Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our highway crews from Behchoko, the majority are from that community. We operate and maintain that highway through our own forces. I would have to question and see what would be gained by going to a contract crew. We have good services now. We provide seven-days-a-week winter maintenance services. I would be interested to have that discussion with the Member. Right now, I wouldn't commit to agreeing that it should be provided by a private contract crew. Our preference would be to have a competitive process to hire our employees and to stay with our own forces; however, I would commit to having that discussion with the Member if he so desires.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm fully aware that the Edzo crew is from the community. The community members are taking on that operation. At the same time, I was asking about Yellowknife, that it is coming out to the Rae access road. If that contract can be awarded to the Edzo crew, it's still under GNWT. That was my question. My final question, Mr. Speaker, would the Minister instruct his department to examine the pros and cons of transferring those responsibilities of Highway No. 3 maintenance to Behchoko, the Edzo crew, taking into account the need to stimulate employment outside the capital city? Will the Minister report back to the House on the findings before the next session? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's an awkward position the Member's putting me in. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to say that I'm always open for discussion on new concepts. The maintenance of highways and transportation systems is, for a large part, especially on our roads, is an essential service. I would have to be convinced that there is some benefit to changing from our approach that we are utilizing our own forces now, to going to a private contract with a contract crew. I would have to be convinced that there is some benefit and there is something to be gained. I would estimate that most of our employees are from the Behchoko area, or North Slave area. They're residents and a lot of them are long-term employees. So if the Member can convince me that there is some benefit, then we would certainly engage in that discussion; but until then, no, we won't consider that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Just getting back to the Caribou Management Strategy that the government's just recently rolled out, I guess just getting back to my Member's statement. I just wanted to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, I know we haven't gone through the budget of ENR yet which is coming up here later on this week, but also in the news release that the ENR released on Monday, February 20th, stating that immediate action's to be applied through the Northwest Territories in the next six months are going to start right on March 31. Just from my calculation, the immediate action is going to cost about $1.5 million just to get this thing off the ground and get the ball rolling in the first six months of the strategy. I want to ask the Member, where in the budget, if any, is this $1.5 million coming from? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are some current funds in the budget that are going to be before the House later today. As well, there are some funds identified in the supplementary appropriation bill that is before the House. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that approximately $1.2 million of that $1.5 million will be coming out of the supp, and I guess an additional item that we're going to be reviewing in the budget. The $255 million that's going to be requested for management partners, where is that money going to be coming from? Is that going to be coming out of the community management boards? Is that going to be a clawback, or is that additional funds coming from the mining industry, oil and gas? Where's that going to come from, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if you look at the strategy, there's a relatively modest amount that we're projecting to get

contributed by some of our partners. That could include the federal government, as well as there are other jurisdictions; and, as well, some of the co-management boards may have specific issues they want to address and put resources to. So we're going to work at this cooperatively. We're not talking clawbacks. This is a process of consultation and collaboration to get to an end point, which is the preservation and health of the caribou herds. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just getting money from other jurisdictions, other partners in this whole initiative, I think that the government should maybe secure some money before they start embarking on a $13.4 million strategy. I think we should have at least some idea, a good idea, at least, where that money's going to come from. Just getting back to the whole strategy total I guess, 13.4 is a pretty conservative estimate. I know in the strategy, it outlines a lot of "to be announced," "to be determined" amounts of money and a lot of strategies for the principles. Before the strategy actually rolls out, can we get some numbers down, like real numbers, concrete numbers, that we can look at, and not have a whole strategy that has a bunch of slots of "to be announced," to be determined" amounts of money that we don't know anything about? Can we do that first, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a standing request when the appropriate committee has time to provide a full briefing to the committee about the strategy, the interim measures, and what we're contemplating in terms of actions. We have a very clear plan laid out for the coming months. There's the interim measures, and then this spring and summer we're going to do some additional culling in the herds. We're going to make sure that our numbers are confirmed. That has been requested by many of the co-management boards. As well, we're going to start taking a look at the predation factor and take a look at how many wolves there are. We need to have some basic, fundamental information to make good decisions and an informed debate. Once that information is in, we will gather next fall, early winter, with that new information and we will collectively review it and then plan for future steps. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, my questions this afternoon are for the Minister of Justice, Mr. Bell, and in reference to the Youth Criminal Justice Act which, Mr. Speaker, was brought into force almost three years ago now. It's a federal piece of legislation, and it was brought in, Mr. Speaker, with the approach to managing crime and rehabilitation that young offenders should be managed, should be treated on a different basis than adult offenders. Mr. Speaker, the question that I'd like to ask Mr. Bell, after about three years now, has the new Youth Criminal Justice Act made a difference here in the NWT in the way justice is administered for young people who commit crime, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The new YCJA has certainly made a difference in the way we administer justice for youth not only in the NWT, but right across the country. The Member pointed out and I think in his statement earlier he talked about some of the differences between the former YOA and the new YCJA. Obviously, even before sentencing, before we even get that far, there are options that the police have at their disposal. The idea is to try to steer youth away from the formal court system. We have a number of options. There are options right through all steps of the process, including sentencing. Custody is discouraged, except in the most violent cases, the most serious cases. So it has made an impact and, as the Member has indicated, it's almost three years now since the implementation of that bill in April, the first of '03. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.