Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, I met with the some of the members of the Fort Simpson band council and they expressed their concern to me. As well, the Member has been talking to me on this issue privately. I agree that this year is especially a bad year for trappers because of the climate and also the availability of the animals which are normally caught for furs. Mr. Speaker, I agree we will have to modify the program for next year. I will take the advice from the Member very seriously and also the hunters and trappers of that particular area. What I would like to do is look at the program for next year to suit the trappers' requirement. I would like to say we will give the funding according to what they have historically been given. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Fort Simpson Dene council has also expressed their concern that because of this unsuccessful harvest, the trappers cannot pay back their harvesters' assistance loans from the band and managers in Fort Simpson. This is the case in other communities as well where they have hunters' and trappers' associations doing this. The band wants to support the trappers and they are requesting to forgive their loans for this extremely poor year so they will be able to continue trapping and to support themselves in the future. Will the Minister make a commitment to provide some changes in the financial assistance to the band in Simpson and hunters and trappers in other cases, so the loans of the trappers may be forgiven? Mahsi.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some time ago, after I met with the Fort Simpson Dene band and also the Member for Nahendeh, I asked my department to see if they could find ways to accommodate the trappers. That is one of the things my department is reviewing, to see how we can address the whole problem. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. The trappers have also identified a number of problems with the new quick kill traps. They feel it would be beneficial if the deadline for the switch to the new traps was extended by one year so the trappers would have more time to become skilled in their use. As you know, there was a shortage of traps in different parts of the country, especially in the far north this year, and to try to learn these new traps in one year is very difficult. In consideration of the extremely poor harvest this season, is the Minister willing to extend the deadline for the switch to the new traps by one year? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Extension of the requirement to use the new quick kill trap is not entirely up to me. It was put on to save the trapping industry, to make the people who were concerned about trapping aware. Those people were animal rights activists. There is pressure in European communities to stop imports of furs from Canada which were caught in the leg hold trap. That was a big issue. As a result, the fur market went down drastically. One of the ways we got the Europeans to agree was to improve our methods of trapping. As a result, this standard for trapping was adopted by Canada to save the industry.

Mr. Speaker, there are different views with respect to the quick kill traps. Last month we had a couple of trappers in the foyer of the Legislative Assembly, they were elderly people from the Fort Smith area. I was talking to one of them and he said this new trap is very efficient, very clean and, as a result, scientists are able to determine what type of animals the animals they are catching are feeding on. He said he was willing to go anywhere in the Northwest Territories to educate trappers. He said he could go out in half a season and catch as many animals with the new trap than with the old trap. He also said that could apply to anyone.

I guess, Mr. Speaker, depending on who you talk to there are different views. These trappers who have adopted the new way of trapping are very willing to go out to regions. My department has plans to hire these people to educate other trappers who are being very successful in trapping. Mr. Speaker, I agree, there are people who are out there saying these traps are not efficient, they are bulky and they do not know how to accept them. Mr. Speaker, I will try to use these people who have found these traps to be much more efficient, cleaner, et cetera, to go into the regions, hopefully next season. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Traps have been changed to satisfy the animal rights groups rather than to satisfy the people out on the land who make a living from trapping, especially this year. There is no justice in what is going on out there on their behalf. I do not like to hear what the Minister has to say about trying to satisfy some people in Europe. It totally goes against how I believe in people trying to make a living off the land. It is going against people who have done that all their lives. Will the Minister report to this House on the plans with respect to the recommendations made by the Fort Simpson Dene council and the trappers, before the end of this session? Thank you.

Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, if I have to make a response to recommendations which are made by a Dene council it might be done in haste. We might be doing something which is not well thought out. If the Member wants me to respond, I will try. The recommendations which are put to us from Fort Simpson require much thinking and there are possible implications if we make the wrong decisions. We could do a disservice to the trappers. The whole idea of this trapping method was to try to save the trapping way of life. I was trying to save the way of native people in the Northwest Territories. We knew, at that point, after all the options we looked at over the years since 1982, that was the only way we could save the trapping. I know my people as well as the people from Nahendeh are affected very badly by the ill informed animal rights people and their governments. We are still trying to educate other people, especially the parliamentarians from Europe, and they will be coming this month to Canada. I will see if we can talk to them again to ensure our way of life is not affected by the policies and regulations made from other countries. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, in perusing Friday's Hansard, on page 3401, I note that reference was made in the debate on young offenders' facilities. Reference was made to a Canada Corrections Act, not by the Minister, but there was reference made in the debate. Could the Minister tell this House -- and this is another skill-testing question designed to probe his knowledge of legislation under which he operates -- is there a Canada Corrections Act? Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Dent.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I understand the situation and I realize, if you make decisions in haste, they may not necessarily be the correct decisions or the decisions you would have made if you had a longer period of time. I would be prepared to consider carrying those funds over, upon the recommendation of the Minister of Social Services who is looking at the problem right now, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Justice. Under what act does the Young Offenders Act come under with regard to federal legislation? Thank you.