Good afternoon. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Training is essential if northerners are to learn the skills required to take advantage of many job opportunities in the construction industry. Last spring in Rankin Inlet, the Department of Government Services and Public Works, with the assistance of the Departments of Municipal and Community Affairs, Education, Arctic College and Maani Ulujuk School, organized a basic surveyor training course. The department knew that there was going to be some survey work for a large upcoming project, and that there were not enough local people trained in surveying.

An engineer from the regional office instructed the course, which ran for 18 nights from April to June. Eight long-term residents participated in the course. Two graduates are now working as surveyor helpers, for the next three years, on the Rankin Inlet mine tailings pond cleanup project.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Arvaluk.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I had a visit from Mr. Joe Enook, the Chairman of the Baffin Divisional Board of Education. One of the reasons he came to see me was to show me copies of the latest books produced by the Baffin Divisional Board. I was very impressed by what I saw. These books are well written, beautifully decorated and illustrated. I believe that students will find them very appealing and will thoroughly enjoy reading them.

The books published by the boards of education have many benefits. They encourage students to read in their own languages. They have given parents their first opportunity to read to their children in their own language. They play an important role in involving parents in the education of their children, and help strengthen the partnership between the school system and the parents.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased with the work done by the divisional boards of education and the teaching and learning centres in producing attractive, well written books. I would like to express my appreciation for this excellent work, and look forward to seeing new materials in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been asked by three of my constituents, why yesterday, when there was a motion in this House, requesting the Prime Minister to send Marcel Danis to Yellowknife, this motion was not made by a Yellowknife M.L.A.

I should explain, Mr. Speaker, that yesterday morning all ordinary Members met, as we always do, and it was agreed that on behalf of all Members, the Chairman of the Ordinary Members' Caucus, Mr. Nerysoo, would make that motion, and that we would get somebody from the eastern Arctic to second it.

In order to illustrate that this issue is of interest to more Members of this Assembly, it goes far beyond the borders of our city, because of the immensity of the things that have happened over the last several weeks.

Related to this, also, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that yesterday, although I am the Member for the centre of this city, I was not in the House when the recorded vote was taken. Mr. Speaker, I was part of the decision that morning to construct that motion, and urged every Member to support it. While the vote was being taken, I was busily engaged helping a very distraught individual, from my constituency, who was very upset, and was not able to get back into the House in order to record my vote.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I should like to record, and give my absolute unequivocal support to the motion that was passed yesterday, in my absence.

Thank you.

Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to take the opportunity, today, to thank my colleagues who attend the luncheon that I hosted.

Mr. Speaker, last month I invited Mrs. Jean Dube, who is an elder in our community. Mrs. Dube is well known for the work that she has done, not only with muskox, but with wild meat, and particularly, the work that she has done with spices.

Mrs. Dube had a display for the Members to see how we can use muskox to its fullest potential, with no waste whatsoever. There was a display of soap, which is used from the fat. There was a display of canned muskox, along with muskox to eat. In addition, she had a variety of spices that she has worked on for fish, fowl, and wild meat.

I want to particularly thank the Honourable John Pollard for attending the luncheon to recognize the economic potential of such development for one of our resources. It is unfortunate that the Minister of Renewable Resources was unable to attend.

It is my pleasure, on behalf of Mrs. Dube, to provide each of the Members with a can of muskox, and also a small package of some of the spices that she has developed. I am sure Members will enjoy it. Thank you.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Gargan.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I continue to be concerned about this government's approach to what has been called a cultural education of our aboriginal youth. I do not agree with the current trends, that give the school system primary responsibility for transmitting our traditional knowledge to the youth of our communities.

I must state clearly here, that I am not being critical of the very special efforts that have been made by the talented Dene and Inuit teachers, who have accomplished a lot in this area, often with limited resources.

My problem, is the principle, that the young persons discovery of our aboriginal way of life, should be assimilated within the school system, that is based on an entirely different set of beliefs about how children learn.

Here is what I mean, the school system we have in the Northwest Territories is based on values, principles that reflect the best way to teach the children about things that are important to the European culture.

Highly developed teaching technologies are used to help children master mathematical concepts, making scientific frame work, and expressing themselves through written word.

That may be the best way to teach youth the knowledge that has been accumulated by the non-native culture, but it is not the best way to show a young person how to live in a way our Dene and our Inuit have lived.

I think I am talking too fast for the interpreter. I would ask the honourable Members who are of aboriginal descent to think about their own childhoods. Where did they learn to make a camp that can withstand the cold and the wind? How did they learn how to set a snare?

