Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs, in association with the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, conducted public hearings on Bill 14, Employment Standards Act, in Yellowknife on June 6th and 7th as well as on August 13, 2007, and in Behchoko at the union meeting on June 6, 2007. The committee then split into two committees to conduct public hearings in Fort Smith and Inuvik on June 11, 2007; Hay River and Tsiigehtchic on June 12, 2007; and Jean Marie and Tulita on June 13, 2007; and in Fort Simpson and Gameti on June 14, 2007. A clause-by...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The department may feel they can deal with the existing workloads and future workloads of this here; however, I heard some concerns in my region that sometimes these issues take six months to a year to get the information to the people because of the limited resources in the office of vital stats; a simple request for a birth certificate or issues of certificates of marriage and so on. So I am very concerned. I just wanted to make sure again that they know what they are walking into.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will this Minister in this government make it a priority of the Department of Justice to move it out of the pilot project concept into a firm program that could be used in our region, expand it to other areas, involve other departments in terms of having this camp be as successful and be a leading solution to all other programs in Canada? Could I have the Minister commit to me in the House here to move this forward into a high level of priorities within his department? Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate the Minister laying out the procedure. Again, it’s a question of this new act coming into force if this existing infrastructure is in the communities that requires additional dollars to, once it comes out of the system and in order to improve…the testing fails and they want to improve the quality of water. The parts in some of these facilities are out of this world in terms of the funding in terms of the United Stated and England. So who’s going to be left holding the bag at the end of the day? Is it going to be the community itself or the department? You look at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker, after consultation, deems fit to assist with the business before the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, August 17, 2007, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker, after consultation, deems fit to assist with the business before the House.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with the motion today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister advise his department officials in the interim, advising all public about the use of ATVs in the boundaries of the proposed park of severe warnings of not allowing them to come into our area and disrupt the environmental nature of this park? Can the Minister send out a strong notice to all: beware ATV owners and riders in the park? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last month, several hikers along with myself and the Premier and some youth have hiked the Canol Trail. Mr. Speaker, it's a beautiful area, very sensitive. There were a lot of good discussions that happened there. One of the things I wanted to ask the Minister of ITI and his responsibility for this park here, proposed management park, is in terms of the protection. Can the Minister provide to this House an update as to how this park will be developed and managed in the next coming years in terms of what can he say to this House in terms of giving...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we know from previous discussions on devolution and resource revenue sharing, this issue here is very important to the people in the North in terms of getting it on the federal government’s agenda and having some results. Given that the Public Service Alliance and the Western Arctic MP started a lobbying campaign for a substantial increase of the northern residents deduction, what else does this Minister suggest the GNWT can do to finally get results providing this incentive to its citizens in the North?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about the motion that this government looked at, instructing the Government of the Northwest Territories to work with the counterparts of the jurisdictions to increase the index of northern residents reduction. I would like to find out from the Minister of Finance what progress he has made to date to have the federal government increase the northern residents deduction. In January, the Finance Minister started discussions with his territorial and provincial counterparts and they wrote letters to the Finance Minister. Will the Minister tell this...