Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to get an update. About a year ago, the department was looking at rewriting the Wildlife Act and calling it something else. I am wondering how that is coming along.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have been looking at one section that covers the Inuvialuit in the act. It would take about three to four years to do the complete revision of the act for the entire Northwest Territories. Hopefully, the revision respecting the Inuvialuit settlement area will be completed this fall.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to the part of the act which deals with the feeding of caribou to dogs within the community or outside of the community, could that portion of the act be removed and made into regulations, rather than it being part of the act? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We try to respect traditional laws through local hunters' and trappers' associations. Their advice is very valuable. We have approached the regional wildlife boards, such as the Keewatin Wildlife Federation, to see if we could change the legislation to respect what Baker Lake people want to do, which is to remove that particular section from the act so the caribou could be fed to the dogs. The Keewatin Wildlife Federation disagrees with the Member. They think the Beverly Qamanirjuaq caribou herd is a very important resource and it has to be protected. They said, "Do not make any change to the act." Until I hear

differently from them, we are not going to make a move on this one. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand what the Minister is saying to me, but I also feel that the Keewatin Wildlife Federation, or any of these other organizations who are able to deal with sea mammals, such as the seal or walrus, are able to find other animals other than caribou. I am still being pressured by my constituents in Baker Lake because this is all we have. How difficult would it be to remove it from legislation and make it into regulations? Would it not be easier for the department to deal with that if it was a part of regulation, rather than legislation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Feeding caribou to dogs is under regulation. To change the regulation is not difficult to do, but caribou at this point, is considered endangered in the act. Once we allow the caribou to be fed to dogs, international pressure will come to us because we are allowing this very valuable resource to be used for feeding dogs. I sympathize with the Member. Perhaps the department, the Member himself and the HTA from Baker Lake could tackle this issue to find a way to solve the problem, if the Member would agree. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, the people of Baker Lake understand that this portion of our law, feeding caribou to dogs, is in legislation in the act. That is what I am asking. The Minister just responded by saying it is in regulation, but it is actually in the act itself. I ask the question again, would it be difficult to remove it from legislation and make it a regulation?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am sorry, Mr. Chairman. I was wrong. It is not in regulation. It is in the act. The Member is correct. It would require a legislation change, which would have to come here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to add to what my honourable colleague from Kivallivik is concerned about. Perhaps then the caribou was an endangered species, but recently, in my home community of Pelly Bay in the last five years, we have caribou coming right into the community, grazing casually, right next to the dogs. The Minister is aware, as the other Members of this House are, that recently hunters find that a great deal of the caribou have different diseases. One of them is brucellosis. When the caribou is not normal, and the meat is not fit for human consumption, can the meat be used to feed the dogs? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My understanding is that brucellosis in caribou, if the meat is cooked properly, can be eaten by humans. For your other questions, if the caribou is diseased, should people be allowed to feed it to the dogs, I am not sure on this one. It would require my department to research in that particular area to see if that is the case. If you will allow me, Mr. Chairman, to go back to the Member some other time, I would be happy to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are many different kind of diseases. One of those abnormalities is the meat of the caribou sometimes has little white spots on it. Can the Minister clarify if the biologists know what kind of disease this is? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we have seen those little white spots on the meat. The scientists inform us they are tapeworms. They are harmless to human beings. They are the kind which do not affect human beings if they are consumed. Thank you.