Excuse me, if you have a point of order, make a point of order. Point of order, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Point of order, Mr. Speaker. The Minister is imputing motives such as cat calling or whatever. Many times we, on this side of the House, request clarity, but I do not believe we are cat calling. I would ask the Minister to answer the question and not make other types of allegations which are totally unwarranted. Thank you.

Thank you. You do not have a point of order, Mrs. Marie-Jewell. Mr. Kakfwi, in the normal course of debate the chair, everywhere in the country, allows a certain latitude and some responses on either side to statements or questions asked by the other side. When the chair thinks that those responses are getting out of hand, the chair will obviously call people to order. In this particular case, I did not think that the

responses were getting out of hand. I will ask people, according to our rules, to respect each other and try to allow Ministers to complete their answers and, it works the other way, for Ministers to allow Members to ask their questions. We will get back to business. Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have raised this issue before in this Assembly, this past year has not been a good year for trappers. There was a change of the style of the traps that are used and, especially in the Gwich'in area and the Delta/Beaufort area, the trappers, at one stage, could not get access to traps. At that time, I asked the Minister to look at the possibility of having a trap manufacturing plant in the north. One of the motions passed this past week by the renewable resource council was that they establish a trap manufacturing plant in the Gwich'in settlement area. Can the Minister please advise if his department has done any work in this regard?

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct. Last fall, when the trapping season opened, we were short of traps for all trappers. Even though we had ordered them, we were only able to get a certain amount which was not enough. We called manufacturers to see if we could get some more. They were not able to keep up to the level of demand that the people of Northwest Territories were demanding. We have done some exploration to see whether there could be manufacturing of traps in the Northwest Territories. I understand my department is working with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to see if that could be feasible. Up to this point, the two departments are continuing to see if the Northwest Territories companies could start manufacturing the traps. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister then confirm that he, and his department, supports the initiative of trying to get some kind of trap manufacturing plant in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is correct.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, up to now, people who are living in public units are barely able to pay the rent because of low income and the high cost of living. There has been some speculation that, at some time in the future, the Minister will be reviewing the possibility of increasing the rents for public units. Will the Minister inform the public before he plans to increase the rent because, in the past, we have not been informed by the Minister? The people are complaining that they have not been informed by the Minister of Personnel when he decided to look at the long-term housing strategy. From that, I hope we learn and the Minister will inform the public of his plans. Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any change to any policy will use a community consultation process. We will develop a paper for discussion, table it and send it out to communities. There is a consultation process where you use the community advisory committees, the regional advisory committees and also the advisory committee of MLAs, so everyone will be included in the discussion and the decision. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. The village of Fort Simpson is the same size and even smaller than some of the hamlets in the Northwest Territories. The hamlets are fully subsidized by this government. Fort Simpson is tax-based, but it is very small. It depends on this government for subsidy. Fort Simpson was supposed to receive the water and sewer subsidy. When is the village of Fort Simpson going to receive the water and sewer subsidy? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My department has been working on this issue for quite a long time. We recognize the village is about the same size as some of the hamlets, which have a water and sewer subsidy program in place. It is not a 100 per cent subsidy to hamlets, but it is a subsidy. My department has been working with the community of Fort Simpson in trying to come up with a similar program that is enjoyed by similar sized communities. I have drafted a Cabinet document which I am preparing to take forward to Cabinet. I am not sure when that date is going to

be. Once the document is approved by Cabinet, we will apply it to Fort Simpson. Thank you.

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

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes.