Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we can do that. I think that what we can do more of is having information sessions, Mr. Speaker, with inmates who are in our institutions to help them understand what kind of programming would be available to them on the land. I think it's very important. Again, as I indicated, inmates have to want to go, but I do think that many of them would want to go if they fully understand what is offered and what is available. There are, obviously, some expectations of these inmates and it is a commitment and it can be gruelling. It can be difficult to sit down and come to grips with many of these issues that have been suppressed for some time, but there's a lot of value in doing it. I think, Mr. Speaker, we should and I certainly will commit to making sure we sit down with inmates in the institutions and brief them exactly on what is available. I hope to be able to do this across the entire territory as we have more of these available in other regions. I think we need to build on this success. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question this morning will be for Mr. Bell, as the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment, and the department responsible for licensing tourism operations of all kinds across the NWT; as well, the agency responsible for assisting, developing and promoting our tourism industry and, of course, that includes the sports hunting industry in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, we have been looking at the issues regarding the decisions that our governments and our regulators make, the decisions that we make based on the information that we get. As a very brief illustration of some of the frustrations that outfitters have been facing, Mr. Speaker, I present a bit of information about tags that have been allotted to an outfitter. This particular outfitter has two licences. In June of this year, Mr. Speaker, he was told he had 264 tags to sell. In December, that went down to 70. On January 8th, it was 205. On January 20th, it was 150. On January 29th, it was 166, Mr. Speaker. How the heck do you run a business when the government is playing such up and down, back and forth numbers with your resource?

Mr. Speaker, when did the Minister of ITI learn that his counterparts in Environment and Natural Resources were recommending, in effect, the elimination of the industry when they told the Wekeezhii board on December 15th that the caribou tags should be reduced to 350, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to make sure that Members of the House know that, as Minister McLeod has indicated, ITI was aware the survey results had come in and that the numbers were much lower, I think, than anticipated. In late November, we were advised that the survey numbers had come back and, as Minister McLeod has indicated, throughout December we had a policy debate going on between these two departments, and you can see that we had concerns around how this would impact the outfitting industry. There was a disagreement as to the best course of action to proceed on, on a go-forward basis. Mr. Speaker, I think that policy debate is healthy. I think you can see from the division of the departments that this policy debate eventually took place at the Cabinet level. You know that the Premier called a meeting of the two departments to discuss the best way forward and what we've arrived at is a solution that we think strikes the balance between the need for conservation. Clearly, the herd is under pressure, the herds are under pressure, we recognize that; but we had concerns about the outfitting industry. We felt that the proposal of 350 tags would, in effect, be fatal for the industry this year and we're advocating that more time was necessary for the industry and that we'd build a plan for 2008. Obviously, that's what the Minister of ENR has done in asking the Wekeezhii board to come back with recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, there certainly was a coming together of the two departments to debate the best course of action going forward. What we have now is a plan that, I think, although it's not everything the outfitters had desired and wanted, we think allows...builds a bit of a reprieve for the industry while we build a plan for the long term. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, the recommendation is still before the Wekeezhii Renewable Resources Board that the total number of tags available to the outfitting industry is 350. Clearly, the industry is not sustainable at this level. Is the Minister of ITI going to continue to work for these people in the tourism industry to not only prepare something that will get them through this difficult period, but will have a sustainable caribou industry, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, I think all of us want to ensure that we have a sustainable industry, an outfitting industry as we move forward. The most critical component of that is sustainable caribou herds. Mr. Speaker, we have been working with the Barren-Ground Caribou Outfitters Association. In fact, I met with them prior to the Caribou Summit and indicated that I was prepared to help them develop a plan, an approach and a presentation for the Wekeezhii board, because that's a critical step here. The Wekeezhii board and their public hearing is going to make recommendations that will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the numbers that are eventually allocated to outfitters. It's critical that they come forward with a plan that demonstrates that they believe in conservation and demonstrates that this industry can live side by side a viable caribou herd in the Northwest Territories. We are helping them build that presentation and that plan.

We've also indicated to them as step two we would work with them to talk about assistance and aid for the industry, much the same way we did with the Aurora industry when it was under pressure, Mr. Speaker, we are doing the same with the outfitting industry. Exactly what form that aid will take depends very much on what Wekeezhii board comes back with and the recommendations that they make in terms of sustainable harvest numbers for caribou for 2008. At that point, we'll sit down to talk in detail about what the plan will look like. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

You know, Mr. Speaker, we have to look at this in many different ways. The sustainability of the herds, of course, if paramount. However, I'm looking at management decisions that affect people who have made lifelong investments in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, there's a lot of reliance being placed by the Minister on the case

that the outfitters will have to make before the Wekeezhii board. ENR has already put a recommendation in front of the board, made a strategic recommendation. In fact, Mr. Speaker, ENR has two voting seats on the Wekeezhii Resources Board. Where is the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment going to be to represent the interests of outfitters and businesses who have made investments based on 20 years of support, regulation and policy that this government has put forward and helped them build their case? Are we going to go to bat for these businesses, for these residents, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated, we are working very closely and supporting the Barren-Ground Caribou Outfitters Association. I will admit that not every single outfitter has agreed to remain a member of that industry association; there are some divergent views. However, the majority of outfitters are still members of that group and we are very much helping them build their case to take before the Wekeezhii board, because, as we've said and we all acknowledge, what Wekeezhii determines will be critical in terms of what ENR eventually decides. It is the ENR Minister who has the legislative mandate to determine tag allocations. So we will be working with the outfitters to put this plan forward and make sure that their interests are advocated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Members' statement I talked about my concerns about lack of energy plan, Greenhouse Gas Strategy, and my concerns that we've had the lack of identification of our targets and strategy, Mr. Speaker. My first question would be to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. My question is, has there been any evaluation on the government's energy initiatives in terms of cost saving or energy reduction and usefulness and, if not, will he agree to take on this task to do those evaluations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell Members that we are very much doing that evaluation and we are bringing forward an energy plan that moves together with the companion, the Greenhouse Gas Strategy. The two documents, I think, very much need to be read together and we are looking forward to coming forward in March and having the discussion with Members about the approach. There will be specifics, there will be budget items, there will be projects that are targeted. I think the Members will be very pleased and happy with the work that's been done on the energy plan and I look forward to a very crucial discussion, as well, with the Minister of ENR and myself coming forward to committee to discuss that.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear that the department is working on a Greenhouse Gas Strategy, but, Mr. Speaker, a lot of this problem requires leadership through its actions. Mr. Speaker, if you don't have actions and you don't identify targets and tools, then what's the point? I want to hear this Minister tell me today that have we identified targets, clear targets, from the GNWT point of view and have we identified compliance tools so we can meet targets with this strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly we don't want to scoop ourselves here and we have yet to get final approval for this plan before Cabinet. We intend to do that. However, I can tell Members that, yes, there are internal GNWT targets proposed in the strategy and we're hoping that that will meet with the support of Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister speak to the issue of this energy plan where we're going to address rising costs associated with climate change and emission reductions and has the ministry changed their plan or target setting with the announcement of the ecoTrust by Prime Minister Harper this week? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Bell.