Mr. Speaker, June 15 to June 21, 2008, has been designated as National Public Service Week. As the Minister of Human Resources for the Northwest Territories public service, it is my honour to stand in the House today to recognize the significant contributions made by the approximately 5,700 Government of the Northwest Territories public service employees.
It is public service employees who make it possible for the government to deliver services to the residents of the Northwest Territories. These services range from front-line health care to maintaining our highways to educating our children. As you can appreciate, delivering these services requires a great variety of skills on the part of public service employees. We have a public service that exhibits a high degree of professionalism and commitment to providing quality services to all residents of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, last Thursday we had an opportunity to recognize some of these exceptional employees at the annual Premier's awards. Staff were recognized for individual awards, and there was a team award for the Aurora College Northern Nursing Program. These awards also included collaborative awards with partners such as the Tlicho Healing Wind Project — Promoting Sexual Health Team; the New Deal Capital Planning Task Team and Administrator’s Working Group; the Aurora Research Institute; Mallik International Gas Hydrate Research Program Team; and the Elders Wilderness Camp.
The Government of the Northwest Territories is currently undergoing some change in order to meet the vision and goals of this Assembly. Change is never easy or undertaken lightly, and we all recognize the work of the public service and wish to say “Thank you.” Please join me in expressing appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the public service and in celebrating National Public Service Week.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, someone once said that the North has two seasons. The first season lasts about nine months and is called the winter season. The second season is very short, lasting only about three months. This short season is called the road construction season.
This road construction season, reconstruction, drainage, surface and grade improvements are proposed across the entire surface-transportation system. This work is already underway to improve our aging infrastructure and maintain a safe and reliable system. In the North our construction season is very short, and to get things done we have to take full advantage of every day we have.
This afternoon, Mr. Speaker, I would like to go over the major projects the Department of Transportation has proposed for this construction season. It is a very ambitious construction plan, and we need the patience and the cooperation of the public to ensure we have a safe and successful construction season.
Mackenzie Highway No. 1 is our vital transportation link to Alberta and part of the core national highway system. One of the major improvements we are undertaking along this route is a new bridge across the Kakisa River. Safer approaches, improved vertical and horizontal alignments and a wider, full-width two-lane bridge deck will improve safety. The structure capacity of this bridge will also be increased to accommodate the very large, heavy loads that travel north on this route.
Mr. Speaker, you will be pleased to hear that construction delays are expected to be minimal, as the traffic will continue travelling on the old bridge while the new bridge is under construction. Work will also continue on grades, drainage and safety improvements on Mackenzie Highway No. 1 route between kilometres 256 and 272. I urge the travelling public to be aware and cautious, as heavy equipment will be on the highway throughout the reconstruction season.
Reconstruction on Ingraham Trail, Highway No. 4, will be focused between kilometres 32 and 35. Widening and roadway improvements such as the installation of guardrails will improve the traffic flow for seasonal residents, recreational users, tourists and heavy industry traffic accessing the mineral-rich Slave geologic province.
Across the entire system rehabilitation work, including culvert replacement and bridge rehabilitation, and chipseal replacement will be ongoing throughout the construction season. The department also hopes to be crushing and stockpiling granular material in preparation for future chipsealing surfacing.
This year the department plans to chipseal over 170 kilometres of highway. This includes the 20 kilometres of Highway No. 2 leading to Hay River, 20 kilometres of Highway No. 5 leading to Fort Smith, and also planned this year is a new chipseal surface for the Hay River Reserve road.
The Liard Highway No. 7 is an important link to B.C. The department will continue to rebuild this highway over the next season between kilometres 14 and 20 south of Fort Liard. The highway generally is structurally weak and vulnerable to damage during the spring thaw. Due to lack of proper drainage, the subgrade becomes saturated during the time of increased rainfall, causing potholes, rutting and muddy sections. As we experienced this spring, the road deteriorated to the point of closure. The continuing reconstruction will help address these critical areas.
In the Mackenzie Delta the department will continue on the Dempster Highway No. 8 with reconstruction and widening between kilometres 34 and 40 and culvert replacements up to kilometre 60. Reconstruction to date has improved roadway geometrics and driving surfaces, contributing to a significant reduction in collisions.
Mr. Speaker, construction of the Deh Cho Bridge is also underway. The department has been working with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and the contractor, Atcon Construction, to ensure that traffic flows through the construction site smoothly and that ferry operations are not disturbed. The general contractor for the construction of the Deh Cho Bridge is scheduled to make progress on four of the eight piers of the bridge structure during this construction season. Ferry passengers will have a front-row seat to watch the bridge progress.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, these are the Department of Transportation's construction season highlights for 2008. If they happen to be driving by these projects this summer, I would remind Members and their constituents to slow down and follow the signs and obey the flag people in the construction zones.