Mr. Gargan.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to continue my statement.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Gargan.

(Translation) How did they gain that understanding of snow and ice textures that my honourable colleague from Natilikmiot spoke about yesterday. I will guarantee that they did not learn these things by watching educational videos, or reading textbooks, or writing an essay about them, or going on a field trip. They learned them like I did, Mr. Speaker, from the elders and the hunters of our communities.

Mr. Speaker, aboriginal wisdom is best learned by becoming a part of our surroundings, and by relying on the uncles, parents, grandparents, or others, who know about our way of life. Mr. Speaker, I should oppose the assimilation of our traditional way of teaching youth within the educational system of another culture. I am also concerned about the possibility that the effectiveness of the standard curriculum, the math, the geography, and the spelling, is being diluted by the artificial focus our schools are putting on the notion of cultural education.

I would like to see the Northwest Territories educational system reflect the fact that we do have several cultures, each with different learning styles. Cultural values and knowledge should be taught to our youth by the leaders and elders in our communities, not by teachers and principals who look at them as just another element of the school curriculum.

That, Mr. Speaker, is the only way to ensure that we retain active living aboriginal cultures in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about an issue that has been of some concern to me for some time, the transfer of programs and services from the federal government to the Northwest Territories government.

Since I was first elected in the House, I am fast becoming used to disagreements with the federal government over funding matters. First it was the health billings dispute, which has been ongoing for some time now, and last week we received news from the Minister responsible for Housing about the devastating reduction in social housing programs.

Mr. Speaker, although the circumstances in these cases are different, I believe, ultimately, they will lead to the same conclusion. The federal government is off-loading programs and services on the Government of the Northwest Territories. Like other Members of this House I am concerned about the strategy we have taken to deal with these disputes with the federal government.

As the honourable Member from Mackenzie Delta has pointed out many times, the federal government has a constitutional and moral responsibility to provide these programs and services to aboriginal people. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the honourable Member and believe that we should be aggressively pursuing this with the federal government.

Mr. Speaker, this leads to the larger question of how we handle negotiations with the federal government. I am not satisfied that the agreements we have negotiated in the past have been as good as they should have been. Often, I believe, we have accepted agreements in the past because of our zest to transfer more power to the Northwest Territories. This has been done despite serious shortfalls in the fiscal terms of these agreements.

Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, this is a serious miscalculation. As a good friend of mine recently pointed out, responsibility should not be confused with power. Money is power. Mr. Speaker, in my opinion we should establish a moratorium on any further accords with the federal government until a negotiating framework and a mechanism for analysing any other agreements, is established and reviewed by this House.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I will have more to say about the power sharing arrangements with the federal government, under the new Constitution, in my statement tomorrow. Thank you.

---Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This winter, in February, I went to Sanikiluaq, and then in April, I went down there again, and I understood more clearly what they are planning to do with the boat. They have been asking to get rescue vessels in that community. Since they are located in the Hudson Bay, I think it would be more appropriate if I redirect this question to the Minister of Renewable Resources.

Mr. Speaker, I stand to raise this concern on how the people of Sanikiluaq can obtain a vessel, because they do not have any large vessels within that area for their own use. Many problems arise, and it can come in very handy for use in obtaining food, and for other things, such as places that need to be attended to when the weather is bad.

When the Minister is present, I can give him further details, and a picture of this particular vessel that I am talking about. I made a mistake before when I posed this question, and I got the wrong information, and I directed it to Dennis Patterson in error at the time, I apologize for that. Once I present the information to the Minister responsible, I will be putting forth a further question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members' statements, Mr. Antoine.

Merci, Mr. Speaker. I am very concerned, Mr. Speaker, in the preservation of my mother tongue, either Dene, moola kedih, or South Slavey. According to a census taken between 1986 and 1991, there was a slight downturn in English, it dropped to 60.5 percent, and there was a steady downturn in French, to about 23.8 percent. This is according to the Canadian population. Next largest language is Italian, followed by Chinese, and then by German.

An interesting point is that the Chinese language grew the most between 1986 and 1991, an increase of 59 percent, and according to Statistics Canada, mother tongue is defined as the first language a person learns at home in childhood, and still understands at the time of the census.

The next largest group following Chinese is Spanish, followed by Punjabi, and Arabic. Three native languages that are largest are Cree, Inuktitut, and Ojibway. I guess my main concern is, as a Dene, once my language goes, I do not have any other mother country to go back to, and learn my language again, such as these other languages. If they lose it in Canada, they always can go back to their mother country, and it is preserved there. Whereas in my particular case, we are on the endangered species list, and we are getting close to extinction. The only place to preserve our language is through this government here, and I think I would like to say, that on behalf of a lot of people in my constituency, there is concern over the standardization of the language of the Dene.

