Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to take a look at the universal partnership agreements myself. I'm curious about this issue the Member is raising. Mr. Speaker, as well, we will review this issue to the oversight committee, which has senior level representation from both Housing Corporation and ECE, to have a look at to make sure that we're as streamlined as we can possibly be on this one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to take a look at the agreements. I haven't read the wording in them, but, Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that as it works it's the Housing Corporation that provides the funding to the LHOs. They don't get a cheque from ECE. ECE's relationship is with the Housing Corporation. The Housing Corporation has a relationship with the LHO. But, Mr. Speaker, I'll undertake to have a look at those agreements to see whether or not there are some gaps left in there. I can assure the Member, though, that the Housing Corporation, the LHOs and the ECE regional

people are working effectively together. There may be disagreements, but they work together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The universal partnership agreements are agreements between the local housing organization and the Housing Corporation. They don't directly include the Education, Culture and Employment department, although that department does provide support to the individuals as well. But, Mr. Speaker, we hadn't thought of revising them to include ECE in the agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yes, we had a conference call yesterday with some of the leaders; not all the aboriginal leaders, but certainly the president of the Inuvialuit and the president or chairman of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council. We had discussions yesterday. We agreed that we don't want to overreact to this. We know those numbers are Imperial's numbers. We haven't seen the detail of how exactly they've arrived at them. That we want to look at it, make sure that what we're asking for and what they are asking for and what we expect is that this project will be treated fairly, it will be treated with the same kind of consideration that is given to SunCore or to any other major mega project in Canada. No less, no more, but it should be treated the same way. This one is too important for us in the Northwest Territories to take a stand that just doesn't stand up to the way the federal government or governments generally have been treating other mega projects. So, Mr. Speaker, what we're asking for is to be treated the same way as other projects and this one, which I agree is critically important to the Mackenzie Valley and to the Delta, that it goes forward on an economic basis, but on a fair basis in terms of how other projects are treated in Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that the costs are in, now that we've got Imperial's numbers, then we should be able to get on with these discussions in earnest. I don't believe that there's ever been a three-way discussion where all of us are in a room at the same time. But I think that has to start to happen now in order that we know and can have our input into any kind of requests that Imperial may be making or any response from the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that there are some technical discussions going on and our people are involved in those discussions. But I know there are also conversations that have happened between Ministers and the president of Imperial, and the president of Imperial Canada, and possibly higher up the chain in Exxon and so on in the federal government. I don't know what happens in phone calls or at receptions and other venues where some of this business takes place. But we have asked to be involved. We've asked to be updated, to be included in any discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have made it known that we expect to be part of the discussions. We have asked to be consulted on any discussions that will be taking place. Mr. Speaker, I can't say whether there have been discussions without our participation. I don't know all the phone calls and informal discussions and so on that may have taken place, but we have made it clear that we expect to be there as well because, while it may not affect us today, it may affect us in a big way in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we will have to wait until Monday for the answer to that. Mr. Speaker, I was encouraged by the fact that the Prime Minister didn't seem to be negative at all on the discussion on infrastructure and Minister Prentice went as far as to say that this particular road is on the short list. Now, what that means we will see on Monday. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was told to say that I was grovelling for gravel or something like that.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I did raise the issue of infrastructure, devolution and so on with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, of course, is not as familiar with the specifics of our needs here. I did mention the Mackenzie Valley highway and the Inuvik-Tuk road and the need for infrastructure in order to be competitive with the rest of the world, whether it is on development or tourism or cost of living.

Mr. Speaker, I also took the opportunity last week when I had a meeting with Minister Prentice in Calgary to raise this one, as did representatives from Tuk, the mayor and the deputy mayor. Like I say, the federal government has said that that particular road is on the short list. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.