Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too would like to go on record and express similar concerns as those expressed by my honourable colleague, Mr. Miltenberger, about Highway No. 5. There has been no mention of Highway No. 6 in the interim budget, or in any other budget that I have seen for the Department of Transportation.

I know our financial constraints as a government do not put us in very good status, as it has been mentioned within this department. However, there is a section on Highway No. 6, just past Buffalo River, about 15 to 20 kilometres outside of Fort Resolution, which has very poor drainage. It is costing the department quite a bit to maintain every year. It is also a safety hazard. Now, with the safety issue, I think the department should really take a close look at that particular area of the road and send in some engineers to see if they could do something about the drainage problems. There are people in the highway system, who are in High Level, outside of Yellowknife, who have claimed that that area is at low lake level. As such, there have been a few vehicle accidents over the last little while. There is great concern by the members of the Fort Resolution community. That is the only transportation link into the community. There are no scheduled flights that fly into the community.

Hay River is a major help for them in terms of supply, fuel, and other goods and products. I would strongly suggest to the Minister that the department have a close look at that particular stretch of road, and indeed the whole 90 kilometre stretch from the old Pine Point side, which is where the pavement ends, to the community of Fort Resolution. To date, there are no chip-seals. There is no crushing. There are only 52 kilometres of that 90 kilometre road under dust control. This may not be a time to ask for any type of commitment from the Minister on this issue, but I would like to hear his thoughts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

That would be satisfactory. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can the Minister tell the committee which projects have been carried over and those that have been deleted all together? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Since the Minister feels inclined to answer all questions, would he feel comfortable in answering the question about how to influence the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, so that the regulatory regimes or review processes are clear and transparent and understandable? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand the need to save dollars, but I would argue the fact we are in different situation than we were in a few years back. I think the people of Northwest Territories would like to see some form of movement. The question of transparency is still there. Who is responsible for what within Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development? It has been brought to my personal knowledge that even within Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development people responsible for the different areas that are under Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development are not working well together.

The morale is down because of new direction. Because of that, we are losing people with valuable skills. If that is the case, it is not working. I do not see anyone out there telling me that it is working. People from the communities are not telling me that it is working. People from the industry are not telling me that it is working.

The question about influence in the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act for care processes, for permitting processes, I do not see that being done or how it is going to work in the department. It is obvious by the dual Ministerial responsibilities within the department that it is too big for one Minister to handle. Therefore, it has been divided up between different Ministers.

Where an individual who may want to buy stocks in companies that are operating in the Northwest Territories, and he wants to ask information of the government; perhaps he is enquiring about Diavik or oil and gas, where he or she has been directed to one Minister for one area, and another Minister for the other area and the Minister responsible for that area... there are questions to be asked.

I think we could still do better. I know the reasons that we have done this. In light of our aspirations to develop the resources up here and to derive the benefits and financial resources from it, I think we have to do better than that to create an investment climate that is acceptable all around. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would just like to ask a couple of questions relating to Mr. Braden's questions. We know that in the Northwest Territories our economic backbone is going to be resource development. Minerals, oil and gas is going to be a big part of that, but the word industry comes to mind.

When I say industry, I am talking about the tourism industry. I am talking about the trapping industry. I am talking about the forestry industry. I am talking about the fisheries industry. Right now what I am seeing is dual Ministerial responsibilities in this area. Where you have one Minister responsible for diamonds, another Minister responsible for oil and gas. It is kind of confusing. I have a hard time picturing what processes are available within the government. If I am having a hard time, imagine how the average Joe out there in the communities will fare.

But if we are going to convince the aboriginal governments and the federal governments that resource development responsibilities are to be transferred to the Government of the Northwest Territories, I think we are going to have to do a better job at informing people about what we do. For that reason, I think that we should really consider having a stand-alone department to deal with this. If we are going to develop the resources in a responsible way, then we are going to have to let people know how it is going to be done, where it is going to be done, the rules and regulations.

The biggest stigma that is on the Northwest Territories right now is regulatory regime, and what kind of influence do we have on the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act to ensure that there is a clear, consistent route that investors could take in getting permits for resource development to happen. I do not see that.

Would the government consider establishing such a department where their concentration is for the management of resource development and industry separate from environmental protection? Environmental protection is very important to everyone in the Northwest Territories, including developers. But to try to do both under one umbrella sends mixed signals. So my question is, would the government consider creating a department solely for industry, the backbone of our financial future? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for that information. I am just wondering about the rationale on using the current deputy ministers as panel members, in light of a similar initiative undertaken with the Government of the Northwest Territories with Diamond Square Senior Managers. They were the ones who sat on the panel to develop a secondary industry. Why was a similar group of individuals not used within the government? I was just wondering, if the deputy ministers are very busy, they may not give us their focused attention as managers within the government.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question has to do with the Economic Strategy Panel. Can we have a status report on that and when we will see some results? If we could have some influence towards those results and the strategy that is going to be developed. Is it going to be reflective of the current financial situation that we are in or what we hope to be in? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the assistance of my honourable colleague, Mr. Miltenberger, I am told that a constituent of mine, Mr. Rene Fumoleau, is in the gallery. I would like to recognize him. I did not even know he was a golfer, I wish him luck.

-- Applause