The committee remains concerned about the lack of an agricultural policy for the territories. The committee urges the department to develop a policy for this industry as they have for other sectors in the NWT.

A committee member also pointed out the lack of funding for fishing and agricultural industries in comparison to the funding provided for hunting and trapping industries. The department committed to providing an analysis to the committee on funding for the relevant resources. The committee looks forward to reviewing this analysis.

While the commercial fishing freight subsidy has been in place for a number of years, the committee noted that only commercial fisheries in Great Slave Lake have been able to access this subsidy. The committee asked that the department review the use of this subsidy and the possible expansion of the program to include other commercial fishing operations. The committee also suggested that there are inland lakes that may be able to sustain commercial fishery and urged the department to look at the issue. A member raised the issue of the control of wildlife within municipal boundaries. While communities will routinely call the local resource officer to handle "problem" wildlife, there does not appear to be consistency to the way in which the animal is handled. While some officers may attempt to trap the animal, others prefer to simply monitor it until it leaves the area.

During the discussion with the department, the Minister stated that there was no departmental policy regarding the control of wildlife within municipal boundaries. The committee is concerned that without a clear policy residents of communities may be at risk from "problem" wildlife. The committee urged the department to develop an overall policy on this issue.

A member of the committee raised concern about the health of Dall sheep in the NWT. The department informed the committee that the North American Wild Game Foundation, in co-operation with the department, completed a study of the Dall Sheep last year. The department offered to provide this report to the committee.

The committee was pleased to see that the Premier, in his address to the people of the Northwest Territories on January 11th, 2002, stated, "We will continue to work: to expand community and regional capacity to manage and monitor the environment..."

The committee is concerned that the majority of environmental monitoring of lands outside municipalities is left to the responsibility of the federal government. There is a feeling that the GNWT should be playing a larger role in monitoring environmental concerns in the NWT. The committee would like to be able to assure residents of the NWT that the federal government is living up to its responsibilities.