Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there are two significant issues; one is more short-term and one is longer term. In the short term we're waiting for the test results to come back to confirm or not the initial potential findings of one of the tests that were done on the buffalo of the Hook Lake herd that are outside of the community. The other bigger piece is if there was a broader plan here at play to try to

deal with the issue of diseased bison that exist in the park and outside of the park in the Northwest Territories and down into Alberta, and the point of the Hook Lake herd was to have a disease-free herd that could be maintained for a relatively short period of time until the issue of diseased bison is dealt with in the Wood Buffalo Park and in the Northwest Territories and Alberta. There has been almost no movement on that broader outside issue. So we have to make a program decision, as well.

We've been carrying this herd, we've been maintaining it. There's no money currently in the budget. It is being funded from other sources. If the tests prove that the herd is still healthy, then the other issue is what's the point? Are we going to continue to keep them, and if we are going to keep them, for how long, and are we going to have any movement on the broader issue of these bison? The point is not just to keep them for no other purpose than just having them in a corral where there are crowding issues and there are other fundamental issues to deal with. So I think the Member is aware this is a very complex issue, and we're going to try to look at it carefully to make the right decision. Thank you.