As reinforcement the department is also implementing the necessary regulatory amendments to double the speeding fines within these construction zones. Please help us to protect and maintain the safety of the crews and the contractors working on these important improvements. Remember that we can do our part to drive alive. Mahsi.
[English translation not provided.]
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know the Northwest Territories has some of the highest energy costs in the country, and these high costs have a big impact on our cost of living. Community government leaders are struggling with these escalating costs, and there does not appear to be any relief in sight.
At the recent NWT Association of Communities annual general meeting in Fort Simpson, community government representatives passed two resolutions that raised concerns about the cost of electrical power and the management of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. These resolutions are driven by the frustrations they have with our current system. They are looking for alternatives in order to obtain the best value for money for their residents.
Large non-hydro communities like Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Inuvik are considering a number of options, including finding alternate energy suppliers. If these three communities withdraw from the NTPC, this could have a serious impact on the remaining Northwest Territories Power Corporation customer base and the overall operations of the NTPC.
Mr. Speaker, community government leaders have met with the Premier, the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation and the Minister Responsible for the Public Utilities Board and discussed two options they would like the government to consider. One would be to treat every resident in the territory the same and bring in the one-rate zone and bring Yellowknife and Hay River back under the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
The second option would be to sell the Power Corporation to another energy supplier with the capacity to develop some of the vast hydro potential in our territory. This alternative would allow the GNWT to rid itself of the debt load associated with NTPC and could lead to a reduction of electrical costs in our communities.
The government will be reviewing electricity rates, regulations and the Power Subsidy Program over the next year. This is a real opportunity for the government to consider all the options and look for solutions that will provide all residents with affordable energy. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. (English translation not provided.)
Mr. Speaker, last week I spoke about the cost of living and the impacts on our residents in the smaller communities. This is an everyday concern for my constituents, and today I would like to summarize this concern.
This issue is an everyday concern for many residents in smaller communities. Many are struggling to make ends meet. I talked about a young mother of three who has to pay $8 for two litres of milk and almost $90 for formula. If one of her children requires medical attention, this could mean leaving her home and her community to get this service, and that’s an additional cost.
Mr. Speaker, in addition to cost-of-living issues, I’ve talked about the gap between services available to residents in larger communities and those in smaller communities. For example, homes in smaller communities use a water and sewage tank system, while other larger communities have piped systems. They have to accept this by default. That is, where we live in smaller communities, our homes will have to be built differently. This is the wrong approach. This is a basic but very important service we need to start thinking differently about. We should start thinking that every home should have basic services. Presently the infrastructure is not there to do this, and this clearly illustrates the real difference in infrastructure needs in larger and smaller communities.
It’s good to hear the Premier say he does agree there’s a difference in services between larger communities with a vibrant economic sector and those smaller communities that are traditionally based. I also agree with the Premier when he says it will take some work to address these issues.
Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to hear the Premier say he will be establishing a joint committee of Ministers and Ordinary MLAs to specifically look at the cost-of-living issues and the gap in municipal infrastructure services between the smaller and larger communities. Today I may have a couple of questions for the Premier on this.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to follow up on a Member’s statement made by my colleague from Nahendeh on the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that the cost of living across the Northwest Territories is very high. Even Cabinet recognizes that, because they have a cost-of-living committee. They need to look no further than the Northwest Territories Power Corp to help try to bring down the costs across the Northwest Territories.
As Mr. Menicoche said, there are three large communities on the grid that are seriously considering pulling off the grid, and that will affect the costs for the rest of the people across the NWT. They’d like to have the same price, or a fairly level price, as what they have to pay down here.
Mr. Speaker, when NTPC in Inuvik converted to gas, I really thought their power was going to go down, but that didn’t happen. If anything, it went up even further. We’ve got the gas 20 kilometres from town, yet the price still didn’t go down. I’m sure that if they piped that gas down to Alberta, they’d pay less for it down there than we do up here.
Taltson hydro project is another one I have a hard time selling in the Beaufort-Delta, Mr. Speaker, because they want to know who is to benefit from this other than the diamond mines. Who will pay? It’s hard to sell that back home. There are no immediate benefits to the residents of the Beaufort-Delta, so they have a concern with that.
In April of 2008 the Beaufort-Delta Regional Council had a meeting up in Inuvik. They passed a motion that said the NTPC is a corporation that’s accountable to the government and the residents of the Northwest Territories. They’ve also asked that this Assembly strongly consider instructing the Auditor General of Canada to conduct an audit on the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and see what they can do to improve their services without giving themselves huge bonuses in the process.
