Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With respect to Environment and Natural Resources, just a couple of things that I continue to press the Minister on with respect to wildlife management in the Fort Liard area. It's with respect to buffalo, as well. It's a concern shared by all northerners. However, this particular herd around Fort Liard/Nahanni Butte, that area, they are classified as a free-roaming herd. That's all fine and good, Mr. Chair, but the department doesn't have any management plan, per se, of how to manage that herd. It's interacting in the communities now. It's destroying people's yards and gardens and some of them, their trees are imported and planted in the gardens and the buffalo are in the communities and on the highways, of course. Much like the difficulties people are having around Yellowknife and Fort Providence. So we have the same type of thing happening down there. They are on the airport runways in Nahanni Butte and Fort Liard. Local people have been chasing them away. They are shooting rubber bullets at them, it's to a point where it's of little avail. Initially, it had worked and all the scare tactics and guns were working initially, but now they have grown quite used to it. I think they are getting itchy to go on the airstrips to get their backs scratched.

It's a real concern to the residents in those two communities. They keep asking how is the department going to manage this herd and what's the plan. I believe the Minister committed to having a plan drafted with input of the residents of Nahanni Butte and Ford Liard. Before we can go on to another Member, perhaps I can get the Minister to comment on that at the end of my opening comments.

Another thing that is of high priority as well is that recently we were in Hay River talking to the Dehcho leadership and our government responded to the land use plan that was in Hay River about two weeks ago. Our government responded to them. The land use plan is something that the Dehcho leadership wants, but for me I am not quite sure if there was a real objection by our department, or if there was more concern with the department of how you get involved in the land use planning. I think it's a tripartite agreement anyway. Again, perhaps the Minister can correct me there. I think it's the federal, territorial, First Nations development that plan. I think the concern was that our government showed up late and said we don't agree with all these things, but they should have been involved from the start is the concern.

I would like to hear a little bit more about what is our role, if anything, with respect to the land use planning in the North.

Another thing that is highlighted in the news, people talk about it probably on a daily basis, is the climate change, even this winter alone. It's in the news daily. They say

global like Greenland and Iceland. I saw a special, too, on the effects around Tuktoyaktuk and that area. Even in our House, we have other pressing matters trying to improve the lives of the people in our communities, so we don't see too much of our role in climate change, what is our role. I know a lot of the global conference that has to do with climate change, how are we participating in that? Do we have a communication strategy? The people in the communities want to know these things. How are we going to get involved and what can our communities and people do to participate in this, as well?

Another concern of major importance, I brought it up to the Minister of Health on a couple of occasions, is the bird flu. I know it's mostly a health problem, domesticated birds, but lately it's been in the news that it's in wild duck populations over in Europe. This fall they had a bit of an outbreak in northern B.C. For me, I continue to press the issue, only because it has huge impact. Like even one of the main concerns in this House today is the drastic reduction in the caribou populations. It has impacts on people back home. If you extend that to wild birds, wild ducks, that's another huge staple of our northern residents. If there's a fear that this virus is moving into wild fowl, I am not sure what the impact is.

I know in the North, one of the ways we reduce our household expenses is by depending on the wildlife for food like the caribou and the moose and the birds of the air, Mr. Chair. People look forward to the springtime. When there is going to be a fear there is a disease, a virus in the wild bird population, there again, what is our communication strategy to ensure our northern populations that they can continue to do what they are doing, maintain their way of life without fear of repercussion, or not so much fear of repercussion, but more a fear of this pandemic virus that's out there. It's making its way to North America. I am not too sure about the communication strategy. I believe that's got to be done soon because fear is a strange thing. It moves through people so quickly. It happened too about 12 years ago and it said the fish in our river system have high levels of toxins, so people never ate fish for a long time until they were certain again that perhaps that one report had gotten blown out of proportion.

Here's another situation that could get blown out of proportion unless we have some kind of communication strategy soon and get out and inform our people to the best of our knowledge with up-to-date and current information. That's all our people ask for, is to continually be heard. That's what they are saying. We want to be informed on these few issues, so I think we owe it upon ourselves to do our best, research it and get back to them and say...Well, I am not too sure what we are going to say, but the main thing, Mr. Chair, is that we have to be on top of it. It's a moving concern and I know that our northerners are gravely concerned with respect to the wild fowl.

I will end my comments there, Mr. Chair. If I could get the committee's indulgence and get the Minister to respond to the concerns I had. Thank you.