Thank you, Madam Speaker. It seems to me that there is an opportunity here to be very creative in the marketing of our fine caribou. I underline "fine" caribou, Madam Speaker. Is the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism aware of the Development Corporation's marketing strategy for these particular caribou, both inside and outside the territories? If so, would he share some of the details briefly with us?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I understand that the Development Corporation needs to be competitive, as the Minister of Economic Development indicated last week. But he also indicated, and I'll quote from page 2115 of the unedited Hansard of Wednesday, November 9, 1994, "at this time, I believe the $1.25 rate is set, but we will certainly look at trying to improve the return to the hunters and trappers who are first in line in this issue."

In the event that the marketing and sale of these proposed caribou are successful and profits realized, will the Minister indicate whether there will be guaranteed returns to the people of Coral Harbour who had to accept a price that undervalued their product?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. Since the NWT Development Corporation has offered to purchase the caribou from Southampton Island's commercial harvest, is the Minister aware of whether or not the Development Corporation has firmly established that there is a market or markets for caribou?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In the absence of the Minister responsible for Renewable Resources, I would like to address my question to the Premier. She then, of course, may delegate it to the appropriate Minister responsible for Renewable Resources today. There is a strong and serious conservation issue on Southampton Island. The Department of Renewable Resources has advised the local hunters that if there is not a major culling of the caribou herd, the herd will die off from lack of food. Local hunters are prepared to cull the herd. Experienced hunters know that the best time of the year to cull the herd is in the fall. Why is the government waiting until April to bring the portable abattoir to Southampton Island?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My statement today concerns a matter I raised last week in the House. It deals with the responsible use of our renewable resources and maximizing the benefit to northern residents from that use.

Currently, the status of the Southampton caribou herd is such that a quota of 4,000 animals has been identified for commercial harvest. Residents in my constituency would like to take advantage of that opportunity to harvest these caribou.

Discussions between the Coral Harbour Hunters' and Trappers' Association, Economic Development and Tourism, Renewable Resources and the NWT Development Corporation have been going on for quite some time in order to plan a commercial harvest.

At first, a fall hunt was planned, but the latest proposal calls for a spring hunt to harvest the remainder of the quota. I also noticed that an offer has been made on the sale of caribou for the Development Corporation who will then undertake to market the meat after processing.

If I'm not mistaken, the price of these fine caribou will amount to -- I think I was told $1.25 per pound, payable to Coral Harbour residents.

Now I understand that there are costs involved in processing. What concerns me is that the final sale price of the meat may not be high enough to offset the processing costs with considerable left over. If this is the case, where do the profits go? In accordance with Economic Development and Renewable Resources's philosophy of this government, Madam Speaker, they should be returned to the community residents.

I will be following up on this issue with the appropriate Minister during question period. It is my hope that the plans are concluded and the hunt is carried out successfully, not only for the benefit of Coral Harbour residents, but for the future health of the caribou herd so that it may sustain our people for generations. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. No big objection here, I just need clarification. It says funding transferred from the Financial Management Board, et cetera, positions being transferred to the hamlet of Cape Dorset. My concern here is that, along with other communities, Coral Harbour is interested and actually working with the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Is this community transfer initiative extra cost, $36,000?

I know that the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the Department of Personnel have actual costs from previous years and probably from this year, too. I have been investigating some complaints in the last two years that when you transfer responsibility to the hamlets, especially in the small communities, that you have a tendency to dump the responsibility with very minimal overhead cost allowance to those hamlets. Is this $36,000 a good reflection of what it cost government before when they were administering it and what it's going to cost Cape Dorset when they are administering it? Is that a fair assessment that the difference is zero?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no objection to the $500,000 special warrant. But I understand that Nunavut Caucus is being provided with $40,000 for a similar program. The Nunavut Implementation Commission is moving along fairly well in getting their plans in place and will probably have good material some time soon. There would probably be a request from the NIC and Nunavut Caucus to hold a constitutional convention or something like that, in order to have a broader review and approval of the work of the NIC and Nunavut Caucus. My question is, what would happen if that kind of a request was made from the Nunavut Caucus?

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to make a statement regarding Remembrance Day, particularly regarding the people of the Northwest Territories. Perhaps there are not too many of us who participated in the last world war, however, we are all part of this special day. I appreciate the fact that they were willing to sacrifice their own lives for the betterment of future generations in Canada.

All the people in Canada appreciate the people brave enough to go to war, leaving their families and friends behind. We also remember that if the Canadians and North Americans had been defeated in World War II, we would not have a democracy like we do today. We would have a severe shortage of housing and food had we lost in the war. We have to keep that in mind and appreciate those people who were willing to sacrifice their lives to save Canada and the rest of the world.

We all know that Inuit people and others are always willing to help people in need, such as when there are food shortages. For instance, the Inuit people have been very generous in helping people who have been starving. In particular, Inuit are recognized as being the biggest givers for those Somalians when they were starving. I would like to recognize the Inuit people and the rest of Canadians for helping each other out during hard times. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, thank you. I asked a line of questioning to the Minister of Renewable Resources during committee of the whole. I said to him that the scientific facts stated that there will need to be at least 6,000 to 8,000 caribou harvested in Southampton Island, otherwise the population is in trouble because there's a danger of over population. The people of Coral Harbour believe that more profit could be had if they could have a processing plant in their community. They also believe that 4,000 head a year would keep such a plant busy. They have been trying to have talks with the Development Corporation on this issue, but the meetings and discussions have not been fruitful to date. Can the Minister explain why, when there appears to be potential for a viable economic opportunity, the Minister is flatly stating that there will be none in Coral Harbour?