Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About 18 months ago the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment proposed two things: increases to the fees for NWT camping sites and the elimination of full-season camping sites. Not surprisingly, a roar of protest followed. Nobody likes changes and especially not our hard-core, dedicated campers.

In what I considered a good judgment decision, made using common sense, the department put the proposed changes on hold for the 2008 season in order to do some surveying of users and to get some facts, so to speak. The resulting report was comprehensive and recommended that the department proceed with the changes, and that they did this past camping season.

Now that we are, unfortunately, well beyond summer -- look outside -- it's time to assess the impact of these changes. Last week our local paper published an article titled Campground Use Down. The article indicated that the number of camping visitors was relatively close to last year's number, but the number of camping permits was down significantly. There's no doubt that some of this decrease was due to the very poor weather that the Yellowknife area experienced for almost six weeks at the start of our summer, but the decrease in campers must also be attributed to the shortened seasonal site permits -- two months' duration instead of four -- and also to the increase in site fees, a fee increase with no corresponding increase in services.

As I mentioned in a statement on this subject last spring, in order to avoid paying the higher fees, many campers planned to squat for free along the side of the road instead of using our campgrounds. How many campers actually did that during the summer of 2009? Did ITI monitor the situation over the summer? Was the Ingraham Trail inundated with squatters camped out along the shoulders of the road? Were any of these squatters given tickets, warnings or eviction notices?

In June the Minister committed to an evaluation to determine the success or lack of success of the new half-season-only campsite permits and the new fee structure. Has that evaluation taken place? Have campers been surveyed for their input after this season?

The information presented by the paper indicated or suggested that the department may be considering some changes for next year, possibly returning some full-season campsites to the inventory. Is that information correct?

I will have these and other questions for the Minister of ITI at the appropriate time.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was giving some thought in terms of my Member's statement today and I was thinking about what the MLA for Hay River, Mrs. Groenewegen, was talking about in terms of how the North could be independent, strong and free in terms of self-sufficiency regarding fish. She was talking about the fish the other day. I thought about this and I talked to my wife about this. Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk into our stores in our small communities and have fish that was from the Northwest Territories, either Great Slave Lake or Great Bear Lake? Lake trout from up in the Beaufort-Delta where there are some wonderful fishing lakes up there. All down the whole Mackenzie River. Have people go out on the land and fish. That's part of their life, being self-reliant, independent and healthy. Teach about the importance of our food here.

How is it today that when we walk into our stores we get fish from outside of the Northwest Territories? We don't even look in our own backyard. I'm just wondering that this government here, in terms of really taking the bull by the horns to shake things up and say this is what we're going to do for the Northwest Territories and for our people. Start looking at how to invest in our own resources, ourselves as people, our communities. The wonderful food that this land has to offer is out there. Caribou, buffalo, moose, even the sheep and all the fish. Even the berries for making jam, making wonderful jam. We have a wealth and it seems that we still need to go out and purchase these things outside of the Northwest Territories.

This is something that we need to think about in terms of how we're going to pass this on to our children, tell them the importance of our own resources in our land, the importance of having fish brought in from our fish lakes. They can get back to the land. People in the South Slave can certainly have some wonderful fish shipped up into the valley and we can do the same as down the Mackenzie Valley here in terms of having food in our local grocery stores by our people. These things should be part of our life here.