There are so many different dialects up here, that if you are going to standardize it, there is a real danger of taking the uniqueness of each distinct dialect away, and I have a very big concern about that. I would just like to say mahsi for that. Thank you.

Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, by-law enforcement officers in a community are a very important part of the municipal government operation, especially in a small community such as Pelly Bay and Spence Bay and other communities, I am sure, across the territories. A by-law enforcement officer has to be able to make the distinction between the Criminal Code of Canada, and the local by-law in the local municipalities. The by-law enforcement officer requires a solo training within the field that he has chosen to do within the community.

Mr. Speaker, my question is, does the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs have a policy, or program, in place to oversee that by-law enforcement officers in the small communities are properly trained to do the job? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the area of enforcement officers in the communities, the department itself does not have training programs, but, I believe, the Minister of Justice is reviewing the training for by-law officers. The motion was passed in this House to that effect, and I think the Minister of Justice will be dealing with this sometime in the future. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. M.A.C.A. is directly involved with the municipalities within the territories. I am sure M.A.C.A. is very responsive to the communities within the territories. Would the Minister tell me, and inform the House, that he will do everything he can on this request, which has been requested by a number of communities? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions, Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board. Welcome back, Dennis.

On a previous occasion, I have commented in this House about the policy that has been established by the Workers' Compensation Board to define who is, and who is not, a hunter for the purposes of section 10-1 of the Act. On June 23, I reminded the Minister that this policy had been ruled as contrary to the spirit of the legislation by the board's own appeal committee. The Minister assured me that he would have a new policy in place by the end of this summer. He also took my supplementary as notice when I asked him what the board was using in place of the policy.

Since the Minister, and the board, have had the summer to work over the new policy, could I ask the Minister today, what action he has taken to replace the previous definition of who is principally engaged as a traditional hunter, trapper or fisherman?

Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, since this issue was last discussed in this Legislature, there have been some other major issues and problems that have occurred at the Workers' Compensation Board, and I must inform the Member that my expectations that we would have a new policy in place by the end of the summer may have been a bit optimistic.

I can tell the Member, however, that the matter has been worked on intensively by the Workers' Compensation Board. Our government, principally the Department of Renewable Resources, and I do believe they are close to a solution, but it has not yet been finalized. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Gargan.

Supplementary, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister what guidelines has the board had, to make its decision on which hunter and trapper claims should be compensated?

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, as I understand the work that is being done, the criteria for measuring injury will be the same as is applied to any other accident in any other work place. There will be no special definitions of injury, and disability, for hunters. They will be treated the same as any other person that comes to the W.C.B. for coverage.

Secondly, the board is working on a definition of hunter, which is done locally at the community level, and not be some distant claims adjudicator or other remote person.

Thirdly, the committee working on this issue has agreed that it will be necessary to expand the coverage criteria, to make it easier for more hunters to be covered, than were covered under the previous policy.

Having said all that, the setting of an appropriate income level for determining awards for injured persons may well have to be adjusted for hunters, and may well have to be special for hunters, as compared to other workers.

That is what I can tell the Member about the directions that are being taken. I am told that the work is close to being concluded, within weeks. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question that I want to ask the Minister of Social Services. I am not sure what the policies are, as an M.L.A. here in the territories or across Canada, there are committees under social services. Many of them have fallen, this could be due to shortage of funding, or perhaps there is a new policy in place. They used to have committees, and they would get $25, they have been reduced to receiving $5.

I wonder if the Minister of Social Services can respond to whether this is a new policy for Social Services Committee Members. We understand that they now receive $5, and I was asked to bring this forward to the Minister of Social Services. Is this a new policy, to reduce the honorarium? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If he is unable to respond today, I hope that he will be able to do so during the sitting of this session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, I will take the question as notice. I will note the Member's desire to have an answer before the end of this session. Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Item 5, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister had put forth his Minister's statement regarding the meeting of the Committee of Political Leaders, in respect to the working document that he presented to the House, tabled in the House, last June, regarding the commissions report, and Working Towards a Common Future.

He indicated in this House, that I.R.C. was going to develop a work plan and interim budget for consideration of the Members. At the time, he also indicated that he tabled the report, and he would like to take time to discuss it in committee of the whole, during this session.

I would like to ask the Minister, when does he intend to bring this document into committee of the whole and discuss it further, to get the Members' viewpoints on that particular document? Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister indicated to this House, this work plan is to be developed, and is being developed by I.R.C. on the recommendation of the political leaders, without consultation of the M.L.A.s.

