Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the concerns about the -- the folk festival aside -- one of the concerns, a business case concern was that at 36 sites and the lack of opportunity for expansion, this would really not be an adequate one for us. What are the projections and what would an ideal size be for a RV park here in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, it's difficult to know exactly. We think that in future years we ball-parked the need at somewhere near 100 sites. We hope that that's not too optimistic. I guess we would start with the 30 or so sites and see where we are. That's the number of sites that this site would accommodate, but in future we hope we can get to the point where the demand is about 100. Obviously the refinishing of this road coming north we think will improve the prospects for rubber-tire tourism, but we'll have to see. These are just projections and they are our best forecasts and guesses at this point. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, does the department anticipate that this would be a territorially run RV site, as many others are in the NWT, or is the objective to find a private owner or private operator, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, I don't think any options have been ruled out. We'd be willing to sit down and talk to prospective stakeholders, prospective partners, about a model that would best solve this problem. Thank you.

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

Yes, Mr. Speaker, thank you. My question is would the department continue with its strategy to fund the development, the capital cost, and then seek a suitable operator or owner? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, that was the thought. Of course, we have a supplementary appropriation coming up soon. I can't pre-empt that, but presumably there will be some questions and some discussion around this budget item which has changed from the initial proposal and we can talk about that at that point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I talked about the expansion of the waste recovery program. We've seen the Beverage Container Program take off and it's doing very well. I'd like to ask the Minister of ENR what is the policy right now in the Northwest Territories with respect to tires? Is there a tax that's charged on tires at their point of purchase? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. MacLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't believe there is a tax, but I'd have to confirm that, Mr. Speaker. However, in the review of our Waste Reduction Recovery Program, tires and automobiles and e-garbage and things of that nature are being undertaken as part of a review that we've started now and will be reporting on by this fall, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would that review include considering or contemplating a tax on tires purchased in the Northwest Territories and a rebate for tires when they are returned for recycling? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tires have been raised as one of the considerations that we have to look at. We are also working with communities to look at mobile equipment. We recently had a number of workshops and had some companies from Alberta come and talk about being able to recycle some of the scrap metals. As part of those discussions, several communities got together and are exploring the different ways they can deal with the bulkier products in their landfill, such as tires and mobile tire shredding is something we are considering. We are also going to be working with communities to look to see if we can package it up so we can access some of the federal green funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that all sounds really good, but it sounds really vague and it sounds really far away and something that is not going to happen very soon. It is going to take in a whole wide range of products in recovery. It is really good to talk about it, but I want to talk about tires. It must be fairly simple. They are filling up our landfill as the days go ahead here. What do we need to do as a government to put legislation in place? What kind of framework needs to be in place to charge a levy on the tires when they are sold and to have a rebate to get them back to a central location for recycling? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know there is some sense of urgency, but I wouldn't think of going ahead without consulting with the Members of this House and the communities.

---Laughter

There is a lot of interest. There are a lot of different issues that we have to deal with including what products we focus on next. There are plastic bags. There are tires. There are vehicles and all types of things that we recognize have to be dealt with. We are not going to be able to deal with all of them. We need the input from the communities and the general public. So we have to take the time. We have contracted Lutra Associates to do the research on the recovery and recycling. We are working with the communities to try to access some money up front to start looking at mobile equipment so we can reduce some of the pressures that are facing the communities and their landfills. However, moving it any faster I think would be moving ahead faster than the communities would like. So we have to take the time to do it right, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.