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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware that the department has changed its priorities since May. We still respond, as I said earlier, to conditions on highways and we direct our forces where we see a need. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Your final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty. No supplementary? Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and have to do with regulations under the Wildlife Act. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister why, in the regulations under the Wildlife Act, are there different wildlife management areas?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a very comprehensive system of wildlife management. It includes licences, tags and quotas, hunting seasons and management zones. Management zones are then divided up. In fact, we have units that are consistent with the land claims areas in order to facilitate managing wildlife consistently with land claims agreements.

We have zones that are major ecological areas and those are in place. That is what the Member referred to. These are there to manage wildlife within those areas, but an ecological zone...I mean, for example, Mackenzie Mountains or the barren ground areas.

Then we have what we call areas. Areas are in place to manage specific species. These are tools used by our department to ensure that we are not over-harvesting any species. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the purpose similar for quotas and the numbers of hunting tags that are issued to resident hunters? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, as I mentioned earlier, tags and quotas are another way we use to manage the number of animals that are going to be harvested each year. We can do that. It varies year by year and species by species. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister confident that wildlife populations and the harvest of wildlife in the Northwest Territories is adequately monitored to ensure that animal populations stay healthy? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am reasonably confident that our management systems are working well within the means we have to do it. I am sure there are always ways we could improve it if we had the resources to do that.

Also, in addition to a Wildlife Act, we are also working on species at risk legislation. I think all in all, the measures taken in the Northwest Territories are as good or better than we would find in any other jurisdiction in Canada. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear about the stringent requirements for wildlife management in the Territories. Could the Minister outline what sort of process is used when determining whether changes should be made to the number of tags or the wildlife management areas or zones? Is it something that residents can request changes, or is this entirely dictated by the health of animal populations?

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

Mr. Speaker, we use each of a number of ways of managing wildlife. First of all, certainly information that we get from harvesters is important in terms of the number of animals that are taken, and I refer both to aboriginal harvesters as well as just sport hunters. We also know, from quota information, the number of licences that have been taken out. As well, our biologists are collecting information. Certainly there is opportunity for anyone who feels that the quotas are either too generous or too stringent to provide us with that advice and the reasons why they feel that way. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I referenced the activities going on in my community, the development as well as the impact of that development, good and bad.

Mr. Speaker, my question would be directed to the honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs. In the area of community supports, one of the impacts of the development that is going on in the region and in my community is, how will the municipality itself be able to deal with the demands placed on its services and its infrastructure?

I know there is a difference between tax-based and non-tax-based, and knowing that, for example, if the community is going to develop lots for homes and houses in Inuvik, that taxpayers are going to front that through a debenture. However, sometimes, as has been experienced in the community of Inuvik, a large development is done and things collapse.

I would like to know if the department is doing any work to help communities that are finding themselves in the place of having huge demands placed on their resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to acknowledge the problems that the community is experiencing in terms of its funding capabilities. Yes, we have been in consultation with the community in terms of trying to identify where this government can help out. An example is the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has stepped in and purchased a number of lots, helping the community raise some funding so they can further develop other projects. From that perspective, Mr. Speaker, we have been trying to keep our level of involvement with Inuvik fairly high. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.