These folks represent communities that have to live with extremely high costs of utilities. This Assembly should listen to these people, and we should act on their recommendations. It’s important to them, Mr. Speaker. It should be important to us. As residents of the Northwest Territories affected by a corporation that’s owned by the Northwest Territories, I think all of the Northwest Territories should benefit from this corporation.
I’ll have questions for the Minister of NTPC at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last several weeks as we’ve discussed the budget, there have been many references and discussions about this Assembly’s priorities and youth being high on our list.
It’s a well-known fact there are positive effects from being physically active for anyone, no matter what their age. It’s also well known that involvement in sports and recreation activities can have a profound effect on a young person and that they benefit mentally, psychologically, physically and economically. Youth who are physically active are far healthier than those who are not. They generally live a healthier lifestyle, are less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs and often do better in school.
Many lessons can be learned through competitive physical activity, and these lessons have a positive impact on the developing character of a young person. Youth are usually looking for rules and guidelines to help them find their way as they grow up and mature. Sports and recreation activities often provide that for them.
This Assembly, through our goals and priorities set in December of last year, has identified both youth and healthy living as important to us all. We need to ensure we put our money where our mouth is, as the saying goes, Mr. Speaker, and invest in our youth and the activities they need to develop their potential.
I was very pleased to hear that sport and recreation officers would be retained in our communities instead of considered as a budget reduction. That move is one in the right direction, and we need to continue to move in that direction over the life of this Assembly. Our budgets must commit significant funds to youth and youth activities such as sport and recreation.
GNWT is lucky to have several sports and recreation bodies committed to the advancement of a healthy, physically active population, particularly our youth. Organizations such as Sport North, the Council of Sport and Recreation Partners, NWT Parks and Recreation Association and the Aboriginal Sports Circle all work for us for the betterment of our residents. They’re successful in large part because of the efforts of volunteers who believe in the cause of youth, sport and recreation.
As an Assembly I urge us to take advantage of this unseen, valuable workforce, to allocate the dollars necessary for the operation of these organizations and thus ensure the continued, positive advancement of our young people. I look forward to seeing concrete evidence of that in next year’s budget.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to talk about the high cost of energy in our communities and the high cost of power, especially in diesel communities, and the continued rise in regard to diesel and in regard to the effect it will have on our power rates, home heating fuel and, more importantly, on this government’s ability to provide programs and services.
Mr. Speaker, we have a public application process for riders, yet we just saw a major increase in that last application process. It is costing the government something like $2 million every time we file an application through the PUB process. Also, our Territorial Power Support Program continues to rise and is in excess of almost $10 million and rising every day.
Mr. Speaker, the whole energy costs in the territory — where we pay for riders from residential-energy-cost riders to general-energy-rate riders to diesel riders to shortfall riders to water-rate riders — are almost to a point where these riders are overtaking people’s costs of maintaining their own homes and also the cost for businesses to sustain themselves.
Mr. Speaker, this effect has probably one of the biggest impacts we’re going to see in the 16th Assembly. We do have to react to it sooner rather than later. The cost of producing energy in our communities is related to diesel. We have no alternative means of generating power in a lot of our diesel communities. More importantly, this is having a major effect on our business communities, from the northern stores to the co-ops to any entrepreneur who wants to run a business in our communities but cannot keep the lights on. I hate to say that a few people may have to turn the lights off and move their businesses where it’s less expensive to operate and maintain them.
Mr. Speaker, this government has to take action on this matter. At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister responsible for the Energy Corporation questions on exactly where we’re going with this matter.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to support language diversity in the Northwest Territories.
There is so much that’s embodied in a language: ways of being, ways of knowing, incredible understanding, a whole framework for the way the world works.
Mr. Speaker, I was facilitating a workshop in Whati with elders and youth a number of years ago, and I finally realized they all spoke the Tlicho language, except for me. So I said, “Why don’t you guys go ahead?” and they did. But at the end the elders told me it was sad they didn’t speak strong Dogrib and didn’t understand the layers of communication that were happening.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to start here by recognizing the speakers I hear frequently in this House: Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Menicoche and now Mr. Yakeleya. When I used to tune in to this House in the old days, this facility would be ringing with all kinds of languages. I’m very happy to hear the ones that are being spoken now. I hope I’m going to hear more and more of them. But I’d like to really put in a plug. About three-quarters of the languages in the world are now extinct. We’ve got to really work to retain what we’ve got. There’s a huge key role for our Languages Commissioner.
