Thank you, Madam Chair. As my honourable colleague Mr. Hawkins said, we just got elected into the government in November and we took the onus to skip the business plan to deal with the budget here. Being new to the House and the system and learning as we go, I think one of the things that I’d like to say is that we have something in front of us, let’s deal with it. Good or bad, right or wrong, we have to deal with it. I knew that this government was going to be into a debt wall when I was running for Sahtu MLA and they told me about the debt wall and how would you deal with it. I never really...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister. Can he instruct his department in the communities that need to work out some of the case-by-case details in terms of informing the mental health workers, or the drug and alcohol workers -- because it might be a week or two before they have their final details to secure them into these new positions -- that these workers will continue on with their employment and the detail will be worked out to secure them in their positions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Minister. In light of that, can the Minister inform this House and instruct the majority of the authorities of the mental health and drug and alcohol workers in terms of the expectations of having these workers secured in place in this initiative, in terms of security in their positions and their roles from now on with the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize someone very important in my life, a most important teacher, my mother, Laura Lennie.

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That is all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is the special warrant for the negotiations for the UNW positions. These are just from negotiations. Will there be another supp coming if there is a new agreement set for the positions? Will it come to the House again? I want to ask the Minister that, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My written question is for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

Can the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs provide the following information on the progress and tracking of the implementation process of the Sahtu Dene and Metis comprehensive land claim (1993), specifically the chapter on economic measures?

Has the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs conducted any reviews of the economic measures chapters of other settled land claims in the Northwest Territories?

What, if any, report did the ministry have that provided a "report card" for the GNWT’s role in implementing their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m here to tell you today that the Sahtu is open for business. There were four wells being drilled near Colville Lake and two wells drilled just south of Tulita from this past winter’s drilling season. Altogether, that makes six exploration wells and geographical programs running for a total of $56 million and 200 hundred jobs that have been created as a result of this exploration. This doesn’t even begin to recognize the potential, Mr. Speaker.

It is estimated that by the year 2009, if all goes well, more than 6,000 jobs will be created during the three...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I had a community meeting in Tulita, at Willow Lake, one of the elders mentioned the Great Bear River hydro. They told us we have the power. So he was making a comment that we had the resources in the Sahtu along the Bear River. One of the elders in Colville Lake mentioned to me also that there were alternative ways that the community of Colville Lake could be looked at as a pilot project in terms of reducing power. We have a huge power plant with a limited number of houses using it. The co-op is suffering in terms of making profits. So one of the elders asked if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Bear River hydro project caught my ear, so I want to ask a question to the Premier. In light of the Bear River project, I wanted to talk about the power rates that we have in the small community of Colville Lake. The amount that they have to pay for their power in light of the potential for the Bear River project, what can we tell the people in Colville Lake in terms of seeing a decrease in their power rates? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.