Mr. Chairman, I would like to have the concurrence of the committee to bring in the officials of the department.

Agreed.

---Agreed

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. A few weeks ago, I asked the Minister a question regarding the policy for community freezers. Since then, he has clarified that his department is undertaking a review of the existing community freezers throughout the NWT. What is the timetable for the completion of the review and are they planning to address some of the needs through their capital estimates? That is, the communities that require community freezers where they haven't been established and the communities that require major upgrading of their existing community freezers which aren't in good operational condition. Thank you.

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.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was going to ask a question when we were in clause by clause, but I am going to ask the question during general comments. For the sale of caribou, there were about 300 caribou that were going to be sold. This was a request. Last

year, Coral Harbour was told that money wasn't put aside for that. I want to ask a question with respect to the money that was going to be put aside for that purpose. Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With respect to Mr. Arvaluk's question about the caribou that are going to be harvested, the Department of Renewable Resources is taking care of this right now. Right now, we're in the process of working with the community of Coral Harbour to set up an agreement. We're not trying to stop this, but we are working on it further so that we can have this for next year.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm the Member for Aivilik. (Translation) Can the Minister tell me why they can't finish this agreement?

(Translation) They can't set up an agreement because right now the amount they would have to put aside for this project is too high. This is why the process is slow. The federal government is saying that the amount being set for this project is too high.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, how many caribou were they planning to gather? What was the agreed-to quota of animals that were going to be harvested? Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would probably go with the harvesting of 4,000 caribou. This year, there would be between 1,000 and 1,500 harvested in Coral Harbour.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As long as the hunters of Coral Harbour don't harvest between 6,000 and 8,000 caribou, why is Economic Development or the NWT Development Corporation having a hard time setting up an agreement? What is the disagreement here when they are trying to deal with funds for this project?

(Translation) They have clarified to Renewable Resources that, of the caribou that would be harvested, the Inuit would get 1,000. With the project, it would go up to 4,000. Together, if you combined it, there would be 5,000 caribou harvested. But, the thing is, they can't agree with the Development Corporation and Renewable Resources. The Development Corporation says they would be able to pay $1.25 per pound, but with the agreement, the people are asking for more than that amount. So, that is what the disagreement is about. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These questions are not meant to be a preamble, but I wanted to get to the crunch of the matter with the capital estimates. It is neglected here. Was $1.25 arrived at after studying other markets, such as overseas or southern markets? Is it possible to have a federal inspector on site in Coral Harbour so that these can be commercially marketed and sold in the southern market? Is $1.25 a firm amount, of which we can't go beyond to make a profitable investment for the Development Corporation?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think the area in which the Department of Renewable Resources and the NWT Development Corporation are not able to meet is where the NWT Development Corporation has offered $1.25 per pound. The cost to harvesters is greater than the $1.25 the NWT Development Corporation is willing to offer. That is where the disagreement is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think that emergency shelters are a very good idea. However, as a department, in previous years we haven't been mandated to provide emergency shelters. Other departments have been able to come up with funds to do so.

At the present time, we don't have, within our budget, funds to provide emergency shelters. Perhaps at a later time we would be willing to consider it. But at the present time, we don't have the funds to be able to provide emergency shelters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We haven't done any kind of research up to this point. But we are willing to take a look and find an estimate as to what it would cost to build emergency shelters. However, I would like to add that the hunters' and trappers' associations are given a contribution by the Department of Renewable Resources, in which each hunter or trapper could receive, from their HTA, a contribution towards building their own emergency shelters, if they so wish. We, as a department, haven't yet taken a look at providing emergency shelters, but we are willing to look into it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The negotiations that are going on are being negotiated on behalf of the government by the Department of Public Works. At the present time, it is the intention of the department to continue on the options that the department has on its contract with the various organizations that they have for equipment that they use for forest fires. It is the Department of Public Works who is the leading department in the negotiations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With the negotiations having taken this amount of time, I would anticipate that negotiations will continue into 1995 and perhaps 1996. However, I would imagine 1995. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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.

(Microphone turned off)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think there was a question in there and I appreciate the concern that Mr. Gargan has for our department and the limited dollars we have submitted to the House on behalf of the department. However, I think our department has been very successful in devolving our money to various communities through hunters' and trappers' associations.

As for the specific concerns raised by Mr. Gargan, there is disaster compensation available to hunters and trappers whose equipment has been destroyed by natural causes, such as floods and blizzards, and other such acts which are not under the individual's control. The compensation which is available to individuals is to a maximum of $4,500, which is claimable through the Department of Renewable Resources.