I pay tribute back to our first one, Betty Harnum, who was multilingual in many respects. I think the commissioner needs to bring this to this facility, to this position. She needs to be a huge champion, a fierce champion, to really bring the programs that we need throughout this government to support the culture that goes with the languages. That will then keep those languages going. The Languages Commissioner needs to speak out loudly, prominently, frequently, and she needs to be active in an awards program that especially recognizes youth and lets our youth know that we value this attribute, that we recognize all the things it can bring.
Let’s have a more aware process from this government, and let’s really call on our Languages Commissioners to be super fierce in leading this retention. Retaining is so much easier than recovering. Let’s hear it for our Language Commissioners.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In recent years the subject of sexual health has been a growing concern across the country and, in particular, in the Northwest Territories. Sexual health consists of many aspects of health care, covering both emotional and physical well-being. This topic ranges from the detection and management of sexually transmitted diseases to family planning and contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screening and the assessment, treatment and counselling of sexual health care. High-risk behaviours also contribute to transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Many of these areas of health care are crucial for people of all ages, but our youth are particularly at risk with the increasing numbers of STDs that have been reported. Sexually transmitted infection reports have increased by 30 per cent in the 15-to-24 age group over the past five years.
The statistics on sexually transmitted diseases are alarming. The NWT has a sexually-transmitted-infections rate nine times higher than the national average. The NWT has consistently higher rates of some sexually transmitted diseases, and gonorrhea rates have increased by 300 per cent in the last two years in the Northwest Territories.
These increases are a cause for our concern and for implementation of immediate action against the incidence and further transmission of disease. We need to be proactive in providing intervention and prevention strategies to our health care workers and medical centres across the North. The present sexual health prevention and promotion programs in Hay River are not that effective. The incidence rate of STIs in Hay River from 2000 to 2006 shows similar trends compared to the rest of the Northwest Territories. However, comparatively in Hay River, for both males and females combined, the data strongly suggests that a significant number of STIs are not reported. This also means they are not likely being treated.
There is no program designated to addressing the needs of Hay River in the education, early detection and prevention of STDs and other serious aspects of sexual health. It is important to address these needs, and this should be done immediately for the health and safety of our people.
We talk about priorities. I would like to suggest that this is not often talked about and not so nice to talk about but should be a high priority for our government to address.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk a little bit about the environment and the consumer. There’s little to no question that global warming is a reality. Permafrost is melting, carbon emissions are up, greenhouse gases are all over the place. There’s a lot we’re doing in this government to help, but more can be done. I’d like to applaud ENR for their support of the Arctic Energy Alliance rebates for vehicles and other high-energy-use equipment and machines. But it’s time for us to think about other areas where we can really be working on reducing emissions.
I’ve been doing a little bit of research lately with my constituency assistant, and we’ve been looking at auto-registration rates in other jurisdictions around the country and around the world. It appears that many jurisdictions have actually gone into a tiered auto-registration rate that is based on different things. In some jurisdictions they’re using weights of vehicles to have different rates for registration. In other jurisdictions they’re using carbon emissions. In other jurisdictions they’re going based on mileage. I think it’s time for us in the Government of the Northwest Territories to change how we think about registration. In the Northwest Territories we have one rate. It’s about $87 a year regardless of the type of vehicle you’re using, whether it’s low emission or high emission.
As a government I think it’s one of our responsibilities to help encourage our consumers to make better, or more productive, environmentally responsible choices. As such, this afternoon I’ll have some questions on our registration system for the Minister responsible for Transportation. I understand we’re currently implementing a new registration system for automobiles. Now would be the opportune time for the Department of Transportation to do greater research into a tiered registration system that could take into consideration things like mileage or carbon emissions, which would help the consumer make choices that are more environmentally responsible.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I listened to the Prime Minister’s apology to residential school survivors. I wanted to speak about the historic announcement but felt I needed a few days to digest the statement so I could properly address it on behalf of my family and Nunakput constituents.
Mr. Speaker, as many of my colleagues have talked about, this is a very tough day for a lot of people in my riding and in the ridings of Inuvik Twin Lakes, Inuvik Boot Lake, Mackenzie Delta, and even for the Member for Sahtu and the whole Northwest Territories. All our constituents have been affected tragically by the whole residential school experience.
As you know, there are many angles to this apology. Some benefited; others suffered. Did the apology go far enough? Is the apology what they were waiting for? I can say one thing, Mr. Speaker: the apology brought back old scars to survivors, and last Wednesday was very trying for them. Few people escaped the consequences of residential school. Families were torn apart. Even though residential schools in Inuvik closed in the early ’90s, we can still see effects of the experience as they also created a new generation of victims.
