Thank you. I think Members of this House support the Minister's approach on that. Just so northerners really know some comparative values of our royalty regime in the Northwest Territories and royalty regimes in other parts of Canada, perhaps the Minister could give us some comparisons, if he has them available. Perhaps he can table some comparisons between the royalty regime here in the Northwest Territories and that of other provinces and territories in the country. Thank you.

It is good to hear that, I would have liked to hear a more passionate yes, but...

---Laughter

...I certainly will accept a yes. Mr. Speaker, if I could ask the Minister, when can we expect this particular trip to happen? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I didn't get a response to my question. It is well and good that the Minister's staff is involved in some way with regional groups. It is well and good that the Minister's staff is looking at providing some kind of technical support. But I really think

the time has come for this government to use the offices of Ministers and the office of the Premier to provide a catalyst for these regional groups, for community groups, to make their concerns known on the national/international scene.

I think that it is time that we got very verbal, very vocal, very aggressive, and on the national stage. My question to the Minister; is the Minister prepared to lead a delegation of turbot fishermen, and Inuit seal hunters, to the Maritime provinces to demonstrate our support of the federal government and the Maritime governments, to protect these very important industries? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not quite sure who this question should go to, it could be the Premier, but she is not here; or the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, but he's not here. It could either be Mr. Arngna'naaq or Mr. Todd. Why don't I try Mr. Arngna'naaq, and if that is the wrong place, feel free to have one of those more appropriate to answer.

Mr. Speaker, I brought up in my Member's statement the whole area of major issues, national issues, happening right now that directly affect us. And I see a tremendous opportunity for us to support both Maritime governments and the federal government in their efforts to protect the turbot fishery.

And I see an opportunity right now with the province of Newfoundland, for us to support the efforts of the Newfoundland government and again, Mr. Tobin, to revitalize the seal industry. Would the Minister be prepared, along with a delegation of Inuit seal hunters and turbot fishermen, to travel to the Maritime provinces and demonstrate some strong support for the efforts of our government with these areas? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Another area I think is very, very important -- and this is again happening in Newfoundland -- is there is a big push on by the federal Minister of Fisheries, Mr. Tobin, to try to revitalize the seal industry and he has given a relatively small grant, I think $1 million, to sealers in Newfoundland. This, along with the fact that Memorial University has come out with some new medical uses of seals, it seems to me that there is an opportunity there. As an example of what I am talking about, I think it would be an ideal situation if our Minister of Renewable Resources and our Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs go to Newfoundland to support the federal government, the governments of the Maritimes in protecting our very important fish stocks. We should also be supporting the Government of Newfoundland in looking at new markets for seals. Just as importantly, we must convince the federal government and the provincial governments that we are an important player in Confederation and when our issues come to the table, they should be taken seriously.

So this is just one example of the sort of thing I am talking about. In the new few weeks, I hope to bring forward other ideas and question Ministers about their response to these initiatives. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the last few weeks, I have raised the issue of this government and this Legislative Assembly raising their profile across the country and around the world, trying to expand our markets to attract investors and to try to solidify our place on the national stage. In the next few weeks, I will give some concrete examples of how this could be achieved.

One example that comes to mind is in the area of fish and seals. Presently, there is an international debate going on about the turbot stock, about the Spanish quota and about over fishing off the nose of the Grand Banks.

Members are aware that our fishermen in the Northwest Territories do have a turbot quota within a 200-mile limit. However, we have to recognize that if the stock is threatened, then our quota is threatened.

I made a suggestion in a Member's statement earlier in the week that perhaps it is time for the Government Leader to use her office to get her Cabinet Ministers together with groups of aboriginal and non-aboriginal businessmen, and start to raise the profile of the north, start to beat the drums of the north, and start to get out there in Canada and other places in the world to put the NWT on the map. Would the Premier consider a high-profile approach between now and the election to bring a positive element to the development of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, it has become more and more obvious to me that we, the Legislative Assembly, are becoming mired in the quicksand of what I call the three P's of politics: policies, procedures and process. I guess my point is that we can contemplate our own navels, and beat each other up with negative criticisms of each other for only so long. It seems to me that we now need that vision, that leadership, to get us out of this quicksand.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the EARP. As you know, it is in the process now of hearings on the BHP project. Members may recall that the panel was born in some controversy, there were a lot of delays. Finally, after much soul-searching, the federal Minister appointed four people. The four people, as Members know, are Letha McLaughlin, Walter Kupsch, Jessie Sloan and Cindy Gilday.

I remember after the announcements were made public, I got a lot of criticism from a lot of people about most of the members on that board. I heard major criticism from environmentalists about some people on the board, I heard major criticism from the Chamber of Commerce members and the mining industry about other people on the board. I made a speech to a fairly large crowd at the Chamber of Commerce a couple of months ago, and what I said there is something I think is necessary to repeat again.

At the end of the day, the board has been chosen. The people on the board all have extremely good credentials and there is a fair philosophical balance on the board. I'm proud of the fact that in my constituency live two members of that board, both Cindy Gilday and Jessie Sloan are from Yellowknife North and I want to publicly give a vote of confidence to both of them. They are both well-qualified, well-experienced people. The way the make-up of the board ended up was with three women of the four members on the board. That is major step forward for the Northwest Territories, to have a majority of women on a very, very important board.

Each member of that board should be judged on their own qualifications, on their own experience. At the end of the day, we are going to judge them on the product that they deliver. From everything I have heard, the hearings are proceeding very well. There seems to be goodwill among the members. I have every confidence that each member will be objective, will bring their experience to bear. My major message here today, the same message I gave to the Chamber of Commerce, is we have a good board, they are doing well, let them do their job.