Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do know that the judge would have to spend a significant amount of her time in Yellowknife on circuit. I am not sure where she lives in Yellowknife when she is here. I do know that it's scheduling, and the requirement to come up with a schedule for judges is the sole duty of the chief judge. It's very difficult. In fact, we would not

want to suggest to the chief judge how that schedule should be conducted. I can tell the Member that if there are individuals who are not satisfied with the way that scheduling is done, not satisfied with the terms of the residency requirement, they can make an appeal to the judicial council and level that complaint. As far as I am concerned, and have knowledge, the judge does have a residence in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue that the Member has raised here about retirements versus resignation is one that is spelled out in the Employee Handbook and, indeed, in our forms that are required for superannuation and other things. The fact is, after looking into this, it has been pointed out to me that the stipulations laid out on...If one is to retire or to resign from government, it depends on the years of service, the age of the employee and, I believe, there is one other factor that comes into play. So the years of services, age of employee or a combination of the two to come up with a total amount of time that then can be qualified, or one can qualify for retirement as we put it. I am not sure of the specific forms that are there or when they do have meetings with them, but I will look into that and make sure that that is highlighted in any future meetings. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am interested to know how FMBS communicates this type of information with its employees, because in both cases with my constituents, they thought they were entitled to 30 weeks. They thought they were leaving the public service. They thought everything would be fine and dandy. They tried in one case for four months, and the other case for five months, to get a meeting with FMBS to go over the paperwork to try to understand this. FMBS was negligent because they did not meet with these constituents of mine. I would like the Minister responsible for FMBS today to say that he will look into this situation and try to correct what I see as a big wrong so that we get it right and others don't have to go through the same thing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier, we will look into how that message and the meetings that are set up are organized, and what information is laid out. As Members are aware, since the decision was made that we would go with the Human Resource Service Centre, that has caused us some problems as we have made the transfer from each department to a Human Resource Service Centre program. As well, we have also a lot of files that have come along with that that are not complete and needed some work. We are putting in the resources to try to clear that up. Again, I would like to commit in this House that, as we meet with employees that are looking to retirement, we would let it be known that what is going to be required of them, timelines and everything else that would come into play here before they make a final decision. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just have another question for the Minister responsible for FMBS. I am wondering if he can commit today to try to come up with some type of checklist or something to that effect. As I mentioned, we have a number of employees who are going to be leaving the public service here in the next five years. I think it is imperative that FMBS get their act together and send this information out to employees so that everybody knows what the rules are and what the standards are here when they are getting set to retire. I would like to ask the Minister if they can come up with a simple checklist so that everybody knows what the rules are. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I have been informed, there is a checklist one goes through with an employee of what the required documents and the procedures are for getting pensions and so on in place. As for preparing our employees for future retirement, or resignation in some cases, from this government, we could probably do a mail-out as part of the paycheque that gives them information as to what steps they will have to take, what forms and what things they should be aware of. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask some questions to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on the decline of the caribou. There are huge numbers and a high percentage reported on the decline of caribou, and the management plans for these renewable resource boards across the regions are addressing them. The department says that the caribou are disappearing. The outfitters say the caribou are fine; they are not disappearing. Who should we believe, Mr. Speaker? What is the most accurate information the Minister can let the people know about the decline or the increase of the caribou? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we put the information out giving the public and all the people of the Northwest Territories access to the numbers that we have in terms of caribou numbers, the census data that we do have. We are of the opinion that it is the only information that is accurate, and we are moving on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The restrictions, I understand, may be imposed within this year. Caribou is a very important food to the aboriginal people who may have a lack of dry meat this year. I want to ask the Minister how he is going to balance that delicate equation of the outfitters with the economics and then the aboriginal food in terms of the consumption that they take in, and also under the land claim agreements that protect their rights. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to work with the boards in the Sahtu and with the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit when it comes to the Cape Bathurst, the Bluenose East and the Bluenose West herds. We are going to rely on the traditional knowledge for the numbers that we have. We have consulted with them. They are looking at our information. They are going to be coming back with recommendations on what they suggest. I will sit down and look at that information and make the best determination possible in terms of acting on those recommendations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, caribou for the aboriginal people is especially important as the sole food for our people here. Ninety percent of the households of the aboriginal people have reported that they consume country foods. Seventy percent hunt and fish. Twenty-five percent still hunt and trap in this area. Wildlife in the Northwest Territories is the most precious resource. In saying this, I would like to ask the Minister, what is he doing to renewable resource boards in terms of monitoring this caribou population in the regions that are affected? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Miltenberger.