Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, each and every year there are travellers encountering more and more problems with bison on Highway No. 3. Motorists are continually being warned to pay close attention against collision with these animals. The problem, Mr. Speaker, is it's getting worse. As winter is fast approaching, darkness falls a lot earlier. Bison on the highway jeopardize safety of motorists and cause serious injuries or carnage of these animals.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, a constituent of mine wrote off his vehicle because he ran into a full-grown buffalo on Highway No. 3. There is little time to react because they are not easy to see in the dark. I'm certain, Mr. Speaker, that I speak for most of the motorists in the North, especially the ones who travel on Highway No. 3, that it is a matter of time until a serious accident or multi-fatalities occur. Every year these bison get closer and closer to Yellowknife and as that portion of Highway No. 3 is used for the most part by my constituents of the Tlicho region, I am very concerned about that issue.

I have heard a number of suggestions from my constituents; ideas that I think will help formulate a strategy for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in dealing with this bison hazard. Mr. Speaker, waiting for a serious accident to occur before we set legislation in place is not being proactive, it's being reactive. We must not wait any longer.

Mr. Speaker, it makes more sense to use one of the suggestions of using fluorescent tags on these bison so motorists can see them from a distance. Also using rubber bullets to encourage them to stay away from highways. Another suggestion I fully support is local members harvesting these bison during the winter season, Mr. Speaker. I will have some questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on this issue. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Given the issues that have already cropped up around the interpretation of the Intergovernmental Services Agreement, it is clear that the ISA by itself is not specific enough to meet our respective needs, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister work with the Tlicho Government and community service agency to establish a political accord that will ensure the integrity of the roles as outlined in the Intergovernmental Services Agreement, allow us the flexibility to hire staff, to hire our traditional elders, and also to provide a framework for the day-to-day delivery of services? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The chiefs in the Tlicho Government recently requested that early childhood programs previously run by First Nations government be turned over to an agency that runs early childhood programs and has highlighted responsibilities for the region. This is a good decision. It reduces duplication, facilitates integration and improves efficiency. However, Mr. Speaker, the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the Government of the Northwest Territories have erected barriers to such arrangements with recent requirements that all agency employees, with the exception of our chief executive officer, be GNWT public servants. This decision also blocks our ability to easily hire our traditional elders and other workers on a project basis, something we used to do before, Mr. Speaker, with this recent requirement with the full agreement of the GNWT. My question to the Minister is, will the Minister work with us to develop some kind of mechanism that provides more flexibility, facilitates service integration and avoids us having to build a large, costly bureaucracy which we cannot afford? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are directed to the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board. Unlike other regions in the Northwest Territories having a special relationship with the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Tlicho Community Services Agency, under the new Tlicho Government, has the responsibility of education and health and social services to deliver the special services outlined in this document or agreement. It's called the Intergovernmental Services Agreement. It denotes in the appendices our respective roles. So my question to the Minister is, will the Minister assure us that in matters related to his department he will respect the integrity of roles and working relationships as spelled out in the Intergovernmental Services Agreement? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I can do it in English if you want.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker...(Translation not provided)

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Today, first of all, we have one Page who's from Whati. That's Page Sarah Coey-Simpson from Whati. She's going to be working here until Friday. The girl is attending Whati school and is in Grade 8. How she was selected is the principal, Bill Hurley, selected her as a Page. She was there as a role model for the students in that school, which is why she was selected. I wanted to thank her parents on her behalf.

Also, I was talking about the celebration in Behchoko in the Tlicho Nation. We have leadership from the Tlicho Government, and I would like to introduce Chief Leon Lafferty from Fort Rae, Chief Henry Gon from Gameti, Chief Charlie Joe Nitsiza from Whati, and beside him is Dan Marion. Dan is the...(inaudible)...person. Most of all my mother and father, my parents, are here in the House and I would like to thank them.

This is the opening of the fall session and this is my first time. I want to thank all the visitors for coming into the House to listen to this session. Thank you.

---Applause

(Translation) Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Recently we have just come to our new job, and sometimes when we have to make implementation of that land, we want to work really well with the territorial government and also with the federal government. Many elders have mentioned this in the past and this is true. When we look at it, when we talk about this and we talk about the long-term vision, we have to look at how we are going to work with each other, how we are going to work with people in the community, especially for people that are still negotiating their land claims and self-government.

When you look at the vision, as a Tlicho Government, we are working really well with the territorial government and also the federal government. We are hoping that things will go peacefully and later on I will ask questions and keep the House up to date.

On behalf of the Tlicho region of Monfwi, I just thought I would bring that up and I just wanted to say that in my statement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

(Translation) Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In the short time that I have been a Member of this Assembly -- it has been two or three months -- there have been significant activities happening in the community.

This summer, on June 13th, there was an election for the Tlicho chiefs. The chiefs that have been elected -- some of them are here -- are Chief Leon Lafferty from Behchoko/Rae, Chief Charlie Jim Nitsiza from Whati, Chief Henry Gon from Gameti and also Chief Charlie Football from Wekweeti/Snare Lake. These are the four chiefs that have been elected.

On August 4th, we had a big celebration in Rae-Edzo. Almost 3,000 people were in Rae-Edzo/Behchoko for the first sitting of the new government. On September 1, 2005, the first grand chief was elected. The new grand chief is George Mackenzie.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the Tlicho Government, Chief Monfwi was the first one that put the wording there, and we are still holding onto the words that he said at that time.

Mr. Speaker, there are 39,000 square miles of land in the control of the Tlicho agreement, when we signed the agreement. Many people have worked on this agreement. People like the negotiators, the chief, the elders, and many others have worked on this and that is what we celebrated. We know that many people have worked on this agreement; for example, Tlicho Grand Chief Joe Rabesca, and we are very grateful for him. Also the negotiating team: John B. Zoe, Eddie Erasmus, James Erasmus and Ted Blondin, and also many elders that are not present with us today. They have worked on this and this is now visible.

Mr. Speaker, when we look at this important date...Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for consent to conclude my statement.