Contrary to what two ministers said in the legislature, the owner of the Yukon's only reindeer farm can't sell the animals right now unless cabinet OKs it.

During question period Wednesday, the government was asked about the situation of Stella and Lloyd Gregory. They own the Northern Splendor Reindeer Farm, off the Shallow Bay road north of Whitehorse.

New Democratic Party Leader Todd Hardy and Liberal Leader Pat Duncan asked the government about the Gregorys' situation. They are threatening to kill their animals because they cannot afford to keep them and are not allowed by territorial laws to sell any of the reindeer to make some money.

But two ministers argued yesterday the Gregorys can export and sell their animals if they want to do so.

First, it was Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang, who is responsible for agriculture, who made this point.

'Nothing has changed since devolution,' he said, referring to the April 2003 transfer of many powers from the federal to the territorial government.

'In fact, there's a process where they can export the animals,' Lang said.

Acting Environment Minister John Edzerza then made a similar statement during question period.

'I would also like to repeat that although the jurisdictional control over reindeer has changed from the federal government to the Yukon government, nothing has stopped the owners from exporting their animals,' said Edzerza.

But that's not what the Department of the Environment has been telling the Gregorys.

In a letter to the Gregorys dated April 20, 2004, Edward Huebert, the deputy minister of the Department of the Environment, wrote that the devolution transfer of natural resource control from Ottawa to the territorial government had affected the ability to sell the reindeer.

He noted that the reindeer are not currently considered game farm animals, which is one way they're being held back.

'The game farm designation would also provide the department with the necessary authority to issue an export permit to allow for movement of your animals, which we otherwise cannot do under the current circumstances,' Huebert said.

Environment spokesman Dennis Senger said today there is a way for the Gregorys to be able to sell some or all of their animals but not under the current laws.

Senger said that prior to devolution, the Gregorys were governed under the old Yukon Act. Under that act, they could get a permit through the federal government. That provision has been removed.

However, when the territorial government was trying to determine what animals were game farm animals, prior to the change in the Yukon Act, the Gregorys opposed reindeer being included on the list, according to Senger.

The way for the Gregorys to be able to sell their animals, said Senger, would be for them to come to the department and say they have a buyer and request an export permit.

Then the department would have to ask the cabinet to pass a directive making reindeer game farm animals. The animals would then be governed by the game farm animal regulations and they could sell some to try to make money, if they can find a buyer.

Senger pointed out it may be hard to find a jurisdiction which will permit the import of these animals, since it is not possible to send animals to B.C., Saskatchewan and Alberta due to concerns over Chronic Wasting Disease.

In his letter, Huebert wrote that this would be a temporary measure, albeit not the Gregorys' preference, but: 'this would permit you to operate your business under the regulatory certainty provided by the game farming regulations, until a more permanent solution can be found.'

However, this cannot happen under the current rules.

Hardy said it appears the ministers do not understand what is actually happening in this situation.

'They're don't know what they're talking about,' said Hardy.

He said Lang is not recognizing that these animals are not currently considered game farm animals.