Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I'm following up a bit, I think, on the questions of my colleague from Inuvik Twin Lakes on the jurisdiction that we now have or share with the co-management boards in land claims settlement areas, Mr. Speaker. One that I'd appreciate some clarification on is the jurisdiction of these co-management boards related to the jurisdiction and responsibility that the Minister has. Just to give this a little bit more definition, Mr. Speaker, do the co-management boards, for instance, have jurisdiction or authority in areas such as enforcement or licensing or setting fees? This is the kind of thing that I'm wondering about: the powers of the Minister compared to those of these co-management boards, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I'm not prepared to respond to that question. That is an issue that's being challenged in the courts right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, thank you. When someone has a concern or an issue related to wildlife management, where do they go to get answers? To the GNWT, to the Minister's department, or to the relevant co-management board?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm still the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources and if it's a day-to-day issue around wildlife and natural resources, they would come to our department, Mr. Speaker. The board itself would be making decisions overall on other issues, but the day-to-day information and the requirements for information would come to us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Braden, supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Braden. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources with regard to one of the main recommendations of the Inuvik Caribou Summit and it has to do with the protection of the calving grounds. The Premier indicated he talked to Premier Okalik, and I just wanted to ask the Minister whether he'd had an opportunity to call his counterpart in Nunavut yet to discuss this issue. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've been in contact with the two jurisdictions, Nunavut and Saskatchewan, and received support to do some work this summer on calving grounds. We are requesting to have a sit down discussion with the people from both those jurisdictions to talk about other initiatives we can do together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister indicate what steps he envisions, or his department has laid out, as part of the work plan to actually move this process forward formally so that there's a discussion paper or whatever's required next to advance this very critical issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are working with the different jurisdictions. We'd like to, first of all, make a contract and have the support to put together a plan that will allow us to monitor and also identify the different calving grounds. We're also looking at this as part of possibly an initiative through the International Polar Year, where there is some desire to look at all the calving grounds across North America. So there are a number of different ways we're looking at this, but the first step would be to sit down with the different jurisdictions and start putting the next steps together so that we're all on the same page on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories we, of course, have the two calving grounds of our own, one of which is partially protected. Could the Minister indicate what steps he's taking internally which should be somewhat easier for us to be able to advance the protection of our own calving grounds, as well, so that we'll not only be asking other jurisdictions but we are getting our own house in order? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, that's something that we're looking at as part of our proposal, so I can't comment on that.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn't quite catch the last part of the Minister's answer, but I'm assuming he said he can't talk about it for some reason. Could the Minister tell us why we can talk about calving grounds in Nunavut but not in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is asking specific questions about reduction and protection for calving grounds in what is part of our proposal. Thank you.

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