Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of RWED. It is in regard to the Member's statement I made today about the situation with hunters in my region and people who do traditional arts and crafts in other regions, not having sufficient moosehides. Does the Minister see a role for his department in trying to bring this situation to a positive conclusion? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue the Member has brought forward has, in fact, been the topic of discussion amongst the Dene leaders in quite a number of our communities. The Member for North Slave, Mr. Rabesca, also spoke to it earlier today. The Member for Tu Nedhe, the Premier, has also raised it a number of times over the last few years and so has the Member from Nahendeh and of course, the Member for Thebacha is also keenly interested in it. What the essence of the issue is, that some of our communities are still making full use of the moose they hunt and harvest, down to eating all parts; hooves, nose, eyes, tongue, a lot of the internal organs. Making sure they bring their moosehide into the communities, then tanning it in a traditional way. Some of our communities have stopped bringing the hides in. For whatever reason not all our communities are making use of the availability of moosehides and so they have been discarded in many cases. There is no legal requirement to make use of moosehides or caribou hides. The only requirement we have in our Wildlife Act is the edible parts of animals like moose and caribou not be discarded or abandoned. So because of the discussion and interest that has been shown over a number of years, we are now looking at ways and means by which we can make it worth while for hunters to bring in the moosehides into communities and finding, through our minimum fur price program, to give a guaranteed price for moosehides, then making it available to communities and the women who are still tanning moosehides and who require additional moosehides.

We also want to look at training programs to teach young women and men who want to get into tanning moosehides, the opportunity to learn how to do it. We are also investigating the possibilities of finding new ways of tanning hides that might make it economically more efficient and perhaps less costly in terms of labour. Also other ways in which to make it worthwhile for us to look into these processes. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister indicate some possible timeframes to bring a finality to this issue. I am interested in timeframes specifically because in Thebacha it is the fall and early winter that is moose hunting season. I am bringing this up hopefully in plenty of time, so that prior to next hunting season, some arrangements could be made so we could take advantage of the hunters going out this fall. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister anticipated my question because my question was in fact going to be, will there be consultation with the local hunters and trappers? I have talked to some and, of course, it is an issue. They have a number of detailed questions that are specific to that activity. It would be very beneficial if in fact because the Minister said that his staff would consult with the communities to ensure this is done right and takes effect smoothly. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I believe there

is an economic element to this issue. There is also the issue of keeping alive a certain practice, a certain aspect of our culture which is important. This government is prepared to do what it can to ensure that is looked at. We cannot look at it alone. As we say, the wildlife boards, the Chiefs, Metis leaders, other aboriginal leaders that engage in this and harvest this animal will be fully consulted so we handle this issue properly. Thank you.