Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks to the Minister for that. Yes, the joint management proposal does reference the range planning exercise and the plan itself, but it doesn't actually contain any of the measures from the plan. The problem seems to be with the plan itself. The plan, which I think is a good one, contains specific recommendations for community guardianship, habitat conservation, mobile caribou conservation measures, road planning and management, and so on, but the problem is that that plan doesn't seem to carry much weight yet.

Can the Minister explain what the status of the range plan is and why almost none...

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on the crisis of the Bathurst caribou herd.

I want to again thank the Minister for taking me along on the community visits. I thought that the community visits were a very good idea. I just wish that they had happened before the submission with the joint proposal, the management proposals for the two herds. I would like the Minister to explain why there was no consultation on the joint management proposals, before they were submitted, with the Tlicho communities, Yellowknives Dene First Nation...

Merci, Monsieur le President. At the invitation of the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, I attended community meetings last month in Wekweeti, Gameti, Behchoko, and Detah on the future of the Bluenose East and Bathurst Caribou herds, and I want to thank sincerely the Minister for that opportunity.

There was a joint Tlicho government-ENR presentation that covered the recent surveys, collars, monitoring programs, harvest controls, wolf harvest incentives, land use, habitat and fire, education, and research.

The main comments and suggestions from participants included:

harvest...

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that commitment. I look forward to an update on the range plan, and if I don't hear back before the end of the sitting, I might ask again, but maybe the Minister won't ever want to drive with me anywhere again.

Seriously, Mr. Speaker, lastly, there doesn't seem to be any new funds identified for the caribou crisis in the budget address earlier today. Can the Minister tell me whether there is any new funding for caribou in the 2019-2020 budget? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that. I can give him my assurance that those joint management proposals were sent in, in some cases, before we met with the communities. They were good meetings. I just wish that they had happened sooner, and I understand there is some urgency with this issue.

I have looked at these joint management proposals, and there doesn't seem to be any specific measures or actions related to habitat protection. There are just some further measures or restrictions on harvesting. I wonder: can the Minister explain why the joint management proposal for the Bathurst caribou...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Chief Edward Sangris of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. And, of course, we are meeting on Chief Drygeese Territory. I have two constituents I would like to recognize, as well; Lyda Fuller, executive director of the YWCA, and Debby Rybchinski, who is the manager of Alison McAteer House. They are both here for meetings with the NWT Shelter Network this week. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to know from the Minister of Finance what the next steps are in terms of negotiations with the unions representing our employees and what sort of assurance he can give us that we are going to reach an agreement. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to then ask the Minister of Finance whether we have received strike notice from UNW on behalf of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation workers and the workers with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to thank the Minister again for confirming that there was no serious consultation. You would think that our government would talk to the Tlicho government before deciding where the learning centre might be located or where a legacy project might be located. That is not the way we should be doing business.

Mr. Speaker, lastly, it appears that this agreement was rushed through without consultation with the Tlicho government, signed at a mining conference down south, and entered into before a new higher bar might be established in the Mineral Resources...

Thanks to the Minister for confirming that this is another one of those unenforceable agreements. I tabled a University of Victoria study in the fall that pointed out how our socio-economic agreements are rather poor, and lots of ways to improve that. I would like the Minister to explain how that review, or any other work that is going on within the department, of our weak socio-economic agreements played into what was negotiated with Fortune Minerals for the NICO Project.