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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the interim measures agreements forced the sandpits or something that the Yellowknives Dene want to have. There is a process in terms of resolving that within the interim measures agreement. Is that the process that this will take in terms of further interest by the Yellowknives Dene in terms of the sandpits? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I guess there are two avenues where an aboriginal group such as the Yellowknives Dene can access land. There is the formal process of applying through the city, which would come to us for review. Depending if it is an application for lease or for fee-simple title, we would be dealing with it at the end of the day. There is the other process of the aboriginal groups that are in negotiations to come forward as part of their land identification to identify this area. However, that does not give them an automatic transfer. It would have to be an area that would have to be negotiated at the negotiating table. In the case of the Yellowknives Dene, they are not at that level yet. They are not at that point where they are sitting down and selecting land or going through a land selection process. My understanding is that they have done some early work in identifying some areas of interest to them. They are talking to the city about these areas. I am sure these maps and stuff will come forward to us. However, we haven't seen that at this point. We have had some early discussions around that, but the ability to access this land through the negotiation table at this point for the sandpits is actually premature. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my Member's statement about the recently released management plan for the Bathurst Caribou herd, in light of the rather eye-catching headline in the newspaper today that read, "Caribou hunt ban in plan." It is something that would raise concerns of many avid hunters everywhere in the North. I suppose, Mr. Speaker, that might be the outcome in the end, is we don't collectively manage the caribou herd in a way that could sustain and that could give all of the residents of the Territories the privilege to hunt for sustenance as well as recreation. I think it is understood that, should there be a risk in a herd, the rights of hunters of non-aboriginals and outfitters will go first before anything like that is done for the aboriginal hunters. It is in the interest of everybody to protect this. I would like to ask the Premier, as the stakeholder in this whole management plan because the GNWT is the essential player in that, whether he could commit to making sure that all the stakeholders are consulted and be part of the team to make sure that this potential ban, if it exists, does not happen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of consultation, then certainly there has to be more consultation. Let me say that the Bathurst management plan that was introduced is the recommendations from the committee which is made up of our government, federal government, Inuit organizations, First Nations people and so on. It doesn't represent, necessarily, the views of each of the organizations that the individuals are from, but it is committee's recommendation. Before our government would take action on this plan, we would want to take into consideration the needs of all and the interests of all the users of that caribou herd. So, Mr. Speaker, that does include the commercial operators, the tourism operators, the non-aboriginal hunters, the aboriginal hunters, and all of the people who are using that herd. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, one of the objectives of the committee is to ensure that the plan is implemented and information about progress on management actions is shared with all stakeholders and users. Mr. Speaker, I might add that most of the plan is about how to monitor and manage the herd better. One of the things that the plan recommends is that the GNWT change the regulations with regard to the quotas and the numbers. We know that, being here for so many years, wildlife legislation has been in the works for a very long time. It hasn't been introduced. Could I ask the Premier when the government is planning on bringing that legislation forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We expect that we will be able to introduce the Wildlife Act to this Assembly in May 2005. Mr. Speaker, there is also a companion piece of legislation. That is the species at risk legislation. That one I expect we should be able to have ready for introduction to the Legislative Assembly within the next month or so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know if the Premier could answer this, but I see that there are many people at the table in this committee and GNWT and DIAND being the government representatives, but all of the other aboriginal governments both in Nunavut and the NWT are represented. I am just wondering if the government is expected to answer to this and if there is an

opportunity for the government to respond whether the government could reiterate the importance of consultation for the committee to put this action plan into work. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, definitely our government will have to respond to the recommendations from this team who was put together to look at the Bathurst herd. So we will be doing that. In doing that, we will be consulting with parties who are not part of the team that was studying the herd. That includes the hunters and those who have commercial operations for tourism. Mr. Speaker, in looking at this plan, the plan does acknowledge that it is very complex because the Bathurst herd doesn't have an area that is exclusively occupied by them. There are other herds that get mixed in with them from the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou herd. There are other herds. There are more herds that mix together. We will have to look at this very carefully. Mr. Speaker, I can assure that what we will do is be responsible to all users. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the government's commitment to make sure that all the communication and consultation is done. Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations that the plan makes is to develop, publicize and implement community-based hunting rules and territory hunting regulations in order to avoid wounding and wastage of wildlife. I think there could never be enough promotion and publicizing of the importance of hunting responsibly. Could I ask the Premier to direct these officials to make sure that this is done properly and well? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Responsible hunting has always been a key principle that our wildlife people have operated on. I know many hunters do. I have seen hunters go to great lengths to track down a wounded animal to make sure that it is not just being wasted out there. Mr. Speaker, when talking about these herds, I also want to emphasize that the herds tend to increase in size and decrease in size, decline in numbers and so on. Nobody should feel that there is a guarantee that what they have today will necessarily be there in the long term. That has never been part of our plan. The sustainability of the herd is what is most important. RWED has no intentions at this point to reduce anything for anybody, but we do want to look at this plan very carefully and, in the interests of all users, make sure that we are being fair to everybody. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod. I know the Minister knows how important the issue of an access road into Kam Lake Industrial Park is to me. I am wondering, from his role as the Minister of Transportation, how the granting of access to the Deton'Cho Corporation to access the sandpits is going to impact any future development of an access road into Kam Lake Industrial Park. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have indicated before, I have not seen a formal application from the Yellowknives Dene. However, we have had discussion as to the area that we have granted permission to access. It does not conflict with the airport development plan or the Kam Lake access road the city has been discussing. Thank you.