Joe Handley

Mr. Speaker, I want to see the financial records first. I am sure the Minister responsible wants to see them first.

Mr. Speaker, we want to have day care spaces where they are needed, and particularly for the students. But, Mr. Speaker, I can say that that day care in Fort Smith gets all of the same per child benefits that any day care gets, plus they get free accommodation, including O and M in one of the buildings there. We are providing as much and probably more than we are for many day cares across the Northwest Territories in this situation.

Mr. Speaker, we want to be careful with what...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Charles Dent will be absent from the House today, tomorrow and Thursday, to attend a federal/provincial/territorial Ministers of Social Development meeting in Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, let me first say that the report that the Member is referring to is a broad report on the benefits of hydro power and the viability and the potential in the Northwest Territories. There is no stronger advocate of that than myself and our government. The studies I am referring to are specific to the Taltson project. We need to have lot more information there.

Mr. Speaker, as soon as we have the information that is necessary over the next few months, we intend to enter into, what we call, firm power purchase agreements with the mines. Before we do that, we have to make sure that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The individuals who are doing the work on our behalf -- and at this point it is not formal negotiations, but more looking at the detail, the complexities of it, the issues, and, of course, trying to arrive at a bottom line of the viability -- is made up of a number of senior officials, including the deputy minister of ITI, the president of the Power Corporation, a representative of the Energy Corporation, which is a subsidiary of the Power Corporation, and Lew Voytilla, who is with our Financial Management Board Secretariat. Mr. Don Balsillie was also at the meeting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think any of the Legislative Assembly Members who want to take up this issue should take it up with the chairman and the board for the Workers' Compensation Board, as well as the City. It is my understanding that this land that the Workers' Compensation Board is interested in would have to be rezoned. That’s an issue that the city council will have to deal with, and certainly you have every right and responsibility to speak to the mayor and council on this issue if you wish. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me clarify that the Housing Corporation is an entity that is a corporate…Oh, sorry. I’m sorry.

---Laughter

I apologize, Mr. Speaker. The Workers' Compensation Board is a corporate entity that is separate from government. They operate on a basis of collecting premiums and then paying out compensation for workers who are injured from that premium. The Minister responsible is the Minister responsible for the act, and he manages the overall legislative direction to the Workers' Compensation Board. The Workers' Compensation Board would have advised the Minister of this...

Mr. Speaker, diversification of our economy has long been a goal of our government. We have a very active diamond mining industry. We have a lot of exploration going on for other kinds of minerals. There are two or three pipelines coming out of the Territories right now: two coming out of the Deh Cho and one from Norman Wells. Mr. Speaker, I expect that everything isn’t going to come to a stop if we don’t have the pipeline. But, Mr. Speaker, it would be a sad day if we don’t see the pipeline, in my view, because this one does represent a huge opportunity that would be lost, and we would see...

No roads. We don’t want to let this one go by. Mr. Speaker, this project is too important for us to sit by. We are major players in it. Some things we are not directly involved in. For example, on the financial considerations that the industry is dealing with, the federal government is directly involved. But we are being kept informed all the time and we will watch that closely because, in the long run, we are the ones as northerners that will end up paying a large part of that bill. Yes, we are watching all the way along. We are a significant player here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly don’t feel like the Maytag repairman anymore. Mr. Speaker, our government’s position is that the pipeline will happen. It will take place. But the negotiations are proceeding. Every day, I am in contact with some of the parties, all of the parties, depending on what is happening, and monitoring what is going on. This is very tough negotiating. There are $7 billion plus just in the expenses, plus huge amounts of revenue if it goes ahead. It is a huge amount of revenue for us as a government, for the federal government, for the producers, for the...

Mr. Speaker, last spring when we had the Circle of Northern Leaders meeting, we heard very loud and clear messages from local leaders that they wanted the ability to lead, to be leaders. They are elected. They wanted to be able to decide on the highest priority of their communities. Generally, that’s what we heard across the Territories. So we have designed this proposal in a way that responds to that. Having said that, if some communities would prefer to submit applications to us and have us decide amongst the applications that we receive, then we’re starting to prepare to do that. That’s...