Joe Handley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Mrs. Groenewegen has said, those were speculation. I was having a discussion with the reporter by telephone and he was asking me questions, I was speculating on answers, Mr. Speaker. So they were very much, as I say, speculation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, I will provide the evidence that I have in terms of the questions that we have put forward, the commitments made by the federal government and I will provide that to all of the Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Chief Peter Liske and former chief, Rick Edjericon, from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and also I see one of my constituents, Aggie Brockman, here as well and other constituents. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a lot of different reasons why our population is dropping. We haven’t seen the analysis from Stats Canada, but I understand it’s something like we have 700 people less than we had at the last census. Part of it is people having smaller families. Part of it, Mr. Speaker, has to do with cost of living. Those are issues we have to deal with as well. Some of that is availability of land and that’s another issue we are dealing with. Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of reasons why. There are a number of initiatives our departments are undertaking to keep the cost of...

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me just say at this time that there is no assurance at this time that the pipeline will even move ahead. Imperial are doing their costing on that one. Mr. Speaker, in assurances, I can tell you that the federal government have indicated that they are going to respond to the fiscal imbalance situation. With regard to the Territories, they have said they will deal with territorial financing on a separate track. The Finance Minister of Canada has said he will put forward a proposal in December. Mr. Speaker, those are all commitments that the federal government have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are all frustrated with the amount of time it's taken to achieve an agreement on devolution and on resource revenue sharing. It becomes more critical as we have more resource development.

Mr. Speaker, our government has had to work through two federal elections over the past three years. That has certainly made it difficult for us to show substantial progress. Mr. Speaker, I have made it very clear with the Prime Minister that we want a deal on resource revenue sharing before the pipeline goes ahead. The Prime Minister has heard that, Mr. Speaker. If one were to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The four months past I am referring to is an agreement-in-principle, not a complete devolution and resource revenue sharing as was reported. I am talking about an agreement-in-principle. Mr. Speaker, yes, it has been discussed with Mr. Andre. It has also been discussed with Minister Prentice.

Mr. Speaker, let me point out, as Members may recall, in July 2005 or June 2005, we had an agreement. The aboriginal negotiator was ready to recommend to his principals the acceptance of an agreement-in-principle on devolution. We had issue with regard to some of the fiscal side...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me say, first of all, that I believe that we have to deal with these step by step, but I want to work with Minister Prentice and his people on the devolution and resource revenue sharing file. That is one that is doable. They have just appointed a negotiator. I intend to work with them on that one. The same on the Finance Minister’s file. Our Minister of Finance will be working with Minister Flaherty on that one and we’ll see where that goes. Mr. Speaker, if we’re not able to make progress on these two files, then at that time we are going to have to look at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, we have been working with the business community, with aboriginal governments, on both devolution and resource revenue sharing. I want to continue that. Mr. Speaker, I will be attending regional meetings with the regional leaders. I know the leaders for the Aboriginal Summit are meeting in November. This will be an issue on their agenda. Mr. Speaker, we have worked in the past with the Business Coalition and I intend to continue to work with the business community through that coalition and I don’t have any specific plan on it, but we intend to work...