I look forward to a day that we can have this discussion as to how we can depend on ourselves.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the Aurora College fourth-year Nursing Program that is here with us. First of all, the nursing instructor, Matthew Smith, is with us; Rielle Nakehk'o from Hinton, Alberta; Jeri Cooper, Hay River; Shannon Laframboise, Manitoba; Bonnie Lynch, Yellowknife; Jenna Menard, Yellowknife; Cristi Mercado, Philippines; Elise O'Connor, Fort Smith; LeeAnn Laraway, Whitehorse, Yukon; Jane Robertson, Vancouver, B.C.; Megan Russell, Yellowknife; Fion Shing, Hong Kong; Betty Strbac, Croatia; Kristin Tarrant, Lawn, Newfoundland; Charlene Teddy, Tuktoyaktuk; and Becky White, Yellowknife. Mahsi for being here.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Jeri Cooper in the visitor's gallery today from Hay River, a nursing student. And I'd like to recognize Vince McKay, a resident of Hay River South and recently departed from local politics in Hay River. It is very good to see Sam Gargan and Jim Antoine in here, proof that there is life after the Legislative Assembly.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is indeed a pleasure to welcome back the previous Speaker of this Assembly and now Grand Chief of Deh Cho, Mr. Sam Gargan, as well as Jim Antoine, the previous Premier and Minister of this government and Member for it would have been Nahendeh at the time, and now chief of the band in Fort Simpson. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize a couple of constituents who happen to be in the gallery today. One is Barb Wyness, who is the research and PR officer with the Union of Northern Workers, and with her is Jackie Walsh, who is a brand new assistant to the president of the UNW. Welcome to them both.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Someone once asked me how many times can you be recognized in the Legislature, but I will continue to add a special welcome to Chief Jim Antoine of Liidlii Kue First Nations, as well as to grand chief of Deh Cho First Nations, Mr. Samuel Gargan, who spends a lot of time in Fort Simpson now. Welcome. As well, a special greeting to my niece, Miss Erica Menicoche and her mother, Cheryl Yakeleya. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my lovely, lovely wife, Cheryl, and our daughter Erica.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure today to have people from Nunakput here. First of all, I would like to welcome Ms. Bessie Hagen and my sister-in-law from Tuktoyaktuk, Ms. Donna Ruben from Paulatuk, Charlene Elias and His Worship Mayor Merven Gruben, welcome. I would like to welcome Miss Charlene Teddy as well, Mr. Speaker, for coming down here to continue her education in nursing, and all the best. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. If we missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. Welcome to the House. It is always nice to have an audience. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wish to acknowledge a resident of Wrigley, Mr. Charlie Tale. Charlie has been awarded the Top Trapper Award for 2008-2009. Charlie has had the highest sales and the highest number of pelts of any trapper in the Deh Cho and, as well, many times in the past years.

Miss Renalyn Pascau-Matte, trade and investment manager for the Deh Cho region, presented Charlie with a drum of gas in time to use when he goes out to his trap line this fall. He will also be awarded the muskrat board plaque and a certificate from the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

I am honoured to acknowledge Charlie Tale and his legendary success. I wish him another great trapping season this year. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement today I talked about that very handsome resource that we have. We have bison and buffalo in various locations around the Northwest Territories and in the south part of the Territory. We know the ones in the Wood Buffalo National Park are protected, but there are also issues with them in terms of disease, a history of disease. We have a herd around Fort Liard. We certainly have a herd close by here in Yellowknife that we are very proud to say is disease-free and has multiplied and now exists in very high numbers.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of ENR is: what is the population of that herd now? Is it protected in some way? How many tags per year are issued for that herd? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. There are three questions there. The Minister may answer one or all of them. The Minister responsible for ENR, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are in the neighbourhood, I believe, of about 1,600 bison on this side of the river. I will point out that the range is expanding north towards Behchoko. There is interest now not only from the people from Fort Providence but in Behchoko and the Tlicho, as well, now closer to Yellowknife they get in terms of having access to the herd. I believe they hand out several dozen tags over the course of the year for outfitting. That is usually done, of course, in the coldest and darkest days of winter to make it a challenge as opposed to opening the door of your hotel room and shooting them in the parking lot as they rub against your truck. They are considered threatened. The numbers are down somewhat, which is also a source of some concern. Thank you.

That is very interesting information; not very concise, though. We don't know exactly how many we have. We don't know exactly how many tags we issue every year.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister indicated that there is interest from various communities and various regions in the Northwest Territories. I mentioned we do a commercial harvest of the muskox. What is preventing a commercial harvest assisted by this government in some way of this resource for meat? We figure out a way to ship liquor all over the Northwest Territories, subsidized or cross-subsidized for everybody to get it at the same price. Why can't we ship some bison around? Thank you.