Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Achieving devolution and a fair share of resources revenue sharing must continue to be the top priorities of this government, but in last November, Mr. Speaker, that priority, in my opinion, took a major setback when Premier Handley and Finance Minister Roland delivered a letter -- no ordinary letter, Mr. Speaker -- to the four major producer groups in the Mackenzie Valley pipeline and TransCanada Pipelines. It was a so-called letter of comfort demanded by these stakeholders before they would proceed with the regulatory hearings now underway. The letter offered strong encouragement to proceed to the next phase of the regulatory process.

Mr. Speaker, while this is a letter of comfort to the multi-billion dollar producer groups, it is a letter of extreme disappointment and dismay to many MLAs, communities, and northerners. The reason for the disappointment in our Premier and Finance Minister is that I thought their job was to protect, first and foremost, the interests of northerners. The letter went on, Mr. Speaker, "…we can provide you" -- the producer groups -- "with assurances that the GNWT is committed to promoting a stable and predictable fiscal and royalty regime..." What about promoting a stable and predictable fiscal and royalty regime for our own people, Mr. Speaker?

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The Premier and the Finance Minister did not. When we have fought so long and so hard to get a share of our own resources, they gave away a major bargaining position. Mr. Speaker, this was after the gas producers themselves got some $2 billion in fiscal concessions from Ottawa. Even after the Deh Cho region, which did hold out for something, got $31 million from Ottawa; even after the APG, the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, got a greater assurance of its share of the investment will get a backup loan from Ottawa; even after the communities along the pipeline route got $500 million, a $500 million commitment for social and economic impact, the Premier and the Finance Minister gave away our bargaining chip, which was to force Ottawa to do the right thing for us. Even now, Mr. Speaker, after 30 years of this ongoing project, the public Government of the Northwest Territories is no better off today than we were three decades ago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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