Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon will be for Mr. McLeod, the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, on the issue of caribou or, rather, people management when it comes to protecting and preserving our caribou herd.

Mr. Speaker, especially in relation to the stakeholder group, the outfitters in the NWT, you know, this government, in the 1980s, actually established this industry. This is not something that sort of grew from the outside or from demand for people who wanted to come in. This industry was created by this government as a way of diversifying and incorporating aboriginal culture and practice with a way to diversify our economy.

Mr. Speaker, while we have invested heavily in developing this industry and its promotion in the infrastructure side of it and in regulation, we still do not have a thorough and a complete and a comprehensive information base on which to make information. This is something that is widely accepted, and yet, Mr. Speaker, we have made recommendations that will in effect eliminate this industry practically overnight. Do the math, Mr. Speaker. From 1,243 tags issued last year we're going to 750 tags this year. The recommendation remains on the book that there be 350 tags next year. Mr. Speaker, 350 tags is not enough to sustain an industry. Based on the lack of precise information on caribou populations, why does ENR recommend harvest levels of outfitters that will, without question, kill this industry? Thank you.

---Applause