Can I ask the Minister, whether or not he is waiting for a work plan, the draft work plan, that they have requested, before he considers bringing forth the document Working Towards a Common Future for our discussion, and our viewpoints. Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat concerned of the process that we developed. Basically, what has happened is that we have had a report tabled in this House, that the Legislative Assembly, and the government, has spent probably a million dollars on. It has been tabled, and never brought forth to committee of the whole.

Political leaders have taken it upon themselves to develop a work plan, with the input of M.L.A.'s comments, or concerns, in regards to the initial document. Mr. Speaker, I have a copy of the initial draft work plan, and I am concerned that there is nothing in respect to Metis people in the territories, and I know that it is only a draft. So, I would like ask the Minister, again, Mr. Speaker, when does he intend to bring forth the document Working Towards a Common Future for Members' discussions, and comments, in this House? Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I should correct the Minister, it is not the Metis Association, I believe it is the Metis Nation. They changed their name well over a year ago. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the Gwich'in and the Sahtu Tribal Council, the Deh Cho, the Dene and the Metis, I am trying to ask a question to the Minister. This Minister is in charge of Aboriginal Affairs, he is basically responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs.

He is trying to ensure that we have a package for the western Arctic, and I am basically going to outright ask him, where and when in the process do elected M.L.A.s become involved in developing this package for this Legislative Assembly? Currently, it is being done by the political leaders without the consideration of the M.L.A.s' comments, on whether we think the Working Towards a Common Future document is good, bad, acceptable, or non-acceptable.

So, I would like to ask the Minister when will he take the time to allow M.L.A.s to express their comments regarding that document?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Oral questions, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Aboriginal Rights and Constitutional Development if he, or any of his Cabinet colleagues, have received any documents that were to be forwarded, or considered by Cabinet, to outline the direction, and establish a policy, to guide the discussions and negotiations on the community transfer initiatives?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Supplementary, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Can the Minister indicate whether or not he received any previous documents that were, in fact, intended to be brought forward and considered by Cabinet, other than the one that is being proposed for this week?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Supplementary, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Did the Minister, himself, have knowledge of those documents, and did the Minister review those documents?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For clarification, could the honourable Member indicate to me why he has indicated to this House, and the public, that there have been no documents produced, dealing with the matter of the community transfer initiatives?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Oral questions, Mr. Dent.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Pudluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question will be directed to the Minister of Health. Mr. Speaker, the medical patients, in the church project which was started by church people from the N.W.T., who were sent south for medical treatments, particularly for the treatment of T.B., some never returned. Often the families of those people never knew where, when, or even if they died.

Mr. Speaker, although this project was terminated in March, 1991, the department stated that they would continue to investigate requests for information from lost families' members.

Could the Minister tell me if the department has received any further requests since the project was terminated, and whether those requests are being investigated? Thank you.

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes to both questions. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those people buried down south, have been listed, there is about 68 Inuit buried there. How long have those lists been available to people, are there limited years that information is available?

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, a great deal of work has been done by the Department of Health. This was an initiative of the previous Minister, Madam Cournoyea.

Quite a lot of information has been discovered, although, unfortunately, some of the requests did result in a lack of information about some of those patients. Mr. Speaker, to answer the Member's questions, I believe that where information has been gathered, it should continue to be made available, readily by the department, to those persons who are anxious to get information about patients who got lost in the south.

As far as I am concerned, there should be no time limit on responses to requests for information, especially if that is information already in hand. There should be no time limit. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That means that those people who died, in the early 1950s, 1960s, and even 1970s, if the family requests that the body, or coffin, be moved to their communities, are they still available? Thank you.

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, as I understand this program, it was designed to get information to families about what might have happened to a patient that left the north, in a situation where a family lost touch with that patient.

As I understood the program, it was to provide information about what became of that patient. Mr. Speaker, it was never a part of the program to bury deceased persons in the north, or to move the deceased from the south to the north. The program was only to let families know what became of those patients, where contact was lost. That was never part of the program, therefore, it has never been available. Unless the program changes, that particular service would not be available in the future under this program. It is an information program. Thank you.

This is your last supplementary, Mr. Pudluk.

My final supplementary, this program was started because those families were still hunting for their relatives, even if they had died. Now, a lot of families have found out where they are buried. Today, they are asking if the body is still there. In 1950s, they could not afford to request the body be brought back at that time. Today, they may wish to, and can afford to bring the body back. Is the body still there, so that they can bring that body back to their communities? Does the Minister know if those bodies are still available? Thank you.

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, I would be glad to assist the Member in getting an answer to that question, if he could give me specific information about which family is concerned, and which patient. I would be glad to try to answer those questions, and I understand what the question is. I would be glad to assist. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources to confirm that when we closed on Friday, she proceeded to a mines conference in the Yukon?

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, September 20, at 10 o'clock, I left for the meeting in Whitehorse, and spent the day and evening at the meeting. After the evening meeting, which concluded at 9:30 a.m., we got back on the plane at 10:30 p.m. to return to Yellowknife. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister whether she took the opportunity, while she was at this meeting, to explain to Mr. Epp, the Minister responsible for Mining, if she had the opportunity to discuss with him the concerns that we have here in this city about the whole mining business, and to use his good offices to explain the seriousness of it to his Cabinet colleagues.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, when I brought up the issue in broad terms to the meeting that evening, after the conclusion of the meeting, I spent about 45 minutes with Mr.

Jake Epp talking about this particular thing, and this is the topic we talked about mostly, and how he should be using his offices to bring the situation to the attention of the other colleagues on our behalf.

We had a long discussion, he committed himself to do that, and apparently today, there was a conference telephone call between various Ministers responsible, and he was on the telephone in that conference call which, I understand, has just been concluded a few minutes ago. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Renewable Resources. I have noticed that during the last several summers, we have been having an increasing population of bison in my constituency, and the municipality itself, on the road to the airport, even in the airport. I have just been reading an article, written by Kevin Lloyd, a native person, in which he states that irregardless of whether they are brucellosis free or tuberculosis free, they could still contract that disease.

I would like to ask the Minister whether or not there are any plans --- oh, by the way, I got your can of muskox meat -- any plans to maybe put some kind of control over where these bison are roaming. Are there any plans?

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the bison in the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary are disease free, we have established a zone, we call it a bison free zone, where, if we see a buffalo, the buffalo will be terminated, if it is possible. That buffalo zone is across the lake, across from Fort Providence. We noticed, starting last spring, that the buffalo are moving inland from the Falaise Lake area closer to the Fort Providence community because of the high water this year, and they are looking for a field where they can feed.

Also, because of the reconstruction of the highway, widening of the right of way, that promotes new feeding grounds for bison, which has been a problem. Also, I am looking at legislation change so that the quota might be increased from 40 up to 60, and also, I am looking at, for Fort Providence people only, a legislation change that would allow them to harvest bison northwest of the highway. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Gargan.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the response that the Minister has given me, however, there is a problem right now with the bison roaming into the community itself. The access road to the community have bison roaming in there, the airport also have bison roaming in those areas and increasingly, Mr. Speaker, the bison have been going toward the Mackenzie River, so that you see them all along the highways and the winter crossings.

Increasingly, they are probably going to be going to the other side and getting themselves shot. My main concern is with regard to the immediate surrounding of Fort Providence in which there are a substantial number. I would like to ask the Minister if they have done any preventative programs so that they do not have to be seen in the immediate area.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize the problem and, it is a problem. I heard the other day that the power plant operator woke up in the morning and there were two bison on his lot he had to "shoo" away before he got out of his driveway. Yes, it is a real problem that bison are going into the airport, and also on the access road to Fort Providence. What I have asked the department to do, is look at prescribed burnings so that the habitat could be improved in other areas further from the community of Fort Providence.

They have tried, along with the community involvement, to burn an area, but the weather was too cold. So, Mr. Speaker, the department will try to do that again in the spring. Plus, I would like to say that I will work with the community, and also the Member for that community, to see how we could solve that particular problem. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. New question, Mr. Gargan.

Mr. Speaker, during the last several weeks I have been travelling back and forth between here and Fort Providence and I have also been doing my share of driving there, and it gets me muddy mad at the conditions...

---Laughter

...at the conditions in which the road is in. I realize that we did have several months of rain and snow, and that has caused a dangerous situation. But, last weekend, when I went to Providence, I have a four wheel drive, and I practically got stuck in a section in which there was six inches of mud that you had to go through. The Minister did indicate that in 1987, or 1985, I think, he would be working on that section of it. That is fine, really. I am happy that something is gong to be done in the future.

My main concern is what is going to be done, now, with regard to the condition of the road, in that particular section, that is between Chan Lake, and Birch Creek.

I could suggest to Members that the word "bloody" is considered to be an unparliamentary ...

Muddy...

Now that it has been clarified, for the Members' edification, in case anyone is interested, bloody is unparliamentary. Mr. Minister.