Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Earlier today in question period, I had asked the Minister some questions on the Development Corporation and the Minister had noted a couple of days ago in the House that there were grants through the Development Corporation as high as $700,000. Could the Minister give the House a little information regarding approximately how many jobs are created for the subsidy of $700,000 or a subsidy of $300,000. I know they would all vary with the types of industry they are in, but if the Minister could give us a little bit of background on the number of jobs that are created so the committee can get a handle on approximately each year what it costs to provide jobs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Do I get from the deputy minister's comments that indeed there are stands of marketable lumber available for entrepreneurs to harvest presently? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe it was last year, I had worked along with my colleague from Hay River to assist some entrepreneurs to obtain some permits to do some logging. I believe the name of that organization was Pattersons and it had been recognized as being very productive in creating jobs in the territories. I recall at that time it was extremely

difficult to get permits to get areas accessible to assist in creating jobs and getting at this lumber. Could I ask the Minister for an update from the perspective, are there areas where timber stands are available for cutting? Are there areas that have been identified for entrepreneurs such as the people I talked about available for production? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe this is the type of assurance that the people in the territories need to know, that it is not just a free-for-all. I thank the Minister for those comments. Moving on, Mr. Chairman, to the forest management. This government spends tremendous amounts of money each year in fire protection and fire control. I am wondering if the Minister could identify, over the years, of how much marketable timber has been saved by the amount of dollars that has gone into this area? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I certainly understand that the Minister of the Financial Management Board would be aware of those figures. I believe Mr. Kakfwi's department has the lead in this group that assists the diamond industry in procuring these amounts of money. I had an anticipation that the Minister would be aware of the amounts of money that the department had committed. Maybe this question would be still appropriate. From the perspective of, the Minister has mentioned that he is looking at two other potential groups that wish to start. I think it would be important that the Minister, as the lead Minister, would be aware of those numbers because it would be important for the ministry to know that those amounts were not being exceeded and that the public of the Northwest Territories' interest were being protected. Could the Minister at least tell me what protections are in place to protect the interest of the public funds under those guarantees? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There have been concerns brought to myself, and I believe I have heard it from other MLAs regarding the loan guarantees that have been initiated for players in the diamond industry. The concerns that were brought to me, that the government went out on a limb in some of these instances. Could the Minister start by telling us how much is the total amount of guarantees that his department has put in place to assist the creation of a diamond industry in the North? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister in the House earlier today and again in his opening remarks informed the House that he had appointed new board members to the NWT Development Corporation. Is the Minister free to

announce the names of those members? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories resurrect and priorize a Northern Accord proposal before the new millennium. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With your indulgence, I will propose a motion that the committee wishes to put forward.