Thank you. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be very brief. We have talked for many years that renewable resources was a fundamental part of any kind of economic development plan that we would have for the Northwest Territories. I am afraid that those were too often just words. It was like lip service. You said it because it was the right thing to say, but it wasn't said with much conviction because people believed that there were much bigger ways in which economies could be developed which would have a far greater impact on people and provide greater wealth than renewable resources.

So I am delighted with this document. It is the first time, really, that this government, in my memory, has set out what you can really do about developing our renewable resource economy. I think that, in the past, we have just simply said, that is the thrust of this government, but you never saw much evidence of what government did. They always seemed to hope that the big bang would come along and there would be all kinds of wealth created, and these kinds of small things didn't matter.

But for those of us who worked on the economy committee some years ago, we certainly learned an awful lot about the real value of what goes on in communities as it relates to the use of the renewable resources of those communities. I remember Dr. Usher, one of our helpers, had compiled an incredible amount of information with regard to the value of meat, just simply as a replacement for imported products, and it was shocking when you tried to convert the value of that meat to the value of beef in places like Pelly Bay or some other places.

So the significance is obviously quite considerable, and the first to have an economic development strategy which looks at renewable resources as they relate to real things that could happen in communities. This is on the right track. It's the best thing I've seen in that area, and the department should be congratulated on it. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Minister, do you have any response to these nice, kind words of Mr. Lewis?

Thank you. Any further general comments? If not, we can go into details. Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, too, found the strategy interesting. I like what I finally see as a recognition that we have to tie the opportunities in the renewable resource sector to jobs and opportunities for people and break it out in these different areas.

I don't know about other people, but I see in the Northwest Territories, both east and west, the largest percentage of young people of any jurisdiction in Canada; I see the highest birth rates of any jurisdiction in Canada; and I see the desperate need for opportunities over the next ten years, because anyone who has looked at the population curve will recognize the unbelievable problems we are going to have a decade from now unless we develop all our resources.

I agree with the Minister that there will always be a good percentage of the population, especially the aboriginal population, who are going to feel a lot more comfortable in the more traditional pursuits, but I don't think there will be enough jobs just there. I think that we have to maximize our opportunities in every area -- I think in the public sector; I think in the mining sector; I think in the renewable sector, and I think that, even if we do that, we are still going to have a problem because there is just an unbelievable number of kids who are going to be coming into the job market every year.

So what I see here is sort of the beginnings of a strategy, a pragmatic strategy, that looks at different sectors in the renewable resource side and starts to put those sectors together with opportunities, and a recognition that we are going to have to maximize those opportunities, I think, in the medium to the long term.

I also think that you have certain people in our society that say, well, renewable resources' side can never generate enough jobs, so we have to concentrate just on mining or we have to concentrate just on government or the other way around. What I see now is a recognition that we have to concentrate in every area, and there is no area in the economy right now that we have the luxury to ignore any longer. So, I for one, am happy with the approach the department is taking. I really like to see some practical solutions to these problems, and I see the beginning of that and starting to look at it in a practical way that there are a lot of things that we can do.

I just have one question of the Minister to do with the fur industry -- I agree with the stand the government and the Minister are taking on the animal rights movement, especially in Europe, and I think it has to happen for a number of reasons. I mean, there is a big question about who is dictating the morality of the world now and we have to address it. So I agree that we should spend the resources. The Minister and the Minister's staff have to spend time and energy doing that.

But it also seems to me that we have to spend an equal amount of time and energy developing new markets -- I don't know if anyone's brought this up -- such as the oriental market. I am not talking about animal parts, I am talking about furs themselves. The Minister made some good points about animal parts. That's a tricky business. But for furs themselves, it seems to me that if you look at...I'll give you an example. In Hong Kong and the provinces of China that are adjoining Hong Kong, there is tremendous wealth being accumulated. I see a growing market for furs. Also, I see an area of the country in Asia, and once you get in, it's a difficult area for the animal rights movement to operate in. It would be very difficult for them to operate in. So I see lots of advantages to us aggressively pursuing that Oriental market for furs at the same time we are in a more defensive posture in Europe, and I just wonder, what are the Minister's thoughts about that?

Mr. Minister.

Thank you. Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I support the Minister's comments and feeling about this. I guess I will ask something a little more specific. I understand, one, the frustration of competing with Europe and second, the necessity to maintain at least the market as far as numbers we have now. The Minister is going to be going on a high level trip to Europe. The Minister has been on one, and Mr. Antoine has gone on one, all of which I support. I think you should make trips like that because you have to and it's the right thing to do. But it is really worth the investment to do a proper trip to Asia seeking new markets. I mean a proper trip, with all the homework done before, so you know exactly who you're talking to, you know exactly why and everything can be justified to the sceptical media and public.

I see as much, if not more, of an opportunity of something good coming out of that sort of trip than coming out of the trip you're proposing to Europe. Would the Minister consider that sort of high level trip through Asia to try to develop a market for furs there?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you. General comments from the floor. Do we agree, then, to go into detail?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Line By Line

Directorate

Thank you. Page 12-10, directorate, total O and M, $1.881 million.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Wildlife Management

Thank you. Wildlife management, total O and M, $3.578 million.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Mr. Koe.

Do all regions now have enough humane traps to fulfil the trappers' needs? Are there enough humane traps available in all regions of the north?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you. Mr. Koe.