Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have been looking at the allocation to the department, which is around $2.5 million. If you compare it to other departments, it is very little. I don't know whether or not this government is really serious about its commitment to aboriginal people, even to the environment. I am not saying this because I was told to say it. I am saying it because it is obvious that where we should be concentrating a lot of our energy and money has nothing there.

Mr. Zoe brought up the issue of emergency shelters. It seems that they are putting it on hold. Even for the operations this coming summer with regard to firefighting, we need more towers. Because you spent about $20 million on extra, I would presume a lot of it went to aircraft. Maybe we should look at putting more money towards fire towers as opposed to using the amount of aircraft that we do.

There are many ways that we can address the issue of firefighting without the government spending that much money. It is the small things that count with regard to that area.

There are also fire bases that need to be addressed. I thought maybe there might be something with regard to a fire base for Kakisa. I haven't seen it in the plan. Are there any plans? There are crews in Kakisa established now.

The other thing is as part of the capital plan in Fort Providence, one of the recommendations, Mr. Chairman, is to have the fire suppression operation site relocated. It was part of the plan at one time. Even that is being killed.

With regard to equipment, as a result of fires this summer or even as a result of people going through the ice. What are we doing with regard to the replacement of equipment? I don't know whether or not the government has anything to offer those people who actually lose equipment. We used to have programs called special ARDA that used to assist hunters and trappers to obtain equipment to pursue a way of life. As far as I see in this budget, there is absolutely nothing here to help people who want to get back out on the land. In fact, it is really quite discouraging, the amount of money allocated to this department. The government should be making it a priority to have such things to assist aboriginal people. I think this is an area that needs this kind of attention.

With regard to environmental protection, I don't know what they have, but I would presume that since there have just been two major oil contamination accidents in Russia, the department should be taking a second look at what is up here and if there should be more addressed with regard to the environment; the study of animal habitats and so on.

At one point, I thought there was supposed to be an amalgamation of parks with the Renewable Resource department. What happened to that? Did Economic

Development decide that because there is good money there, they would keep it?

---Laughter

I don't know what happened there, but I'm very interested in finding out, Mr. Chairman, from the Minister why it is that we have so little in the department. We should be offering more money for communities and incentives for hunters and trappers. The Minister made a statement on fur pricing and the sealing industry a while ago. And, yet, I don't see anything here that indicates how he intends to address those areas.

I appreciate we are going to guarantee fur prices for harvesters, but I don't really see how you encouraged aboriginal people, even the Inuit, to go back out on the land. You don't really have the tools to do that. I was leaning towards the Kakisa issue, but...

---Laughter

I really think, Mr. Chairman, that this department is really short-changed and I think it trickles down to the communities and the aboriginal people are going to be the biggest losers in this whole money grabbing game, or digging from the trough, as it is called. I would like to ask the Minister if he has any comments. I don't think there is enough money and I don't think there is anything going to Kakisa, either. Probably now that you only have $2.5 million, Kakisa has been dropped to the bottom of the list and you are concentrating more on renovations and improving the life of existing facilities, as opposed to new initiatives.

I am concerned. Fire towers are another issue. At one point, about three years ago, Mr. Chairman, there was a meeting in Fort Simpson. Robert McLeod and his organization were there to talk about fire operations, issues and concerns. Herb Norwegian was there, and I believe Jim Antoine was there too, and we talked about having fire towers to help prevent fires. We talked about placing towers further north on Sibbeston Mountain, Redknife Mountain and those areas, so they have the necessary prevention measures to address fire.

Mr. Chairman, I have even greater concerns for the communities and the individuals but the dollars are not here to address those. So, I will just leave it at that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.