Joe Handley

Mr. Chairman, as the Member can appreciate, when we did up our briefing books and totals, we don’t have the full year for 2003-2004. Up to the end of February 2004 there was $298,835.12 spent on travel for negotiations. For other travel -- and this is all the other categories I had mentioned before -- up to the end of February there was $114,502.06 spent for a total up to February for this 2003-2004 year of $413,337.18. Mr. Chairman, if we go back to the 2002-2003 year, the number was $705,212.26. If you want to compare a full year with a full year. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the proposal to expand the Taltson is being proposed as a joint venture between the Akaitcho people, the NWT Metis and the Power Corporation. The partners have just begun to do consultations with the communities in the impacted area. Part of the consultation, certainly part of the consideration, is to hear what concerns people may have because of the impact of this expansion. My information from them is that they fully intend to look at the issue of impact benefits. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to a written question asked by Mr. Allen on March 16, 2004, regarding a bill of intent to seek provincial status.

The Government of the Northwest Territories and it partners in the Aboriginal Summit are currently involved in devolution negotiations with the Government of Canada that are expected to lead to the transfer of jurisdiction over lands, water and resources to the Government of the Northwest Territories. While the negotiations are aimed at the transfer to the GNWT of jurisdictions similar to those exercised by the provinces, it is not the government’s...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The proponents of this very good project, in my view, for the region will certainly be taking that into consideration. The project, when it proceeds, will have to go through the environmental review process. As it does that, no doubt it will go to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, who have responsibility for looking at socioeconomic benefits. It’s through that mechanism and that process that the impact benefits and socioeconomic benefits would be looked at. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled, "Gwich'in and Inuvialuit Self-Government Agreement-in-Principle for the Beaufort-Delta Region." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this project is proposed as a joint venture between the Akaitcho, the Metis and the Power Corporation. The government will not take on responsibility or liability for the impact of it, but we expect that the joint venture partners, if the project goes ahead, would be required to take on those responsibilities that assume the liabilities for the impact of this. The government’s role in this project is to support it--I think it’s good for the region, I think it’s good for the Northwest Territories--and to ensure that it works to the benefit of most people. We believe it’s a good...

Mr. Speaker, the negotiations that we have with the federal government are three-way negotiations between ourselves, the Aboriginal Summit and the federal government. The Aboriginal Summit, in late January, advised us that they wanted to hold off any further negotiations until April because they were selecting a new negotiator. So we have not had an opportunity to raise this with our northern partner, governor, that’s on this. As soon as negotiations resume, then I will be asking that we put this on the table for consideration. But it is not something that we can do unilaterally, we have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a decision of the Legislative Assembly, not a decision of our government. So it would be up to all of us to make that decision. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would have to look at the implementation agreement with the land claim agreement to be specific in terms of our obligations on that side. But if those were built into the implementation plan, then we certainly want to honour that. In the meantime though, Mr. Speaker, we will work with people in all regions where there is economic activity to help them to be able to identify what the opportunities are, what the potential is, and we are doing that in some specific cases. For example, our government, through the Power Corporation, invested a fair bit of money helping on the...