Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have a couple of opening remarks and I think most of my questions will be in the detail. One of the first comments I have would be towards all the biomass initiatives that are currently in the budget. I’m pleased to see that.

I will have some questions later on about the forestry resource inventories and how much money we’re spending to do a baseline in the South Slave if we have a strong potential of a company setting up…(inaudible)…operation in the area. I’m just wondering if we’re continuing to reinvest in that to make sure that we know what the inventories in the South Slave are to feed that type of operation.

One of the other areas that I wanted to discuss today was that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure had

reviewed the hydraulic fracturing. Some of the things involved with that, and I think are involved with this department, are some baseline study work in the Sahtu area where there’s lots of oil and gas going on right now, and what the department is committing for some sort of baseline study to see what the current landscape is before all the development. If any kind of major oil and gas play happens in that area, we need to have some baseline studying, especially in the area of hydraulic fracturing, where I know some people are concerned.

Along the lines of hydraulic fracturing, I would like to know what the department is doing in conjunction with the NEB, National Energy Board, and how we as a committee have made some recommendations that there should be some regulations put in place before some hydraulic fracturing is happening. I’m just wondering. I would like to get some information on where the department is going with that and what kind of dollars they are committed to maybe giving to the concerns in the Sahtu towards hydraulic fracturing.

My last point is some of the dollars that the department is going to be spending. We’ve been informed that the department will be implementing the Wildlife Act later this year. I was just wondering what kind of dollars they are committing to this process, the second go around. Is it as heavy as the years before or are we kind of e expecting the water to be a little calmer and have we worked out some of the solutions? Those are my opening comments and I’ll have more questions in the detail. Thank you.