Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That work is ongoing. As I indicated earlier, the regulations are still in development and we're working to develop the details of this program. It is our intention to have the program available to be rolled out in all of the communities in the Northwest Territories, so of course that includes Holman and Sachs and Paulatuk; all of the communities of the Member's riding. There are logistical challenges, clearly. I indicated yesterday, we're not proposing to be flying the material around at huge costs. We'll wait until the time of year when it's economical to do so, whether that's by winter road or by barge. Those details are still being developed. We'll have the storage capacity in each community to hold the materials until such time as we can economically remove them from the community. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can we just add one more winter road to Paulatuk so you can take them out in the wintertime? I'm just kidding.

---Laughter

Madam Chair, the last one I'd like to talk about is the wildlife management project. I'm just wondering if there's any funding available for the Peary caribou between Holman and Banks for the continuation of monitoring the program. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If the Member will give me a few minutes I can give him an update on the work that we've done in the past with the Peary herd. I'll just need a couple of minutes to get that detail. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My notes indicate that in terms of the Peary herd we think their numbers have been increasing on Banks Island. We don't have good data, I would say, on Victoria Island and the western high arctic. We know that they've been nationally classified by COSEWIC as endangered, but, most importantly, I think, in terms of management we have drafted an NWT recovery strategy. Consultation is underway on listing the Peary herd as endangered under the Species at Risk Act. Obviously once listed, a national recovery strategy is required. So there's federal species at risk legislation. Our legislation, when we bring it in, will dovetail into that, but at this point we are dealing with the federal regime. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With regard to the Banks and Victoria Islands, has the department determined if that's the same herd? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Bell.

Madam Chair, we believe they're both classified as Peary caribou. I can certainly provide more detail to the Member in terms of some of the research and work that we've done on that herd. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. General comments. I have a few more general comments. I'm just going to ask Mr. Pokiak if he'll take the chair.

Thank you. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to ask the Minister about the issue of squatters on Commissioner's land which has been brought up in the House, and I wanted to talk about that in relation to not land use or municipal planning or anything else, but just in terms of the potential for contamination. I mean, there's really nothing worse than going into a very pristine, beautiful landscape and then finding out that somebody has lived there and left a lot of garbage or equipment or discarded material at that location. Whose responsibility is it from an environmental point of view to monitor people who are using land in that capacity, as a squatter, in terms of anything that could be environmentally injurious; waste disposal, perhaps petroleum products from diesel generators, those sorts of things? Whose responsibility and whose mandate is it to monitor that on the land? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In terms of Commissioner's land, and I believe that was the question the Member was asking, MACA is the land manager. But obviously we have a role not only in terms of the Environmental Protection Act and our responsibilities to monitor and ensure that that act is being upheld, but also forest management and forest protection and the Wildlife Act. So MACA is the land manager. If there are violations under the Environmental Protection Act that people are aware of, they can bring them to our attention and we'll investigate. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So unless somebody comes upon something on the land that may pose an environmental violation, I guess there wouldn't necessarily be any way for anybody in enforcement to hear about it. So there isn't any kind of monitoring in place at this time that would bring an infraction like that to the attention of environmental protection officials. Is that what I should understand, Mr. Chairman? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've laid out the legislative regime. We do have our officers patrol and to ensure that the acts are enforced. As I mentioned, they are able to lay charges if they come upon something they believe is a violation of one of those acts. Admittedly, it's very difficult. You have to be able to, I think, prove who, in fact, was the violator of the act. This isn't easy and I'm sure the Member can appreciate that we have limited resources for these patrols and for enforcement. So while we have this legislative regime, enforcement is not an easy task. But we are ensuring, and I've had meetings recently in the last couple of days, that we set about a plan for cooperating with other agencies who may be able to act as another set of eyes and ears in this regard to help us have a better presence. That can be MACA in some regards, but Department of Transportation officials, if we think infractions are happening on the roadways. We're also working very closely with the RCMP for things like joint check stops or joint patrols potentially this summer in a number of more remote areas. Not necessarily just campgrounds, but on Commissioner's land in general. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's one of the unique things about the Northwest Territories, I

suppose, is that there's a lot of land out there and there's a lot of privacy if you want to find a place that's off the beaten trail and out of the way. I don't think, Mr. Chairman, that we can assume that people who are here for a long time or a short time are necessarily going to be good stewards of the land they may wish to occupy in some way. I think I should say also that I think this is going to become more and more increased as people find the cost of living maybe is untenable in communities. The appeal of living someplace where you may not have amenities and services, but neither do you pay taxes and you're not governed by all kinds of bylaws that are restrictive that you would in a community setting.

I think that the option of living on the land, so to speak, is going to become more appealing all the time. I think this is going to be on the increase. So I was wondering if the Minister anticipates creating any kind of awareness around the fact that we know that people are going to be carrying out certain activities on the land, if there were any kind of guidelines or information for awareness that could be created advising people of things like caution around the use of fuels and in terms of forest protection, open fires, and the kinds of implications and some of the ramifications of mishandling of fire. Things like that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think we've chosen to take a multi-pronged approach at combating this problem and the Member may be right that in fact we'll see more and more people unlawfully setting up shop on Commissioner's land and they would be squatting if they do that. MACA, as the land manager, has responsibility in this area. Obviously indigenous aboriginal people can live on the land without running afoul of the MACA management regime. They have that right to do that.

In terms of laws being broken, whether it's the EPA or Forest Protection Act or the Wildlife Act, education is very important so that people understand what their responsibilities are in this regard. But if people are going to wilfully break laws, then that comes back to our compliance regime. We do have, for instance, a 24-hour spill line if people see an environmental spill. We have a poacher line to deal with wildlife issues and a fire report line, as well. So we're trying to work very much with the residents of the Northwest Territories to help us in our compliance, because we simply don't have enough officers to patrol, as the Member has pointed out, this very wide-spread constituency that we have to look out for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mrs. Groenewegen.