Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The seeds that are used to grow the trees that are brought into the Northwest Territories come from the area in which they are to be planted. For example, in the Fort Liard area, in the reforestation program they are working on, the seeds come from the north. The only thing is, they are brought to the south where it is believed that they grow at a much faster rate and are much healthier than if they were grown here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I don't have the details about the particular question the Member is asking me. But, again, I would venture to respond by saying that the reforestation program that is run by the department is run through a nursery in southern Canada, where the seeds from the area where the trees will be grown are taken from that area, and brought to the south where they are able to grow at a much faster rate than they would in the Northwest Territories.

This is what our specialists contend, that by growing the tree seedlings in the south, they are able to produce the trees much faster and healthier than they could in the Northwest Territories. They are brought back to the same area where the seeds were taken from. That is probably the closest I can come to answering the question at this point, without details on hand. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Madam Speaker, not that I'm aware of. A person who may decide that they want to grow trees in the Northwest Territories for the purpose of selling them as Christmas trees, to my knowledge are able to. There is no regulation which restricts them from doing so. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In the absence of an agriculture policy, the Department of Renewable Resources falls back onto its forest management policy which we, as a department, abide by. Using that policy, there is no impediment to entrepreneurs who may want to commercialize Christmas trees in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. To my knowledge, it is the responsibility of this government for the management of trees in the Northwest Territories. As long as they are in the Northwest Territories they are within the Government of the Northwest Territories' jurisdiction. Thank you.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. The question from the honourable Member, Mr. Pudlat...This is not the responsibility of Renewable Resources. It is the responsibility of the federal government. The question he is asking, I will take as notice and ask the federal government to respond to it, then I will respond to the honourable Member. Thank you.

(Translation) Currently there is a progress report being drafted. Once I receive that, I will hand them over to the Member for Baffin South and he will get to see those papers. I will give him further information on what is happening within the 1995 year. I will keep him updated as I get information on the progress. I will extend that information to other interested MLAs as well.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. The question posed by the Member for Baffin South is something that we, as a government, are trying to keep focusing on. In Quebec, people are working on reviewing the possible ways of improving what would be done. They were going to make a press release October 31st to the people who would be effected in the communities. They were going to visit the communities to do some consultations with those communities beginning in 1995. I think they will be ready to start soon. At this time, whether it has actually begun, I am not sure. There would have been a press release issued but, as of this date, I don't have anything in writing for the beginning of those consultations.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to point out to the honourable Members of the House, the November 7th issue of News/North which has no less than five large photographs of the carvers from Baker Lake. Baker Lake has always been renowned for the creativity and skill of its artisans. When the artists started in the early 1960s, most of the Inuit in the area were still living on the land. A couple by the name of Jack and Sheila Butler, moved up to Baker Lake from London, Ontario. They worked with a number of Inuit who were creators of their own design; a people who are masters of their own crafts, with the abilities to building their own mobility, their homes, their own unique style of living in a harsh environment.

In this group was a person with the ability to carve and to be able to work with some of the carvers. He has had the opportunity to exhibit his skills in places such as the United States, Japan and many times over within Canada. A gentleman by the name of Paul Toolooktook was just that person who, in the last year, was able to bring carvers together and form the Ujaraqtatit Society. As the president of the society, he has been active in Baker Lake to acquire soapstone for the carvers and other such activities.

He recently succeeded in bringing a carver, one Mr. Iyaituk, for a two-week development workshop in Baker Lake. This workshop provided instruction on carving techniques with power tools. A number of the 19 course participants were first-time carvers. Workshops like this are invaluable in ensuring that the art making skills of Inuit are passed on to the next generation.

My congratulations and thanks to the sponsors of this workshop; the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Keewatin division, First Air and Air Inuit, who had the foresight to encourage the artisans of Baker Lake and I would like to add my own words of encouragement for the 19 carvers, who invested two weeks in improving their considerable artistic skills. Thank you, Madam Speaker.