Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, they should be based on sound conservation principles. Certainly. As we do that, there are other considerations that have to be taken into place. Those refer back to many of the land claims rights and responsibilities, traditional users...there are a number of issues we need to look at as we get through this, not strictly conservation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, some of those other concerns will be addressed through claims and self-government. I would like to ask the Minister what conservation purpose does the two-year residency clause serve?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that provision is an old provision that was in there a long time ago. It was set in the Wildlife Act at a time when there was a lot of, I believe it was during the period where we had a lot of oil and gas activity in the Beaufort Delta and a lot of mining activity, people going in and out of the Northwest Territories.

There was a need, and continues to be a need, to prevent situations where people who are here on very short rotations are able to come in and harvest as if they are residents. If we set it for two years, that is certainly a provision that will be looked at as the Act is revised. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for Transportation. The constituents in the Hay River Reserve are concerned about the condition of the access road to the reserve. This road was constructed through a heavy equipment program in 1970. This road is very narrow and winding and dusty, and certainly not up to today's standards. I would like to ask the Minister what his department's plans are to upgrade the access road to the Hay River Reserve.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we did have a meeting with the community last fall on this particular issue. The department indicated at that time that we have no plans to upgrade that road. They also requested we consider bridges across that particular river. We indicated to them the department had no plans to put in a bridge. The response to the Member, Mr. Speaker, is that at this point in time, we have no money or plans to upgrade that particular road. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, of all of the access roads, and I believe there are 13, which includes the Ingraham Trail, I would like to know where the access roads to the Hay River Reserve rank in terms of priority. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the question of priorities and how the department arrives at priorities for different roads was raised last week. I responded we do not set priorities for maintenance of highways based on anything but to bring the highway up to safety standards, and to assure the highways are passable and safe.

From that point on, priorities for maintenance depends mainly on the amount of traffic flow, plus the weather conditions as to what is required to keep those parts of the highway passable. We do not have a priority rating, such as one, two, three, four or five as to different aspects of the highway system we have. We simply do it based on the maintenance schedules we have established to keep highways safe and passable. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not requesting information on the maintenance schedule. I am looking at an upgrade. If the Minister stated that safety is a factor, there have been a number of accidents on this road. Given that information, will the Minister consider the safety factor when he is looking at upgrading the roads? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, we do not establish priorities based on anything but allowing for the safe passage of vehicles. If the Member feels that his section of the highway serving the community of the Hay River Reserve is not safe and passable, perhaps we should sit down with him and the department, and come to exactly what is the concern. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take this opportunity to state that this road is not safe. I look forward to meeting with the Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. That was more of a comment than a question. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 31, 2000, in the House, I submitted a written question to the chairman for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Handley, regarding the ill-conceived, definitely misconstrued and certainly over budget PeopleSoft project.

There were various questions, things like the chronology, the history, list of positions, list of contracts, costing sheet, and to the Minister's credit, he gave me some detailed and good information.

In that information, Mr. Speaker, there was an amount of money, $107,000, spent on an audit of the PeopleSoft project. I am wondering if the Minister can confirm an audit was done.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can confirm that an audit was done, or is in the process of being finalized. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.