Joe Handley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 15, Tlicho Community Services Agency Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it will be with great pleasure that later today I will introduce the Tlicho Community Service Agency Act, the final obligation of our government towards ratifying the Tlicho Final Agreement.

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This bill flows from a commitment made in the Intergovernmental Services Agreement, a sub-agreement of the Tlicho agreement signed last summer by Canada, the Tlicho and the GNWT.

I am pleased to note, Mr. Speaker, that as we move forward with this bill today, Canada is also taking the necessary steps to ratify the Tlicho agreement.

Yesterday, the federal government introduced and gave...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to assure the House and the public that even though we may not have mentioned some areas in the sessional statement, that does not mean it is no longer a priority. As I have said many times, most of our economy right now is based on non-renewable resource development. We have to use this opportunity to develop our renewable industries, and that includes tourism.

Mr. Speaker, I have been personally a strong advocate of the tourism industry, I remain that way and I can assure you that from our government’s perspective tourism is very much a part of our economy....

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Michael Miltenberger will be absent from the House today to attend the federal/provincial/territorial Ministers of Health meeting in Vancouver. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to recognize in the gallery today the Honourable Maynard Sonntag, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Minister of Transportation for the Government of Saskatchewan, and Norah Saunders, who was with our government for a number of years and is now deputy minister for the Aboriginal Affairs department. I apologize if I have the names not quite right. Mr. Speaker, I might say Minister Sonntag is from my home town. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On a regular basis we are meeting with all of the parties that are requesting meetings, or where we feel it is appropriate to have a meeting. Yesterday we met with Imperial. I have talked with representatives of the aboriginal governments up and down the valley within the last two weeks. Mr. Speaker, we’re doing everything we can to try to resolve any differences or any issues that may be arising. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that question is getting very near to our business plan but, Mr. Speaker, I’ll refer the question to the Minister responsible for tourism. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the question should be referred to Mr. Roland, the Minister of Public Works and Services. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 5.

Mr. Speaker, the government is certainly a strong supporter of the pipeline and we certainly do have concerns anytime any of the parties that may be impacted by the development have concerns or issues that need to be resolved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.