Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue my statement, please.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last couple of weeks I've tried to emphasize the positive future we have here in the Northwest Territories and have given the Cabinet some ideas to think about of how we can strengthen our potential. It seems to me we spend so much time here in this Assembly in the north and in the media talking about the negative things; talking about the hurdles and the many obstacles. The negative things are always easy to talk about. It's always easier for people to criticize other people. I think at the end of the day, we have to recognize that the Northwest Territories has tremendous potential. There are only 65,000 people in the territories. We have a wonderful opportunity to provide a tremendous future for our children. I've talked about some of the areas where we're strong and today I want to talk about some of the other areas.

Mr. Antoine made a very good statement about the possibilities of arts and crafts, using the imagination and the skills of our people; to maximize those skills and that imagination and that energy. I would like to hear more of that in this House and in the media. Let's support the people we have who are successful, who are out there doing real things, making real contributions and not whining and snivelling about every sort of real or imagined problem that we have.

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We in the Northwest Territories have very little to complain about. Our future is in our hands. I think we have every opportunity and will only be limited by our own imagination and our own energy. Here in the western Arctic we have renewed interest in oil and gas. Up and down the valley, we've talked about the mining potential. I would like to see our Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources and our Minister of

Intergovernmental Affairs take some delegations from the Northwest Territories down to Calgary. Let's talk about mining potential. Let's use this government as a vehicle and a catalyst to bring the people who will get the benefits together with those people who want to invest in the Northwest Territories.

The area of tourism...One company alone, Raven Tours, brings in 1,000 Japanese tourists a year. I would like to see Ministers of this government in Japan selling tourism to the Japanese.

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The potential at the end of the day is immense and I don't think we should shy away from spending money.

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Politicians are so afraid to spend money wisely with a good return on the dollar, afraid of criticism from their constituents that they're going to Japan. There are some amounts of money that have tremendous potential for return. I think we should be intelligent in how we spend our money, but let's start spending our money on some things that are going to give us a return at the end of the day.

I think in the area of arts and crafts...

That is good to know. I think all of us agree that Quebec issues have to be handled with a lot of sensitivity. I just want to get it on the public record the approach the Minister wanted to take with these issues.

I personally don't have a problem with a slow approach with Quebec, but I still strongly feel that on economic issues we should be taking a strong high-profile approach. But it would be useful if the Minister kept Members informed as to what is happening in Quebec. All of us should keep in the back of our minds that there are more important ramifications to the Northwest Territories than just whether we ship through Montreal or not. If the centre is slashed, if Quebec leaves, the edges of confederation are hurt the worst; not as much blood pumps through half a heart, as it were. So it is a very, very significant issue for us. It has to be handled with a lot of subtlety. But what we always have to keep in mind is that we -- at the end of the day -- can probably be the most adversely affected of anybody with Quebec separating.

Or on the other hand, an area where I definitely think that the Minister should be meeting with his federal and provincial counterparts about is what happens if they don't separate, so we can have some input to whatever the fallout would be from either a referendum being delayed, or a referendum losing, and another constitutional round begins. As the Minister knows, you can never get in the game too early.

So, my question to the Minister is, is the Minister, or is the Premier's office, being kept up to date -- as I know all other Premiers are -- as to what is actually happening? And if new thinking evolves out of what happens in Quebec, can we be confident that we will be right in there on the ground floor, we won't find ourselves in another Meech Lake situation where the die is cast and we have to get into the game after the fact. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Any changes will have to be rationalized. The obvious area is if our staff in Ottawa had enough time, I really think there's more that we can do with the central agencies and more we can do with deputy ministers. What is

going to be happening in the next few years that each one of the provinces have people in Ottawa. They have contacts and connections. We have to always be there to protect ourselves. We have to invite as many federal Ministers up here as we can. Everything is going to be more aggressive than we have operated in the past. Not because we have been wrong in the past, but because the world is changing rapidly. I think it is very necessary that we address that. I am glad to hear the Minister will review it and hopefully when we come back in June, we will perhaps have some further thoughts.

I would like to leave the future for the moment and deal with the present. Perhaps the Minister can tell us his ideas of how the department is going to deal with the whole referendum issue. What is the strategy of our government dealing with its upcoming referendum?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess I would like to clarify the 1991 concept of a comprehensive approach the Minister talked about. It's a concept that the Standing Committee on Finance has pushed very hard on in dealings with the federal government. But the original intent wasn't that the whole comprehensive approach was through the ministry of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs. The fairly consistent thinking of our committee and MLAs has been that we want a comprehensive Cabinet approach so that Cabinet Ministers, led by the Premier, would deal with these issues in a coordinated way.

I want to say again that we're not making any of these recommendations as a criticism of the past. I think we're trying to look at some of the political realities of the future. If the Minister wants some examples of an enhanced Ottawa function I think there should be a specific self-government component where we have support staff in Ottawa to assist aboriginal groups as they, over the next few years, carry on with their self-government negotiations, so our government is seen as providing constructive support, office space, fax facilities, computers, et cetera.

