Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I attended a public meeting in Yellowknife on Monday, at which RWED conducted consultations on the new Wildlife Act. The RWED staff there indicated that there had been something between the area of $100,000 and $150,000 allocated through the Wildlife Aboriginal Advisory Group. I think this issue needs to be cleared up so that the public understands the amounts.

The question is, will the Minister commit to providing funding to other groups, such as the Sports Hunting Federation, to also be involved in the consultation process?

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

Mr. Speaker, there has been considerable consultation with other groups as well. We have had a number of public meetings. We will continue to hold a number of meetings. I do not believe we have had requests for funding for consultation at this point. There have certainly been requests for opportunities for consultation and we will continue to meet with those. We have also had suggestions. For example, it was suggested at a constituency meeting for Yellowknife MLAs that we send out information to resident hunters when we send out questionnaires. I have followed up on that and there will be questionnaires going out. So we are making every effort we can to consult with the public as thoroughly as they would like within the time frames we have. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there may not have been requests thus far, but I heard expressed at the meeting on Monday night an interest by resident sport hunters there to get the federation, the Northwest Territories Hunters Federation, going again. I believe they would like to have an opportunity to work with the department on this issue. Will the Minister consider such a request if it comes forward?

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

Mr. Speaker, certainly we want to have thorough consultation on the Wildlife Act. Any request that comes in that is reasonable and will advance the purposes of the revised Wildlife Act, we would consider.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether some people feel that we are doing too much for the aboriginal people but we have to recognize the special relationship that aboriginal people have with wildlife, the commitments that are there under their land claim agreements. It is a different situation for aboriginal people than it is with the general public.

I believe RWED has gone a long way to ensuring that there is opportunity for all of the other organizations and individuals to be consulted.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, if there is something that is a worthwhile proposal someone wants to put forward, I would be happy to consider it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to advise the Members here, as well as the public, that we have been constantly working to approve the programs for youth across the Northwest Territories and it varies from community to community. I think there is some good stuff to announce here in the last year through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, which has supported the youth portfolio. We have provided $40,000 to the Territorial Youth Association to assist with delegate travel and organizing their annual general meeting.

We also provided support so that they may attend the Dream Catchers' Conference in Edmonton. We also appointed a staff member to assist in the coordination of youth programs. Those are three of approximately five different initiatives that we have taken over the last year to assist in youth development. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In our ongoing analysis of community needs, we are finding that we need to put more money into the program side of sport, youth and recreation as opposed to infrastructure. We are trying to get an idea from the department's perspective in our consultation with communities what is most feasible. We find that, yes, with the new government-wide capital planning process, we will probably get less but we also want to turn around and put more funding into program development so that the youth and the residents have an opportunity to participate. That is a goal of the department at the moment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand and I do know it that it was a long and arduous journey to try to get funding put into place for youth initiatives. I believe it is going to occur in the new fiscal year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for Youth, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In providing just a quick general overview -- hopefully we will be able to supplement more recreation programs in the communities, put more money into the Youth Corps Program that will give youth some preliminary work experience. They may also provide additional grant money to the communities where they can begin some community work projects that would help enhance the youth to gain some necessary experience where they can move on to other more employable opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. The time for oral questions has ended. Item 7, written questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.