The Minister responsible for Public Works laid out all the steps that are currently being taken to make sure that this project goes ahead. It’s 50 percent complete. It’s had some challenges, but it’s going to be, at this point we hope, the final costs will be about 10 percent over the budgeted amount. We are going to work closely, as the Member indicated in his own statement, to stabilize this particular project, where it is right now, sort out the current challenges and then take a critical look, along with the Members, about what we’ve learned from the exercise, how do we go forward and what...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the debt or the $15 million that’s being requested is equivalent to about 10 percent over the initial cost. So that will be $15 million added to our cost as a government. So with the $15 million factored in, as we’ve said, it will shrink our borrowing limit by that equivalent amount. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Floyd Roland will be absent from the House today to attend events related to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have some initiatives underway. For example, if we bring forward and all agree to a rate restructuring that will lower the cost of living in the smaller communities through lowering power rates, then we will be in a situation of being able to positively affect the whole food basket. I also would suggest that we are better off to leave this money in the budget where it now is, and the Minister has indicated that most of it is going to go to the communities and he has indicated his willingness to work with committee on this. I think it is important that we consider...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document titled Northwest Territories Public Accounts, 2008-2009. Thank you.

All the consultation we do, and have done, and will continue to do, is considered meaningful. In this particular instance there was a compressed time frame. The circumstances were such that we did the consultation that we were able to in the circumstances and had to proceed with a decision, because it was considered to be an emergency conservation issue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Northern history stretches back over thousands of years, a rich and full history. Through that history, rich and full as it is, the caribou and the aboriginal people march over time, over the centuries linked together, as my colleague Mr. Lafferty indicated. It is very critical that we recognize that fact. As a government, we are aware of that link, of the need to respect that and we intend to do that, but there has never been a time in the past as there is right now where the pressures on caribou, on this Bathurst herd, are so great. The caribou need our help. We have...

Mr. Speaker, late September we had a press conference over here in the meeting room when we had the results that came in from all the work that has been going on doing the herd census. At that point we indicated at the table with the grand chief of the Tlicho as well as the national chief for the Dene Nation, the Tlicho chiefs, and we raised the issue and put the numbers on the table, that this herd was in critical condition, that by the end of December 31st, we had to come up with some clear measures that we are going to protect the herd to allow them to survive. The plan was to have the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the challenges for this part of the country is there is no harvest management plan for the Bathurst herd. We know that back in 2006, when the numbers were about 100,000 to 120,000, the red flags were raised. Three years later, we’re down to around 30,000 animals. We are now in what I would call the red zone. There is a requirement for constructive action, which we have taken. We recognize the need to accommodate that. We have done that. We recognize there’s an impact on businesses. ITI is working with that. There are funds in the budget to help...

With the Tlicho, my understanding is that they’ve had at least two, if not more, successful community hunts already outside the no-hunting zone. We’ve worked with the communities. We’ve gone out. They’ve harvested caribou. We’ve assisted them. They’ve brought the caribou back to the communities to be passed out to all the members and it’s been a very successful, cooperative process. Thank you.