Mr. Chairman, we were over at the Baffin Regional Council where there were some 35 people gathered together from the very different agencies that were around and they asked me about whether we were going to give more funding, and also asked the question whether we would transfer the programs for that region to the regional council, and I said no. I believe that if the communities have a desire once they are running their programs to give more strength to a common body, they will, but that should come from within those communities to endorse that body or that group or it could be just a meeting area so they can determine that level. At this point in time, I think they will continue as they are but I believe the communities should have a greater say and probably have the resources if they want to put toward a regional council of some sort, but right at this point in time, I believe that this process should allow the communities to say what they want in a regional body. I do not think we should impose another body on them or strengthen it until we decide where the communities are going.

I will give her what I have. I do not have it here because we presently do not have everything ironed out. It is being worked on a day-to-day basis. I will deliver to the Member what I have up to today at 5:00 o'clock because I am not quite sure what has been set and what has yet to be worked on.

To the degree that we formalized the committees and to the degree that we have identified people, yes, I will have to bring it back. In terms of the strategy, I know that the strategy is being worked out. But I can let the honourable Member know exactly where those are. I cannot tell right today.

Mr. Chairman, the whole program of consolidation does go through an implementation process or an implementation committee to implement.

Mr. Chairman, this will be determined through the implementation committee on how that is going regarding the people who are involved with the two departments. I think there are some very obvious things that are very clear such as duplication, overlapping in certain programs, the decision-making in moving back and forth between different levels of support for individuals. But this will be done through the implementation process.

Mr. Chairman, in setting up the implementation of this type of discussion, or the implementation of these consolidations or of community government, it is expected that at that time, these very points will come up.

Mr. Chairman, that was a fundamental concern right from the beginning. We did form community governments and we went so far. We gave them water, sewage, garbage and roads. We gave them that responsibility. For some reason, I do not know why, we stopped. We should have continued and maybe we would be where the communities want to be now. The intent was good, it was there; what they have now is up and running. The community has an ownership to those programs on how they are conducted. They handle the funding and within certain

means they are setting a priority. What they want now is to extend those responsibilities. I do not know why it quit, I do not know why it came to a stop when it did, because I remember back at one time when people wanted to go on and it looked like the central agency or someone said, "No, that is too much, you cannot have a relationship with the aboriginal people in terms of community self-government."

I am sure some Members here were involved in developing community government a long time ago, but we did stop. The same question is there by the communities, "We want to take over more of those responsibilities."

Mr. Chairman, it has been a number of years that the whole discussion on who makes decisions, who controls or how can programs better apply and reflect people, has been going on. This has been an ongoing discussion. The consultative process has been going on from as far back as when I first came here in 1979, and before that. The concern of us being with a government system that is very difficult to manoeuvre through to reach a goal, has been discussed. That is one of the reasons that we commissioned this report, to consolidate the thinking of people at the community level, in this Legislative Assembly, of some of the cabinet Ministers, deputy ministers who were involved, people at all regions who were involved. We made sure that the teams that were on here reflected the various regions and communities and people involved in the process.

This document is a consolidation of the thinking of a great number of people who were consulted and talked to, and all I am trying to say is that it appears to me, from my reflection, that it is a very clear document. It may not cover everything that we wished it to cover, but it gives us a very clear direction on which is the best way to go in dealing with peoples' concerns and issues that were brought up over the many, many years.

Community self-government was one that a number of communities were involved with, but it was so difficult to make the decisions that will allow them to take over the programs they wanted to take over, they just gave up because they said that the government was too complex -- who is making the decision; why cannot we take this over; how can we do it this way? There was no framework for them to achieve their goals. Certainly there has been a great deal of discussion while these people went and discussed at various levels what it is that people feel the most concern about regarding this government; why we are not doing what they want us to do; why they feel that we are a bad government; why they feel that we are not being able to deliver the types of things they want at a pace they want.

I see this as us keeping up with the communities. It is not for us to sit here and say, "Holy crow, we are giving something to the communities." The communities are fed up with waiting; they are very tired of being told, "Go to this department, go to that department; it is over here where the decision should be made; it is that office you should go to." They are saying, "Why can we not run the programs at the community level the way we want them? This is our idea; this is what we want to do." That is really just addressing that.

I am trying to put together a program of implementation where people, when they want to do something, can get it done. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, all we can give is what the territorial government has. We cannot deliver a broader constitutional answer to a question. All we are doing is dealing with the programs and services and the jurisdiction that is here now and giving an offer to the communities.