Territories is provided entirely by volunteers.

Mr. Speaker, Northwest Territories speedskating programs are active in Fort Liard, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Hay River, Dettah, Ndilo and Yellowknife. That the program is developing so rapidly across the Territory is a testimony to the excellent efforts of the many volunteers and coaches.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories has tremendous opportunities in the area of tourism development, including the meeting and convention trade. A convention of this nature is a tremendous example of our capacity to expand our business and gain further recognition for the Northwest Territories. We are confident they will enjoy, and long remember the Speedskate Canada Conference here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to put one more topic forward. Anticipating these four projects are attracting and have the potential to attract hundreds of workers and provide sustainable jobs to the Northwest Territories, what kind of approach is the department considering, if any, to work with communities, other sectors of the Northwest Territories, to work with the employers to help attract and keep these people in the Northwest Territories as residents. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As my colleagues have observed, there are many areas of the department that we are asked to look at. I would like to focus on one area, the diamond industry. We have been subject to an interesting and unfortunate surge here in the Northwest Territories in the last five of six years, faced with two very distinct surges, booms if you will, in the mining sector and the upcoming oil and gas sector.

I do not want to suggest that one is better than the other, but I would like to look at the sustainability and the job quota that we can see over the long term from the diamond industry. With the announcement this week from the Jericho Developments which, although it is on the Nunavut side, I think will be relying very heavily on the Northwest Territories infrastructure to supply and build that mine, we are now looking at four very feasible projects.

I anticipate a life of 50 plus years for diamond mining in the Northwest Territories. The Minister suggested that this year, the diamond division of the department has four mandates. I wanted to support all of those. I think they are going in the right direction. I think they are going to have payoffs in the long run. However, I did want to ask the Minister a specific question. In his remarks, he referred to implementing a monitoring program for Northwest Territories diamond manufacturers. Could the Minister give us a bit more detail as to what he means by a monitoring program, and how is this going to create a value-added industry for the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My supplementary is in regard to the wishes of every employer in the North, to have a workforce with a strong representation of the people in the North. Would the Premier consider consulting with other employers to standardize a definition of aboriginal, northern and other categories of workers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the clarification. I would like to redirect that question to the Minister responsible for Financial Management Board Secretariat.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. It refers to affirmative action. Mr. Speaker, the policy that the government has now targets specific groups that are under-represented within the public service.

In view of the fact that this government negotiates socio-economic agreements with various private sector resource developers to increase aboriginal and northern employment, would the Minister please advise whether the Government of the Northwest Territories has a standard definition of what constitutes a northern resident or an affirmative action employee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Bill Lafferty from Fort Simpson, a director and former MLA; Ellen Smith from Inuvik, a director; Helen Gruben from Tuktoyuktuk, a director; Don Hunter from Yellowknife, also a director; and Barb Hood, the executive director.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Towards a Better Tomorrow, the vision document of this Assembly, acknowledges the key role and the value of human resources in the Northwest Territories in the development of this new Territory as we seek to realize the potential of our great land.

For the Government of the Northwest Territories, our direct instrument in carrying out our policies and projects, implementing laws and regulations, is the public service of the Northwest Territories.

There are some 3,000 government positions representing more than seven percent of the population of public policy for our government. In reviewing Towards a Better Tomorrow, I believe a higher profile, greater credibility and recognition should be attached to the role of the public service.

As a result of the division of the Territories, the government's position of severe financial restraint in the past few years, decentralization and increased expectations of the public and politicians, has resulted in dramatic and often unsettling impacts on the public service.

The Auditor General of Canada has recently observed on the negative impact of the loss of senior, long-term public servants in the federal government. Closer to home, the Northwest Territories public service has suffered similar losses of senior, long-term management employees, eroding our corporate memory and contributing to further instability and decreased productivity. The ever-present uncertainty of job cuts as a result of the need to find additional budget reductions by departments is causing a further decline in morale and productivity.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the Northwest Territories offers exciting new employment opportunities in the private and aboriginal organization sectors. This further adds to the difficulty for our public service to attract qualified and experienced employees. The southern employment situation with expanding economies will see further difficulty for us in attracting much-needed health care and other qualified professionals to our Territory. There are a number of aspects of the public service which are of concern to me. Principally, I lend my support to the concept of a Public Service Commission or labour relations board.

In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge the tremendous support and dedication, Mr. Speaker, of the public service of this government to the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The interests and the concerns of the tourism industry are very diverse. I would still press the question, Mr. Speaker, which comes first, the strategic plan or the hotel tax? Which comes first?