As far as the environment is concerned, the department has 5 PYs in the department to deal with that area, but the responsibility of the department in the environment is limited to small concerns such as oil spills within a community and Commissioner's land. The majority of the responsibilities for environmental concerns still remain with the federal government. It is their responsibility to deal with any major difficulties we have in the environment.

The specific question of Mr. Gargan had to do with the capital item for Kakisa. I guess it had been requested, however, in Kakisa the fire fighters are a contract crew. That means they are not hired by the department. Our funds at the present time go to satellite bases, such as Drummond Lake and our fire towers, which are directly funded by the department. The money isn't necessarily for creating bases in communities. To do that would be the responsibility of the community, itself, if they have a contract with our department. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

(Microphone turned off)...the amalgamation of parks and Renewable Resources,

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe that that was still on hold. I would have to confirm that. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I was under the impression last year, that a site was being developed under their plans for the establishment of a fire base in Kakisa. I think they have found two locations where that possibility exists. I don't know whether or not that was just for this summer that the hope was established that something would happen, but I was under the distinct impression that there was a movement in the area from the department that something was going to happen. Am I to understand now that nothing is going to happen?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't know what the status is of anything that may have been committed on behalf of Kakisa. We can check that out for the Member and get back to the Minister in writing and make him aware of what the situation is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Are there any dollars allocated for construction of fire towers or is that out of the question for this coming year?

Mr. Chairman, at the present time, I believe that we are looking at some renovations to some towers. But, again, I would like to point out that it is the intention of the department to make extensive consultation with various communities and regions about how the department and the government should be fighting fires. I hope that from the consultations that the department makes, we will be able to clearly explain to the Member, or anyone who may be concerned about forest fires, how we should be fighting them. I would imagine from the consultations, we will get direction from communities as to what locations would be good for fire towers to be built. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Arngna'naaq. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just finished telling the Minister that about three years ago, the Department of Renewable Resources had people going into communities talking with them with regard to the issue of firefighting. At the meeting in Fort Smith, we specifically identified the need to have fire towers established in about five areas. I have mentioned the Horne Plateau, Sibbeston Mountain, Redknife Mountain and there were others close to Wrigley that we were looking at to ensure that there is provision by having those towers there and less spent on aircraft. That was the encouragement we thought we had put across to the department. It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, that in the region of the western Arctic fire is a big issue. This year was pretty bad, but we don't see it. We don't even see it reflected in the budget.

I am also suggesting that as far as the priorities of the government: the land; environment; animals; and, the people that depend on them, it isn't a priority. I appreciate the Minister suggesting that they are going to be going out and consulting again, but we have already done that once. Most of the older generation who fought fires before say that it is not a question about when you go out. They say if there is a fire, you go out now and solve your problems right there.

Most of the time what happens now is there is so much red tape and bureaucracy that you can't even determine whose jurisdiction fires are in. I know because I was in Lutsel K'e this summer and there were problems between who should be fighting the fire about 20 miles from Lutsel K'e. Yellowknife said it is their fire. It is this business of mine and yours that causes everything to get out of control.

I really have a concern here, Mr. Chairman, and I am expressing it. I don't know how much stronger I should be expressing it to make the government see that this is not a small issue. There just isn't enough money there to address what should be a priority of this government.

Thank you, Mr. Gargan. I don't know if there were questions. Do you want to respond, Mr. Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to agree with Mr. Gargan that it is something that the department has to take a very close look at. When a department of the government has to spend millions of dollars on incremental funds, it has to be something we have to look at very seriously. For a number of years, the department has looked at how we can fight fires in a better way. The consultations that were made previously were on how the department presently operates. I have committed to taking a look at exactly how we should be improving.

I have indicated that I would like to attend some of these community meetings and be sure that elders are contacted to give their opinion. It seems that every time we turn around there is an opinion that comes from someone who says how we should be fighting fires. Perhaps some solutions to our problems in fighting forest fires should be coming from elders. The varied opinions go as far as we should let everything burn because it is natural. It is an act of God and something that will help nature create new growth. The other side says we should be fighting every single little fire that happens. So we have a very wide range of opinions.

We hear from every possible person who may be concerned about forest fires. It is my intention to hear from elders as well. In fact, the department will be contacting the Dene Cultural Institute to consult with elders in various communities in the western Arctic to try to find ways to resolve problems we have in forest fire management. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Arngna'naaq. Mr. Gargan.

