Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Mr. Todd.

No, Madam Speaker, I think it is important to point out that the hunt in Coral Harbour is an organized, sophisticated hunt with an abattoir and there are significant dollars involved. There was $250,000 put into Coral Harbour last year for the development of this hunt. I believe, and I stand to be corrected, that we are trying to get 3,000 carcasses. All I am suggesting is that if there is an insufficient stock of carcasses, then we will be able to acquire 50 here, and 25 there, based upon the traditional way of hunting caribou. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Zoe.

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As the Member knows, the reason why there was no consultation with the communities is because there were no program or policy changes. However, if the policies and programs of the department were affected as a result of the reorganization, the MLAs, and the communities, especially the community councils and band councils, would have been informed and asked for their input in the reorganization. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Zoe.

Thank you. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Whether it is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs or it is Social Services, when you reorganize a department, there are always some hiccoughs. Social Services went through them and it took about three months before everyone in the department was able to effectively work and address some of the problems that were occurring. So, I expect the same thing will happen with this department. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Zoe.

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I certainly will do that, and I had intended to monitor that. But, let's not forget that the department was reorganized to more effectively address the business carried out at the regional level down to the community level. Hopefully, after a given time, things will run more smoothly, if there are problems, as was indicated in this House by concerned Members. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs on the recent reorganization. Madam Speaker, that reorganization took place quite soon after the appointment of a new deputy minister. Can the Minister tell this House who first came up with the idea to restructuring the department?

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I have already indicated in my response to one of the Member's questions some time ago, it was the deputy minister of MACA and it was based on the Strength at Two Levels report. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I think it has already been pointed out that the deputy minister was new to this department and the area of local government. The department had a number of experienced staff in senior management positions when the new deputy minister took over, some of them with 14 to 15 years continuous experience in the field. My question is, Madam

Speaker, were the senior management team consulted for their advice regarding the nature and timing of the reorganization? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Mike.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I don't have knowledge about whether they had or not. But, I do know all the senior staff were involved in the finalization of the reorganization when the senior staff met in Baker Lake in the middle of June. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I heard the Minister say earlier today that she expects that the reorganization will not result in program and policy changes. But, I understand that part of the reorganization of the department is to combine community works with municipal operations. Madam Speaker, the municipal operations unit was not only responsible for inspections and monitoring financial health, but also for providing proactive, constructive support to communities in trouble.

I guess I would like to ask the Minister, now that this municipal operations function is going into community works, headed by an engineer and dominated by finance officers and bean counter types, does this change reflect the shift of MACA away from the soft mandate it had for community development and community support, in favour of financial and technical functions? Thank you.