Mr. Speaker, individuals in the families have been dealing with their experiences in their own ways. Many are still grappling with the need to accept what happened and are only now beginning to deal directly with it. Last week’s historic announcement by the Government of Canada means a new beginning for many survivors and relatives of survivors in that we’ve had to look at it — a new beginning that needs to be addressed by strong, committed partnerships in resolving all the issues and working on them together.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wanted to talk about the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan and its format. We’re all familiar with the format of the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan, which lists each project individually along with the specific amount budgeted for each item. Projects range from $50,000 for a new patrol truck to millions of dollars for major infrastructure like schools. I’m concerned that this practice of publishing the budget for individual items may be preventing us from getting the best deal on our capital projects.
Suppliers, armed with the knowledge of the government’s maximum budget for an item, might easily bid higher than they would for other customers’ projects. Businesses certainly don’t publish their bottom lines in public documents, because to do so would obviously jeopardize their negotiating position. Is it any more reasonable that the government would do this? I’ve spoken to constituents who are in the business community, and they say that what this document, our Main Estimates, talks about helps them maximize their bidding opportunities, so they don’t leave money on the table.
I would like to suggest that our government consider reformatting the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan so that only the combined dollar total amounts are shown for small capital in this public document form. In this way we still leave the details in its project but not attached with a dollar amount. Regular Members, of course, would still want to see these details on individual items, but this information could be provided to us, like so many other items, in confidence. I’ve heard about this problem from a number of people. It only gets worse when it gets to large capital projects like schools or buildings. With a few hundred thousand dollars of opportunity here and there, this would add up to a large opportunity to save money.
This is being treated as a reference guide by many constituents. They say that when they want to go bid on a building envelope project, they go to our budget. If they want to go bid on a jet boat, they go to our Main Estimates. It goes on and on and on.
If the government wants to maximize its potential for saving money when we budget projects, we might want to keep that part of the project undisclosed when we go out. I’ve seen recent examples where by not publicizing our amount, we’ve been able to maximize construction of a school. We’ve been able to get good value for good dollars and good investment in quality projects. We need to go forward with a better plan.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to introduce two former residents of Inuvik and, more importantly, Inuvik Twin Lakes, Anne and Bill Crossman, who are here in Yellowknife this weekend for their daughter’s wedding. Anne is also the editor of Permafrost Media, and Bill worked at the Aurora Research Institute in Inuvik. He totally agrees with me that the Arctic Institute belongs in Inuvik. Thank you.
It is my pleasure to recognize a constituent, Timothy Riviere. You can see he has shaved his head to raise money for cancer. He’s raised $2,500 dollars, and his hair was used to make wigs for those suffering from cancer.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. I’d like to welcome everyone in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a great pleasure to acknowledge a constituent of mine. Jessica Hopkins, a graduate of Sir John Franklin High School, recently won the Canadian Millennium Scholarship for excellent academic performance, innovation and her exceptional community service. Jessica won this because she strives to nurture in others a love of reading and helped to implement the project that matched middle and elementary school students for one-on-one reading and word games.
She is also active in environment matters. She took on the responsibility of researching and implementing an alternative energy source for her school. She presented her findings on wind power to her school board and later attended a youth conference to talk about the issue. With her outstanding work and contributions to her community, Jessica has shown that our future leadership is secure and brighter than ever.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister Responsible for the NWT Power Corporation with reference to my Member’s statement. We’re struggling with electrical costs all through the Northwest Territories. In my Member’s statement I referenced that three of our larger non-hydro communities are looking for some alternative ways of providing power at a cheaper rate. In fact, I believe all communities should have the right and access to cheaper power rates through a one-rate power zone. I’d like to know how much work the ministry’s office has done in light of the many motions we have passed on this side of the House in moving toward a one-rate zone or levelized rate system.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister Responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I, too, was at the NWT annual meeting with the municipalities in Fort Simpson. I certainly heard several mayors — specifically the mayors from Norman Wells and Inuvik — talking about the one-rate zone issue.
We have a committee that’s being led by Mr. Bob McLeod in terms of the Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee. We’re looking at the motion that was put forward by this Assembly to look at the rate structure and the regulations. We’re looking at options and discussing with committee members what we can do to come to something that is satisfactory to people right across the Northwest Territories.
I’ve also noted in the past that the Public Utilities Board has looked at the one-rate zone system on several occasions. They certainly have information we can use in our discussions in looking at alternatives to bring down the rates for all people in the Northwest Territories that would be satisfactory to all Member in this House.