It is funny the Minister should mention the whole business of an act of God. This year we hardly had any rain, Mr. Chairman. We hardly had any thunderstorms. I am not saying those fires were started deliberately, but I certainly don't have any other conclusions. Mr. Chairman, could the Minister give me the details on the allocations going to hunters and trappers in each community and the amount that is capital. The Minister did say there were dollars there for compensation and assistance.

Thank you, Mr. Gargan. We are on general comments, but if the Minister has that kind of detail, he can respond.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We don't have the details on the request made by Mr. Gargan, but we are willing to provide it for him. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a few general comments on the Department of Renewable Resources. What my colleague Mr. Gargan is talking about with regard to using fire towers rather than covering the cost of helicopters was a subject raised a number of years ago during a study that the department was doing when they were looking at how to better fight fires. We were questioning the department about it for the last two years. Then all of a sudden, we didn't hear about it any more. Maybe the study was used to bring up the costs of fire operations last summer, I don't know. One of the recommendations we made at that time was to cut the cost of fire operations by putting in more fire towers.

The thinking behind it was if you do some capital projects and hire local people to man these towers, perhaps we don't need to pay $500 an hour for a helicopter to fly around looking for fires. That was the thinking behind it. That is just one example of the type of suggestions communities were making, in an earnest effort to have input into a better way of dealing with fighting fires in the north.

As we all know, the cost of fighting fires this past summer was over $20 million and that is quite a big amount of money that, along with that and others, is causing this government to go into a deficit. This is a very serious matter. Whatever happened to that study? Who did the study and what happened to it? Have any of the recommendations ever been incorporated into the way the fires are fought or are they still studying? The Minister is now saying they are going to do another study. You really have to step back and look at the whole operation of firefighting because we have been studying it every year and it is a never ending study. Communities have input into it and that is the last you hear about it. The next thing you know, we have another fire season and every year the cost has escalated.

Looking at this capital budget, I agree that there isn't much in there, but there is something. The majority of the projects we have for this year are the building of bases for firefighting where the crews could have camps and so forth. There is very little for the other parts of the department; environmental protection and trappers. I think the majority of this capital budget is for fighting fires.

There is another area I want to cover and that is with regard to trees. It may be an O and M project. This past weekend I drove to Fort Simpson and along the way I ran into some men who were cutting some firewood. They have a small business. This man had a two-ton flatbed truck and he had three men working with him. He told me that they make money and put food on the table for their family. It isn't much. It is a small operation, but this is what they have to do. Community corporations and other companies don't have work for them and it is too early to trap, so they have to do something else. This is how they make income. They were cutting wood in a burnt area. These are trees that are going to fall down anyway. They were telling me that because they were going to sell wood, they have to pay this fee for cutting down the trees. I think it was quite a bit of money for a small operation. They had to pay the fee before they could cut the trees.

Why do people have to pay for cutting down trees that are burnt and are going to fall down and rot anyway? They are more or less cleaning the country for other growth that has already begun. There is really no need for reforestation in that area. It is naturally taking care of itself. You can't tell me the cost of cutting the trees is reforestation. Why do people have to pay these fees? Is there another way of dealing with it where small operations like that pay the fees after they cut and sell the trees? They don't have money before they start cutting, unless they are a big operator. But the type of people I am talking about are not big operators. I may have other questions to ask after that.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. There are several questions for you there, Mr. Minister, if you would like to respond.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to the comments on fire towers and fire prevention, the department could be building and adding more towers to the forested areas. We could be building more satellite bases and doing more fire prevention, which I believe in the long run, will save money for the department and the government on firefighting. However, with the limited resources we have been given, we are not able to keep up with the suggestions that are being made.

The study that was done on behalf of the department on ways to improve fire fighting in the Northwest Territories was done by Peat Marwick Stevenson and Kellogg. They did a massive study on firefighting. It consisted of 11 studies on firefighting. I believe they tried to cover all aspects and how we could reduce costs. I believe part of their recommendations were to increase the number of towers and to increase fire prevention programs, but, as a government, we are limited by the funds that are available. We are not able to carry out everything we would like to be doing.

As far as the wood cutting is concerned, there is a fee of $1.50 per cord and this fee is to cover some of the costs incurred by the department in forest management, areas where small roads will have to be made to reach certain areas of the forest. These costs are charged to wood cutters or loggers to offset some of the costs that we, as a department, incur in forest management. Again, we are reviewing the process and the fees as they are outlined in our Forest Management Act but if there are specific concerns that the Member has, we certainly will take into account his comments while undertaking this review.

