Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my left is the deputy minister, Mr. Joe Handley, and to my right is our director of finance, Mr. Rick Feil.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a very short general comment right now, but later on I will ask some questions about the capital budget. Commercial harvesting of caribou in Coral Harbour was rather surprisingly successful last fall and winter. I hear there were some plans to upgrade the commercial harvesting program in that community for two reasons. One is that the caribou on Southampton Island are disease-free and they are very much desired, since there are no predators on the island such as wolves, and the caribou are very contented and fat. That is desired by present consumers of the Northwest Territories. The bigger scale would be initiated in that area.

The second reason, Mr. Chairman, is there is a danger shown by the scientific review of the numbers of the caribou there. The population there has grown to an unmanageable population unless drastic measures are taken. One of the answers is for commercial harvesting because the population of Coral Harbour cannot be controlled through subsistence hunting.

However, I have been told by some reliable sources that commercial hunting this fall has been cancelled. I was surprised by that. Secondly, there was talk last year that maybe a processing plant would be cheaper in the long run if it was done in Coral Harbour, rather than having one in Rankin Inlet. Of course, I will not make further comments until I have some questions to put to the Minister, respecting programs in that area. Qujannamiik.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To the Member's question, I made a response to a request made by Mr. Gargan on travels of the individual who is making the assessments of community freezers. I don't have the specifics of his travel right now, but I believe he will be into every region and every community that has community freezers. His travels should be completed by the end of the fiscal year. I could find out exactly when this individual might be in honourable Member's region, if that is the wish of the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the fact that he is sending the individual around to communities, but I have a concern that there are some communities that have freezers and there are others that don't. In particular, I had mentioned that there are two unorganized communities in my constituency that don't have any power. So I would like to think that recognizing that, they might have a priority over communities which have power. In the community of Cambridge Bay, they used to have a community freezer, but it is no longer used because individuals store their own meat in their own deep freezers because it is just the way things have evolved. So community freezers aren't really wanted in all communities, but they certainly are in some. During this assessment, will that come out in discussions with community representatives? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe the individual going to the communities will be finding out from the communities about the efficiency of their particular freezer and if there is any way to save any costs to those freezers. With the information that is received by the report made by Mr. Mike Stevens, we will be looking at alternative ways of making use of freezers or the power that is used for freezers. Any way that we are able to save money in the use of these freezers will be looked at. At this point, we are holding back until Mr. Stevens has made his travel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is the individual going to be consulting in communities without existing community freezers? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I believe that where communities have asked for freezers, this individual will consult with those communities.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is the Minister's department responsible for the establishment of community freezers? I noticed that currently, in this capital estimate and in last year's there weren't any, but in prior years, there was some government agency involved in establishing community freezers. Is his department now responsible and if it isn't, do they plan on renewing their responsibility for establishing and maintaining some of these community freezers? How will they address this issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't think that it is the responsibility of the department to build or initiate freezers. Rather, it is the department's responsibility to assess freezers and the best use of freezers once they are in the communities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask the Minister if he could clarify that then. If he is saying he isn't responsible for establishing community freezers, where do communities go to acquire these facilities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't know, at this particular time. The Department of Renewable Resources had agreed to make an assessment of community freezers and was given that responsibility by Cabinet. At this time, I don't know that there is a department that is responsible for initiating community freezers. We are able to submit it to Cabinet and they would make the final decision. Thank you.