Thank you. I appreciate the Member's thoughts and input. I think that's very valuable. I think there were a number of good points that he made.

To the point about effectively what would, I guess, constitute access and benefit agreements when it comes to tourism and our outfitting operators, there's no reason that that couldn't happen with new operations now on, say, Sahtu lands in your region. Mr. Chairman, that arrangement could certainly be made. It is more difficult to go back with people who have had licences in the past and have some expectation of certainty in their business model going forward, because they've made significant investment.

My understanding is I guess that the far majority of operators do use aboriginal guides, I mean it obviously make sense, but not all. Maybe I'm wrong. But most of the caribou operators, I understand, do and I would encourage all of them to work with the communities and have aboriginal guides who know the land and know the region. It only makes sense, Mr. Chairman. I think if you're hoping to provide an authentic experience, if you're hoping to ensure that the respect for the land is upheld, then that's the way it has to be done. I think communities are going to have a greater say now in how tourism licences are awarded, and I think that's a good thing.

There were a number of points raised. You know, how do you determine what community support is or what a significant concern is? I think that is a very legitimate question. I'm not sure we have exactly the answer and it may vary by region, but we need to spell that out in the regulations and we need to discuss that in the consultation that's about to happen.

So I know this from committee. Much of the detail isn't found in this act, so there are many, many questions that can only be answered as we go through the consultation and develop the regulations. In order to safeguard or to ensure the concerns of committee are addressed, what I propose to do is to come back with those proposed regulations and sit down and discuss them with committee. We're going to need to understand whether or not this meets the test in the various regions. I want to hear from the Members and get their thoughts. Within government already for something like tags, and this is ENR now, but there is, before issuing new tags, there's consultation with communities. We do need to do a good job working interdepartmentally to ensure that there is support for the operators, and I think we can do that. I think this act is going to streamline, obviously much of what we do, but also give communities greater input and greater involvement going forward. These tourism special management areas is something that needed to be formalized. We can't be granting tourism licences on ecologically sensitive areas or culturally sensitive areas, and we've been at risk of doing that kind of thing without strictly spelling that out in legislation. So how we get the consent of regions and communities is something that we need to sit down and discuss.

But I agree with the points that the Member is making. We've got to use local people. It only makes good business sense to involve communities, be respectful of the communities, bring meat back to the communities. I would suggest that if he wants support for the renewal of your licence, it would seem like a good business practice. So that you to the Member.

I will say that I think the tourism industry is generally doing a good job; not everybody, but we can certainly always improve and one of the biggest areas to improve is respect for the communities. Thank you.