Mr. Chairman, I forgot to mention that the fire management study that I spoke of has, I believe, been provided to the Standing Committee on Finance. I believe that was done just over the weekend. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Arngna'naaq. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. Getting back to the budget, in Renewable Resources there are programs where reforestation of areas of logging activity is occurring. There are plans to do more logging and to set up more sawmills in the north where there are forests. The trees that are planted there are trees that are grown in the south. I don't know what kind of species they

are. Perhaps these are trees from the south. I don't know whether this department is looking at perhaps encouraging companies up here to do tree farming, where there are greenhouses to start these trees. Perhaps it might be good to do that up here. Something of that size should be reflected in the budget.

The other comment I would like to make is that a couple of years ago when these trees were brought up from the south and distributed, the excess was distributed to school kids. In my community, I noticed that there was larvae in the trees. In my area, we have a lot of bud worms and it never used to be like that before. I was wondering if the trees that are grown in the south and brought up here have worms and bugs in them that are infecting our trees up here. That is another reason why I think we should start our own industry up here, growing our own trees, rather than buying these small trees from the south. This is one of the things I would like to see in the Renewable Resource budget.

A number of us have been raising our voices here about the fur industry. We want to get into the fur industry in a big way. We are faced with a world-wide movement to ban furs, and they gave us a one-year extension, but that one year is going to be used up fairly quickly. We don't know what the future is like and we still have a lot of trappers up here. I said that I recognized the furs caught by our trappers are top quality furs, exclusive furs, and that we should be doing something to promote that. The way to promote that is to, perhaps, look at fixing the furs up here ourselves and even auctioning them up here.

In order to do that, you would probably have to build a facility of some sort up here to do that, and invite people who buy furs up here, rather than sending our furs down to auctions down south and losing total control of prices for our fur. Maybe the department is looking at that, but that is one thing that should be in our budget. That is something we should be dealing with and considering in the budget of this department. It may cost some money upfront, but in the long run, I think it will pay off and it will mark the beginning of a good fur industry in the north.

These are some questions the Minister can answer, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As far as forest management, I think that Mr. Antoine has a good idea in terms of nurseries for trees in the north. What is happening at the present time is there are seeds taken from the north in areas that we know are going to be harvested to nurseries in the south where they are grown to a certain length. Then, they are brought back into the same area in which the seeds came from. So, in effect, what is happening is we're growing trees at a much faster rate than if they had been nursed in the north.

Because the trees are grown in a nursery, they should not have any of the larvae that Mr. Antoine has indicated were seen. I don't know where the larvae would be coming from because the trees that are brought in from the south are from seeds that come from the north in the area in which they are to be planted. They should not have any kind of infestation. The Department of Renewable Resources, especially in the area of forest management, would be willing work with anyone who would like to try out a nursery somewhere in the north. We would be more than willing to work with anyone who will try this out.

As far as fur grading is concerned, the grading and cleaning which has been discussed by Mr. Antoine is a possibility. As we continue to progress, this is something that would be possible. At the present time, the department is working on getting a trainee to work with a fur grading centre and possibly return to the north and work on grading and cleaning in the north. However, to try to create an auction in the north would be somewhat more difficult. It would be difficult to attract the biggest buyers from around the world to come north. It might be something that might be considered at a later time.

At the present time, we, as a department, are looking into fur grading and the possibility of cleaning furs in the Northwest Territories. Exactly how that will look I'm not sure at the present time. The first step we are taking is hiring a trainee, someone willing and able to learn to grade and clean fur. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Arngna'naaq. Mr. Antoine, you have finished. Is there anyone else who would like to make general comments, statements or questions? Are you ready to go into detail with this department?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Wildlife Management

Page 10-9, wildlife management. Equipment acquisition, headquarters, total region, $96,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Total equipment acquisition, $96,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Total activity, $96,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Environmental Protection

Page 10-11, environmental protection. Equipment acquisition, headquarters, total region, $25,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Total equipment acquisition, $25,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Agreed.

---Agreed

Field Operations

Field operations, building and works, Fort Smith, total region, $80,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Mr. Gargan, before I go on to Inuvik.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister whether or not he's aware of the name changes of some of these communities and why Lac La Martre wasn't changed to Wha Ti.

Mr. Arngna'naaq.