Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I rise today to raise a number of points and concerns I have about the whole issue of custom adoption. Madam Speaker, I feel that over the last 20 years, the entire concept of custom adoption has changed. Natives all across Canada have lost sight of the traditional reasons for the practice of custom adoption. Custom adoption, in the past, was for survival as a people. Children were adopted to ensure that they would live and grow strong. When people couldn't look after their children or they had too many children to feed or a parent died, the practice of custom adoption existed as an option for the well being of the children.

Madam Speaker, I feel that custom adoption is a collective right and not an individual one. When I say this, I mean that the practice of custom adoption has become a matter of convenience for a lot of people. It has become a way, in some cases, for people to circumvent taking responsibility for their actions. Teen pregnancies and unwed mothers are a fact of life in the Northwest Territories and, indeed, the rest of Canada. Where are the fathers of these children? Why do they not take responsibilities? I know why, Madam Speaker, it is because they know that someone in the family will take the child. I know of grandparents who believe in the traditional custom, living on a fixed income, who adopt their grandchildren's children. They might be fine when a child is an infant, when they are small and do not require as much room. But, Madam Speaker, children grow. They need room and invariably people age. The grandparents can keep up to an infant or toddler, but cannot keep up with a 10 year old.

I also have concerns, Madam Speaker, that when these children reach their teens that they sometimes end up being the prime care givers to their aging adoptive parents. This, I fear, is not...(Microphone turned off)...upon any teenagers.

Madam Speaker, I would like to get unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Before we conclude this department, I still think there isn't enough. If I come back after the next election...I'm just kidding. I hope this budget goes up. I'm telling the Finance Minister and the Executive Council that there is practically nothing there for the communities with regard to the allocation of capital in the area of renewable resources. I think it is a major concern and I'm sure the Minister of Justice appreciates that he is getting out of the appropriation. He is laughing right now, but I would hope that this department doesn't see any further reductions. If anything, this area should increase. It is a major program that the aboriginal people rely on and I don't see anything here that is going to make the aboriginal people any happier. Thank you.

Was the Kitikmeot the last region to get this equipment or do the rest of the regions have them already?

---Laughter

We just finished talking about commercial and now I would like to ask what is this plotter/printer, Coppermine?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I thought people do hunting and trapping for one reason and that is to make money on the furs that they harvest. There is commercialism in that area. Can you still say that there is nothing commercial about hunting and trapping? Fishing is the same thing. I don't know why it is separated, I am just saying it is kind of ironic that something that should be in the Renewable Resource area is in the wrong area. The Minister is trying to justify it, but I am saying it shouldn't be.

To add to Mr. Arvaluk's comment regarding this whole business, what is the difference between allocating a capital project that is commercial and one that isn't commercial? Is there a difference that makes it an economic capital allocation as opposed to a Renewable Resource allocation?

Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister whether or not he's aware of the name changes of some of these communities and why Lac La Martre wasn't changed to Wha Ti.

It is funny the Minister should mention the whole business of an act of God. This year we hardly had any rain, Mr. Chairman. We hardly had any thunderstorms. I am not saying those fires were started deliberately, but I certainly don't have any other conclusions. Mr. Chairman, could the Minister give me the details on the allocations going to hunters and trappers in each community and the amount that is capital. The Minister did say there were dollars there for compensation and assistance.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just finished telling the Minister that about three years ago, the Department of Renewable Resources had people going into communities talking with them with regard to the issue of firefighting. At the meeting in Fort Smith, we specifically identified the need to have fire towers established in about five areas. I have mentioned the Horne Plateau, Sibbeston Mountain, Redknife Mountain and there were others close to Wrigley that we were looking at to ensure that there is provision by having those towers there and less spent on aircraft. That was the encouragement we thought we had put across to the department. It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, that in the region of the western Arctic fire is a big issue. This year was pretty bad, but we don't see it. We don't even see it reflected in the budget.

I am also suggesting that as far as the priorities of the government: the land; environment; animals; and, the people that depend on them, it isn't a priority. I appreciate the Minister suggesting that they are going to be going out and consulting again, but we have already done that once. Most of the older generation who fought fires before say that it is not a question about when you go out. They say if there is a fire, you go out now and solve your problems right there.

Most of the time what happens now is there is so much red tape and bureaucracy that you can't even determine whose jurisdiction fires are in. I know because I was in Lutsel K'e this summer and there were problems between who should be fighting the fire about 20 miles from Lutsel K'e. Yellowknife said it is their fire. It is this business of mine and yours that causes everything to get out of control.

I really have a concern here, Mr. Chairman, and I am expressing it. I don't know how much stronger I should be expressing it to make the government see that this is not a small issue. There just isn't enough money there to address what should be a priority of this government.