Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the previous relationship with the Department of Health and Social Services was with the board of directors and not directly with the employees. The contracts were held with the Northern Addiction Services board. They, in turn, had the relationship with the employees. To my knowledge, at this time, there is only one person who is actively working for the NAS board. That is someone who is maintaining the facility at Dettah as a caretaker and maintenance person. I am not aware of anyone else continuing to work.

With respect to communicating with the board of directors, we have a meeting hopefully to be agreed to Monday to meet with representatives of the board to discuss the outcome of recent proposals and potential contract arrangements with the board. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. A couple of days ago, I noted the Wildlife Act is under consideration for redrafting. A number of my constituents have a concern about their ability to qualify for resident hunting licenses.

I am wondering if the Minister could advise this House when specifically the public consultation period is over? Is it at the end of this month, as expected?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, the Honourable Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had made a commitment to revise the Wildlife Act. We have released two documents in November of 1999 to deal with the revision to the Wildlife Act itself, as well as to look at legislation to protect species at risk.

We have conducted consultation meetings and discussion throughout the regions to identify issues this proposed legislation should consider. We should have the first round of discussions and consultations concluded by the end of this month. We will take the information that is gathered through this phase and use that as a basis to put together a discussion paper, which will then be distributed to the public once we have this first phase completed. We will have a better idea of what type of discussion paper should be sent to the public, and that will give us some idea of what type of consultation we should have for beginning the drafting of the legislation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering if the Minister could provide the House with an outline of what the timetable is expected to be for appropriation of the consultation paper, the draft discussion paper. Subsequent to that, after getting the responses back, when can this House expect to see new legislation for wildlife?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, the Honourable Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will commit to doing that. I think it is important to recognize that much of the legislation has to be done in partnership with the aboriginal communities, leaders and organizations. In many cases, they have constitutional rights, rights through their claims legislation, through treaties and other instruments that require us to proceed in partnership with them.

The timetable and extent and form of consultation is to be decided in partnership with them. I will undertake to do that as soon as the initial round of consultation is concluded at the end of this month.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand we have a number of partners that have important roles to play in this whole process. I am trying to get a sense from the government, is the expectation that this can be done within the next year, within the life of this Assembly, or is this going to take us ten years to conclude this legislation?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Minister Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to believe that all parties are interested in having an updated, revised Wildlife Act that would be recognized and supported by all interested parties. We will move in an expeditious way, respecting the rights of all parties involved, everyone in the Northwest Territories, and it will be done in a timely way. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Final supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I was trying to get was whether or not I should be pushing for an amendment to the existing Wildlife Act, or if I can count on changes coming forward fairly quickly. I did not get an answer to that, but I would like to ask the Minister if he will commit to ensuring that in the discussion paper, there is some discussion of a waiver for people like Canadian Forces members and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members, who are moved by their employer to the Northwest Territories in the service of the people of the Northwest Territories so they could be considered for resident hunting license status in less than two years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Minister Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fact is the Armed Forces and the RCMP have their own policies. Very often, they move people far too quickly, before they really get to enjoy and appreciate this wonderful part of Canada they are given to serve.

The exemption for the residency requirement has been an issue for a number of years. We have looked at it. I believe it is important to get the support of the public, of the aboriginal groups before we proceed with an exemption. To include such an exemption could, I believe, violate the provisions of the Charter of Rights. It does have some legal implications. We have chosen instead to seek support for a way that would allow certain members of our public, such as the RCMP and Armed Forces members to enjoy this through revisions of the Wildlife Act. It would probably be a lot faster if they just extended their stay, so they would not have to leave the Northwest Territories before enjoying the hunting privileges everyone else enjoys through their extended stays. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question will be directed to the Minister responsible for the Department of Finance. I will do this in the same way I did my Member's statement.

Mr. Speaker, we are out of the training camp stage. We have now set up our first line and second lines. I hope we are on the same team. I see that Mr. Handley's role, the Minister responsible for Finance, is that of the goaltender. He has to prevent us from losing the game.

I would like to know, since he is the one that has signed the letters that directed the departments how to prepare their interim appropriation, did he in fact deliver the message that it would be a "stand-pat" budget based on the 1999-2000 fiscal year? Is that the case?

Thank you, Mr. Roland. I see the Minister responsible for Finance has his helmet on, his stick ready, and his pads on. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would first like to compliment the Member today on his choice of tie; it is very striking. In answer to the question, the departments were given five criteria under which to develop their interim appropriations. They were asked to:

• • identify the amount of compensation benefits for staff for the four-month period;
• • provide the portion of grants and contributions that must be paid during the four-month period;
• • identify any existing contractual commitments or contracts that must be initiated during the four-month period;
• • provide the full amount of any contracts that must be committed at the beginning of the year; and
• • with regard to capital requirements, to include projects of an urgent nature, projects that were begun in the previous fiscal year, or projects where the commitment must be made because of shipping deadlines or other circumstances.

Those were the terms which were given to each of the departments in preparing their interim appropriations. The question, in terms of "stand-pat" budgets, they were not told in any way to come up with "stand-pat" budgets. They have been advised that we have a schedule during which we will be developing our main estimates. It is the main estimates procedure where any new initiatives will be identified, and reductions and inefficiencies will be identified, finally.

Now, in doing that, we have asked them to indicate to us what they need during this four-month period in order to be able to function. Mr. Speaker, those were generally the guidelines that have been given to the departments. So far, I have not let a goal into the net. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I must also compliment the Finance Minister responsible for upping his colour today. As a goaltender, he must have heard the post go "ping" a couple of times now.

If the Minister could inform us, was there an approach in the sense of overall government, when it came to government structures, when we talk about urgency or new initiatives, versus the regions and the communities, was there any direction in that form to the departments?