I also see an increasing role of the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs -- it could go to the Premier's office or, if the Minister's feelings prevail, either/or -- in dealing with a range of economic issues. What's happening, for instance, is the federal government is essentially in the process of cutting off regional development funds to many regions in the country. I see that the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs should be coordinating strategies with, for instance, the Maritimes, regarding the western diversification fund. I see that as more and more of a role.

In order to protect the very viability of the Northwest Territories in the next four years -- and the same problem will be compounded when there are two territories -- we have to demonstrate in a very visual and strong sense that we're a key player. Otherwise, we're going to be swept under the table and become irrelevant very quickly. The concept of having meetings and monitoring information is very useful and an important part of the ministry, but if the ministry is not to be with the Premier, then the ministry should provide that sort of leadership. It should say, okay, there are issues developing

across the country and this is how we're going to deal with them.

If I have concerns, as an ordinary MLA, I would like to know who I'm going to go to. I really strongly believe that we have to take a much higher profile, both nationally and internationally. That's my belief; the Minister might not share it. I would like to have somebody accountable for dealing with this. I would like to have somebody say, no, we don't want to take a high profile, I believe that's the wrong approach, I think we should just monitor, we should keep a quiet profile and let fate decide which way we're going to end up. I would like to know who is going to say that.

Now, if it was the Premier and intergovernmental affairs, the Premier would be the key person but I don't know who to ask now. I don't know who to ask. For instance, we have the turbot wars. I think we should be very vocal; that is my own personal belief. Whose responsibility is it? Is it the Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs Minister's responsibility? Is it the Premier's responsibility? Is it the Renewable Resources Minister's responsibility? Is it the Economic Development Minister's responsibility? The point here, Mr. Chairman, is that we would like some clarity as to who is going to coordinate the intergovernmental strategy? If it is this Minister, what is the strategy? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to move on, Mr. Chairman, to another area of the department. I want to comment on the intergovernmental affairs side of the department. There is a feeling of the committee, and it is my personal feeling, that in the next few years, this particular component of the department is going to take on ever-increasing importance as the country debates the lead-up to and the follow-up from the Quebec referendum. Whatever happens, it could have a profound impact on the Northwest Territories.

I just want to make a few observations for the Minister. One, the recommendation about increasing the size of the Ottawa staff doesn't reflect negatively on the staff. Liz Snider and Bernie Funston are absolutely excellent people. Our view is a look ahead to the future as opposed to any sort of crisis from the past. We feel that they need more support in Ottawa in the coming months and years. We are quite satisfied with the calibre of work that is performed in the Ottawa office.

The second recommendation that the Minister referred to in his statement about Ottawa was separating intergovernmental affairs and aboriginal affairs, and having the Premier deal with intergovernmental affairs. I think the Minister's defence of the status quo is definitely a line of thought that has a lot of merit. But we are saying in the future, not in the past...I think the Minister did a great job during the whole Charlottetown debate and he did a superlative job of raising the profile of the Northwest Territories and of doing what I talked about today about showing a usefulness in intergovernmental affairs.

Over the next four years, more and more you are going to see the Premiers and the Prime Minister dealing with affairs of state. I think that however valid the arguments the Minister has made for the continuing integration of these two components, the political reality of the next four years is going to be such that the Premier will be dealing with a lot of these issues. Again, that is no criticism of what has happened in the past. The committee recommendation is crystal-balling a little into the future and there will be a situation where more and more our Premier is going to be having to interact with other Premiers and the Prime Minister on a fairly regular basis to protect our interests.

I have some questions for the Minister. It may help members of the public if the Minister could explain in more detail the actual role of the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs when it comes to issues such as devolution, for instance; and, the Quebec situation is another issue. I asked a question to the Minister of Renewable Resources about the turbot wars. It seems to me that if we are going to get involved in that, the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs has to play a key role. So perhaps the Minister could use some examples of the role that you should play in some of these situations I have mentioned. How does that coordinate with the role of the Premier and Ministers? That would be helpful to the committee in dealing with your department. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In some of these areas, the government probably can get Legislative Assembly support. Dollars are getting tight and every cent is becoming precious. I wonder if and when the Minister could give us more details as to particular programs this government would like to discuss in those negotiations. And perhaps, if

there is a strategy, if the Member could inform this House how the Legislative Assembly will be involved in that strategy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Finance. In the fall, the Minister of Finance had meetings with Marcel Masse, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and the object of the meetings between the federal government, the provinces, and the territories was to find ways to make program delivery more efficient and effective. So far, all I've really seen out of this exercise with the federal government is offloading and downloading.

I wonder if the Minister could give us an update about what's happening with those discussions. Is there, for instance, an opportunity to take over some of DIAND's programs? Perhaps we could deliver them more efficiently. Thank you.

I think it would be very useful to put it into some context so people can really see the royalty regime here compared to the rest of the country. If the information is available, I wonder if the Minister could table in this House the exact revenues, or as close an approximation as the Minister can find, presently received in royalties by the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.