Thank you, Mr. Roland. I did not hear a question there. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, regarding grants and contributions, there is a section dealing with the diamond industry funding to provide assistance to entrepreneurs taking advantage of diamond exploration and development. I am wondering if the Minister or his department will consider implementing a similar arrangement for the oil and gas sector, where there are a lot of people within the business community who want to take advantage of the oil and gas development and proposals, but they may need seed money to get off the ground. I am just wondering if the Minister or his department would consider such an arrangement, so oil and gas funding will be made available to that business sector also. You have money there for commercial fishermen, the diamond industry, Community Futures...I am wondering if you will consider looking at developing such a fund for the oil and gas sector. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, yes, as I have said before, we will consider doing that. Again, we have to do it within the resources we have available to us. If there is any possibility of reallocation this year as we move through the fiscal year, I would even look at that. We have been and continue to be optimistic in terms of money through the Non-Renewable Resource Strategy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, regarding other areas where you do have funds available, industry assistance, there is $180,000, which was used in the same basis for...my understanding of that $1.5 million is that it was supposed to be for Giant Mine to do exploration work and tests within their gold field to see what potential was there.

There was that arrangement already in place with the gold industry. I am just wondering if you could possibly use those resources which are not used or no longer needed for Giant Mine, along with the $300,000 for the diamond industry, if half of that could be used within the oil and gas industry and half in the diamond industry.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the $180,000 identified in the year 2000-2001 has already been assigned to the land transfer of Giant Mine. That was through an arrangement that was made in the Giant Mine bankruptcy settlement, which concluded.

In previous years, we did have up to $1.5 million to assist Giant Mine when they were going through difficult times. As I said earlier, only $734,000 was used. The balance of it has been returned to general revenues. There is no money in this particular category, but I can assure the Member that if there is a need, and there is potential for reallocation within the department, I am open to that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I feel there has to be a will put out there by this government that we cannot talk the talk and not walk the walk. For the potential the oil and gas industry has compared to the diamond industry, with the jobs, resources and royalties it will bring in, it surpasses the diamond industry. Yet there is nothing in this budget that mentions the oil and gas industry. There has to be mention of that business sector if we are serious about the oil and gas companies we have been lobbying for the last couple of months. They should promote the North. They should come up here and do business, but if we as a government are not going to put any dollars into that sector, I find it awfully offensive to the industry and the people who have the potential in the different regions, especially in the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort Sea area, and also in the Deh Cho and the Sahtu. I feel we have to do more in that sector. By not mentioning it here, I feel it is a slap in the face to the industry and the people who know we have that potential.

I would like to ask the Minister if he will commit to reallocating some of these dollars in the budget to that sector?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, even though it does not appear in here because of the business planning process, the department is dedicating considerable resources to the oil and gas industry. We have the money that is already in our minerals, oil and gas sector. $1.8 million goes into oil and gas. We are creating, as we have already said, four new positions, regional petroleum advisor positions. We are supporting meetings of aboriginal leaders. For example, this week we are paying one third of the cost, up to $75,000, for a meeting in Fort Simpson.

The department continues to aggressively support the oil and gas industry. I think when we come to future main estimates, we may have enough clarification on the demands to be able to put in a category. This year, we were not able to do that. That does not mean we are not committed to supporting that industry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, will the Minister consider bringing something forward through a supplementary within the next sitting to cover that cost, knowing that land will be opening up in the Beaufort Sea-Mackenzie Delta area in August?

I think that with the information that is out there, it will be pretty positive and we need to get off the ground running if we are going to take advantage of those developments. We put $1.4 million into diamond projects, and here is another $300,000 for the diamond industry. I would like to see something on paper that references the oil and gas industry and the funding that will be made available to that sector. Will the Minister consider that?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, certainly we will consider it. I hope between now and the fall sitting the Member referred to, there will be opportunities for much consultation with the industry. As the needs become clearer, I support investing in this area. We have been very clear on that, that we do support the need for some investment at this time. We will definitely consider the Member's suggestion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Grants and contributions, page 11-23. Total grants and contributions, $11,556,000. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Regarding the Hook Lake Bison Recovery Project, $125,000, is that in the South Slave region?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, yes, that is between Fort Smith and Fort Resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The reason I asked that question is because many of these bison have been shipped to southern ranches, yet they are being taken out of the North. We are continuing to fund this project. I am wondering how private is it and how secure are these dollars if they are moving the animals to southern ranches?

Why is that happening and we are continuing to fund this project?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, none of the Hook Lake Bison are being moved south. The bison that were originally at Fort Smith and then at Fort Resolution, some of those animals did end up going south through a business deal. More recently, those are animals that came from Elk Island Park.

The Hook Lake bison Recovery Project is one where the community of Fort Resolution are taking calves from a herd that was declining, testing them and eventually releasing the healthy calves back into the Hook Lake as a wild herd. This is a multi-year project and the department has been involved for a number of years. The program seems successful. Thank you.