Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that it hasn’t even gone out to tender yet or for an RFP, because I have had some concerns from some constituents living up there that they haven’t seen it yet. They are waiting for it. My understanding is that it is being awarded or given to the same company that is doing it now. This looks like backdoor sole sourcing. Would the Minister provide me a reason for this?

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that has been ongoing for some time. We have been very determined to move forward on some of these issues that are being raised in terms of verification of titles and the amounts being assessed for different properties. Our staff has indicated that we have been ready to go into the community for some time. I will commit to the Member that we fully intend to go this summer. We would like to go this summer. We would like to work with the Member and set up some meetings and open up that line of communication and get all of this work done and some of these issues...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking progress over property assessment and verification of property titles. That’s something we haven’t been able to do up to now. We intend to go into the communities of Fort Providence, Fort Liard and also Fort Resolution this summer. We intended to have our people do an assessment and verification of those communities last year, however, a number of the chiefs representing those communities asked us to hold off. In Fort Providence, we’ve had a face-to-face meeting with the leadership there. They have indicated they want to have a...

Mr. Speaker, community governments in the Mackenzie Valley are facing many challenges in preparing for the proposed Mackenzie gas pipeline project.

As well as getting ready for the complex review process involved with the project, community governments also need to plan for impacts that this project and the exploration and development activity associated with the pipeline will have on their communities.

Minister Bell and I heard this message loud and clear at the Preparing for the Pipeline Community Leaders Conference sponsored by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs in Inuvik last...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly have to agree with the Member that the dust in the small communities and the communities across the North is an issue that has been a problem for some time. We do have some money budgeted in the community governments formula to deal with dust suppression. Many communities have come forward to indicate that there is a need to look at this in terms of looking at putting more money towards it.

We, as a government, have undertaken a study to look at the situation in the different communities, to look at the different methods that could be utilized...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, May 27, 2005, I will move that Bill 9, Municipal Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, our discussion is around the actual projects required in communities, some of the decisions or some of the allocations for projects that we have identified. We would like to be able to discuss that with the committee. We would like to explain and present our decisions and how we arrived at the certain projects or different projects that are on our list and how we see the money flying for future years. So there are things we would like to be able to present to the committee. The letter was just signed off by myself yesterday. I hope to do that as soon as possible, pending the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my new constituency assistant, Meeka Kisoun. Welcome to the gallery.

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Mr. Speaker, most of you here have known me for only six months, so you can appreciate the fact that someone can put up with me for 26 years. With that I’d like to introduce my wife, Judy.

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Mr. Speaker, some of the dollars, I should clarify, have not been 100 percent approved yet. There has been some discussion with MRIF. That agreement has been signed, however, it still requires final reading by the federal government. We still require the federal government committee that has members from our MACA staff on it to review the projects that we bring forward. We would like to bring those projects to the standing committee to review, so we are still a little ways from where the Member would like us to be.

This year we have money allocated for planning and that’s what we are working...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not surprised that this question has come forward. Mr. Speaker, the capital planning dollars that were allocated this year for the planning, and for the next coming years, are something that we want to discuss with the appropriate committee. Also, the dollars allocated for the municipal and rural infrastructure funding is also part of that discussion we would like to have. We have drafted letters requesting some time with the committee to make that presentation. I would like to be able to do that before I announce to this House where we are at with the actual...