Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as per my Member's statement earlier today, I said I believed that the Department of RWED has misinterpreted their contractual obligation with the City of Yellowknife. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of RWED, when did his department cancel this contract with the City of Yellowknife and did they provide notice by the January 1st deadline as required in the contract? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. The GNWT encourages us to be safe by educating us of the dangers of smoking and not to drink and drive, to wear helmets when riding bicycles. I cannot understand why the GNWT would cancel the service that keeps everyone safe at this beach. I cannot understand that they are not willing to pay their fair share of costs through a partnership for this service. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be asking the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development about this decision to no longer provide lifeguarding services at the Long Lake beach through this contract located in a territorial park in this city. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk to you about an issue of lifeguard services at the Fred Henne Territorial Park this upcoming summer. I should truly say the lack thereof of services. The Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development has said that they will no longer contract with the City of Yellowknife to provide lifeguarding services so there will be no lifeguards this summer at the Long Lake beach.

Mr. Speaker, as I see it, Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development has misinterpreted their contract with the City of Yellowknife, which I will table later this afternoon. Firstly, the terms of this agreement in section 6 of this contract, it says to consider this ongoing, unless cancelled by either party in writing by January 1st of each year. To my knowledge, this has not happened by either party. This agreement states that Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development is responsible to the City of Yellowknife for supplementing the cost of lifeguarding services to the tune of $12,500. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not point out that that was an equally shared partnership between the City of Yellowknife and the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, and one further point to say is the cost significantly rose since the original agreement was struck.

Mr. Speaker, secondly, I would further like to go on and report that, in the May 14th Yellowknifer, the main reason Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development does not want to fulfill their agreement with the City of Yellowknife and provide lifeguarding services is because they do not want to assume the liability that occurs at this territorial park. Mr. Speaker, section 4.7 of this contractual agreement between the City of Yellowknife and the GNWT states, "shall indemnify and save harmless the Commissioner and the GNWT from any losses, costs, claims, charges, suits, actions or judgment made, brought or recovered against the Commissioner of the NWT or resulting from any negligent acts or omissions by the City of Yellowknife or its employees in connection with this service."

Mr. Speaker, I, therefore, say, given that liability need not be an issue for cancelling the lifeguarding services at Long Lake, given that in every area of our lives the GNWT encourages us to be safe, they educate us about dangers of smoking and not to drink and drive, to wear helmets on bicycles...Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to continue and finish my Member's statement?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, seeing how the Premier, and in conjunction with the Minister of Justice, the honourable Minister Dent, have taken away all my legal aid questions, I had to find a new stump to climb up on and yell about. My question to the Premier, Mr. Speaker, is I have noticed on the status of returns to written questions many of the items, if not all of the items, are overdue for answers, and my question to the Premier is is he in a position to remind all Members of Cabinet that Regular Members are waiting for answers on these, and to encourage them to reply? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing to consider making these adjustments I have noted to our territorial driver's licence? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Speaker, even as I look down at my own driver's licence right in front of me, I can see imperfections that need addressing immediately. I see a photo that covers the word "driver" so it reads "river's licence." I see shades, contrasts and background symbols that make it very difficult to read my home address. Mr. Speaker, this picture ID doesn't even have the word Canada on it. So for NWT residents travelling outside of Canada, they may be accused of having a fake ID. So maybe the Department of Transportation should be issuing maps because they are trying to explain where the Northwest Territories is to some Americans who don't even know where Canada is.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Can the Minister give us some examples of what kinds of new standards and requirements are likely to come forward as recommendations to be adopted for a new standard of driver's licence? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister, for your answer. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us what the process and timelines will be for the approval and implementation of a new national standard for drivers' licences? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, referring back to my Member's statement, the NWT driver's licence, as I see it, is an important piece of identification that in these days of increased security is being more and more criticized for authenticity. Therefore, it demands quality, safety and security around our country with those needs in mind. That is why national standards need to be developed.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation what is his department's involvement, if any, in a discussion to develop a national standard for driver's licences? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.