Given that the whole government can see this except this side of the House, I'm wondering if the Minister could share with us what are the major elements that the paper will address when finally delivered. Mahsi.

Another commitment not made and this is what's slowing us down on our work to deal with the cost of living, environmental issues and so on and causing people to leave or not come to the North. So, very disappointing.

I'm wondering: will the paper, should it be done soon, as the Minister indicates it might be, actually prepare the 18^th Assembly to efficiently do what we have not done, and that is put an effective and timely act into place.

So, will the promised discussion paper be comprehensive, ready and waiting and enabling for the 18^th Assembly as they begin their work? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on questions I started last week with the Minister of Public Works and Services on the Energy Efficiency Act and discussion paper. The other day the Minister outlined some of things we have done to reduce energy consumption. I was pleased to hear of that progress. However, we've got a long overdue Energy Efficiency Act and a commitment to getting that in place. Since we didn't do that, we committed to at least doing a discussion paper. Where is that promised document for our review? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Weledeh constituent Dawn Moses. Dawn I don't think is the sister of my colleague here. Dawn is actually a Jane Glassco Northern Fellow of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation in policy and leadership development, so I am very proud to have her as a constituent.

I'd also like to recognize any other Weledeh constituents I'm not aware of in the audience and also, of course, congratulate all those who are winners of the Culture and Heritage Awards.

I'd also like to recognize Denise McKee and all her work on behalf of the people with disabilities. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier's proclaimed legacy of the 17^th is devolution of powers from the federal government to the people of the North, but this claim remains a mirage, something shaky and blurry seen on a far off horizon. Like so many of the pickles we find ourselves in and leaving for the 18^th to deal with, we allowed Mr. Harper to dictate our actions. The results are no surprise: First Nations groups left out in the cold, federal legislation on which to manage our lands and resources, a government that listens to Northerners worse than Ottawa does. Are our people better off now than before devolution? I think not.

Devolve and evolve, the Premier said. We will make it made-in-the-North legislation entirely our own, and once the federal legislation had been adopted, he even sponsored a website over the summer so people could give up their time to wade through the highly technical laws and sets of regulations. So, dedicated souls actually did comment, but to no effect. The public soon discerned that this was a hollow offer, a political gesture and the McLeod government had no intent to make this legislation our own.

It remains incomprehensible to me that we can mirror federal legislation without any plan to have an immediate and thorough review of it by the people of the Northwest Territories. What concerns me now is that this government is finding the Harper approach of control and direction much more to their liking than taking things to the people and responding to the public voice. We now hear our leaders parrot the same old things as Ottawa. We need to streamline, reduce regulations that were designed to protect the land and ensure local control of the pace and scale of development. We need to pass laws that subsidize multi-nationals and allow us to get in bed with them to build them big costly infrastructure, or even to train wee children's minds with corporate logos seen from birth onwards, all to let the extractive industry have their own way rather than to maximize public benefit.

How about distributive income, addressing disparate income? How about environmentally and socially responsible development? So, what is required?

Legislation inherited from the federal government needs to be redrafted and assigned to the respective committees of this Legislature for review. It needs to be assigned to committees and presented to the people in plain language for community hearings, discussions, debate and amendment. Until then and until all First Nation governments have signed on, any declaration of devolution is premature and, indeed, misleading.

This government is leaving an awful lot of heavy lifting for the next Assembly. Sadly, it is clear that making devolution a reality can be added to that list. Mahsi.

That sounds good, Madam Chair. I would be happy to provide the Minister with some examples. I’m sure he’s aware of them, but I’ll refresh his memory for people who are not able to get into facilities because of an income barrier. I will leave it at that. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. The other gap that is out there is that there are many seniors, because of their income

levels, who would never be able to get into these facilities that we are imagining.

What role does the Minister see government playing in the small Northwest Territories economy at working to provide private facilities or encouraging private facilities? Those who have the financial resources, families who have financial resources can have an option to support their elders with the care that they need, but they are unlikely to get the same support from a government institution. Thank you.

I think the Minister can see that there is a huge gap in the capital, where we’ve known for years that the rate of increase is much higher than anywhere else in the Northwest Territories. I appreciate the commitments I am hearing him make to the extent that he can for trying to get after those, but even this 18-bed facility on anywhere near a comparative basis leaves Yellowknife in the dust. I would recommend that the department sit down and start bringing some fairness to this equation and start thinking on the scale that the data clearly shows is required. That’s a comment.

Could I get an inventory by those categories for, say, existing ones for Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith?