Thank you. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understood we had a policy which did not allow for clear cut logging, where you take everything off of the land in the area which has been assigned for that purpose. Is the Minister saying then that we do allow clear cut logging in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. No, we do not allow clear cut logging. However, we do allow block cutting. You cut in a particular area and then you go onto the next one. The areas have to be in small sizes in order for the planted growth to come back. We leave sections untouched in between cut blocks. Thank you.

I will not pursue any further. It sounds like there is clear cut logging in specified areas. However, they may be smaller clear cut areas than you would have in other jurisdictions, where they take literally hundreds of acres out. It seems to me that we have come up with our own system whereby it is clear cut, but it is clear cut in a very small chunk. My last question is one which I have already spoken to the Minister about, I was told this summer there was wood being brought into the city which had been banned in other provinces. This was wood which had been cut in British Columbia and the timber had been killed by a certain kind of bug. It was being sold at gas stations across the country. It still had eggs and bugs in it. I suppose by now any wood in Yellowknife from that source would not be much of a danger because everything would be dead. Other provinces had banned these bundles of logs which were being sold in gas stations because of the potential threat to the forestry in those provinces. I have already spoken to the Minister about this. I know several people in the community know about this and have raised it. I thought perhaps he would have an answer on this issue.

Thank you, Mr. Lewis. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have asked the department to look into this. They have taken samples from the place where you can get these cut logs and firewood. The scientists are reviewing it to see what kind of bug might be living in the logs and they have not given a response as of yet. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under the definitive objectives, one of the objectives is to conduct major studies in some areas. One of the studies was on the polar bear. Mr. Chairman, almost every year in the early fall, polar bears come into the community of Pelly Bay causing damage to property, mainly the meat caches, and endangering the lives of the residents of Pelly Bay. In fact, about ten years ago a man was mauled by a polar bear during Christmas right in front of his house. The hunters' and trappers' association of Pelly Bay has been requesting the Department of Renewable Resources to move the opening of the polar bear hunting season from December 1 to November 1, one month ahead. When a nuisance bear comes to town and the people in Pelly Bay have no choice but to eliminate or kill the polar bear, people are very concerned about this especially when wildlife management confiscates the skin. I think this causes unnecessary anxiety on the part of the hunter not knowing if they are going to be charged or not. One of the ways we can eliminate the problem, Mr. Chairman, is to move the hunting season from December 1 to November 1. It may not be solved altogether, but that is one of the options. I wonder if the Minister or his staff would tell the House when this request, which has been outstanding for many years, will be addressed by the Department of Renewable Resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The opening of polar bear hunting season is basically up to the community and the department through an agreement in areas where there is no polar bear management agreement, which includes Pelly Bay. Some time ago we were encouraging communities not to harvest polar bears before December to allow females to be in a den to have cubs in January. We allowed, in some cases, communities to have one or two extra tags in order for them to do that. I am not aware of the background in Pelly Bay, but if we do that for the community, then we will require the community to give up the number of tags which we gave them when we told them not to hunt before December 1. It is our recent experience that the bears which are hunted before December are, this year, worthless. Nobody wants to buy them. That would be up to the community if they really want to pursue harvesting of polar bears in November, they could do that with an agreement with our department. They would have to face a couple of problems, they would have to reduce their quota or they may have to face not selling the polar bear hides to markets. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Would the Minister clarify why the community has to give up two or more tags if they want to open the hunting season earlier? Why do we have that consequence? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not aware of the background in Pelly Bay, but in coming up with the date of December 1 for the opening of polar bear season, if we had given you more tags, then we would take that number of polar bears which we initially gave you tags for, if you were going to hunt before December 1. In some cases where the community has made changes to the opening date, we allow them to have two additional tags. If we did that for

the community of Pelly Bay, then we would ask them to give up two more. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Why do we just not legalize the date, instead of December 1 to November 1? I cannot see why, when you legalize the opening of the season hunt, that you have to give up the quotas or licences. Would the Minister explain that to me? I do not think I am getting the message from the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our objective was to encourage communities not to harvest polar bears prior to December 1, so it would give the polar bears a chance to be able to den, especially the females to have their cubs and come out in the spring. If the community agreed not to hunt polar bears, we gave them a few more tags. If the community of Pelly Bay wants to harvest prior to December 1, then we would ask them to give up what we initially gave them. I am not too sure of the situation in Pelly Bay. I will check into it. If we did not do that, then we will not ask the community to give up anything. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could the Minister get me a copy of the information on the seasonal polar bear hunt within the NWT in the eastern Arctic? I wonder if he could outline which communities and which area hunts in November, when the other communities' hunt begins during the month of December. When will the Minister come to my area and conduct a major study in the Kitikmeot region on polar bear management? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I will be able to provide the times when polar bear hunting is open in each community to the House. With respect to coming up with a polar bear management plan for the Kitikmeot east area, I have no date at this point but I believe it is one of the areas we would like to do next. Thank you.