Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier mentioned that he would offer briefings to some of the other groups. I would like to ask the Premier. Have any of the groups taken him up on his offer yet? Is there any indication that they may be willing to sign on to the AIP quite soon? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is our intention, Mr. Speaker, it is to do the right thing and serve all the communities in a fair manner. Excluding one group at this point that still has a recognition and good standing would be unfair, Mr. Speaker. We are waiting for a submission that would come from the community with both signatures on it. We will wait. We have extended the deadline until the end of June. Failing to have an agreement at that point, we will take the next steps and call on the communities to come forward with individual proposals, then we will make the decision. Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Access to this fund is not spelled out in the directive. It is intended to benefit any community projects or organizations for that matter, Mr. Speaker. I think the problem that we are having here is who is required to sign off on the project. The signatures are required. In the case of Behchoko, it is the Behchoko government and also the Metis Local for that community and also the MLA for that riding. Those are the signatures that we require. So far, we have not had a proposal from the community with both those signatures on there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This issue, Mr. Speaker, continues to anger and upset me. I want what is good for the people of Inuvik Twin Lakes. I want what is good for the Inuvialuit because I am an Inuvialuit. I also want what is best for the Northwest Territories because I live here and I do plan on being here until they plant me. Mr. Speaker, it upsets me because I do not like having something that is rightfully ours taken from us. People get taken to court for taking something that is not rightfully theirs. I think it is a position we have to take sometimes.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I again commend the leadership...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again today, I want to commend the group for signing the AIP.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a multi-barrier approach to treatment of water. It is tested in a number of different ways. Our water plant operators are expected to be in the facility on a daily basis. The Health people test water I think on a monthly basis. The source of the water is also tested by ENR on an annual basis. So there are a number of different tests that happen throughout. There are also tests that happen within some of the households to ensure that the water that is in the tanks in some cases is safe. So there are a number of different schedules that are out there. At...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the responsibility for drinking water falls across a number of different government departments. ENR, or Environment and Natural Resources, is responsible for the location and the source of drinking water and ensuring the water is clean. Public Works has the responsibility of ensuring the water plants are run properly and infrastructure is in place. The Department of Health is responsible for testing the water and MACA plays a role also working with the communities to ensure all this works in a good, safe fashion. One of the things we do is the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my understanding, this AIP is going to be forwarded on to Ottawa. Has it been forwarded on to Ottawa yet? When can we expect a response back from Ottawa? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Inuvialuit, the Gwich’in, the people in the Sahtu and the NWT Metis Nation have signed on to the AIP on devolution and resource revenue sharing. I would like to ask the Premier, there are some remaining groups that still we would like to see signed on. Is there still an opportunity for them to sign on and be part of this AIP? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. By no means are we trying to insinuate that the community government of Behchoko doesn’t serve its residents. Mr. Speaker, this agreement or document was signed prior to the Tlicho Government coming into power. It requires us to have the community governments that are in the community and I have laid it out which ones were there and had to sign on, and it also involves the Metis local which still has members and serves their members. It would be really unfair for us to remove them at this point, Mr. Speaker.