Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know that there is a strong concern from small community MLAs, for example, about employment. We need to look at ways to assist small communities with employment. I think -- and I have had discussions with the Member for Tu Nedhe about some of the possibilities with just using existing resources -- the intention is not to centralize back to Yellowknife; the intention is to look at efficiencies. We have had discussions and a lot of work done, for example, on how many boards and agencies we have. We know that there is an opportunity coming with devolution that there is...

The office building was discussed fully. There was extensive work done. It went on for, actually, a number of years doing all the market analysis. The other work of the Program Review Committee: there were briefings on the work done and the issues raised and the complexity of some of the issues. Some of the other ones had to do with adult education and how it’s funded, how it could be improved, and once again my recollection was that there was no appetite to proceed with anything of that nature that would be controversial and require possible adjustments or changes or cuts. So the work is...

The Member is making a very strong assertion here that this is a biased piece of legislation that only represents half the people of the Northwest Territories. That’s categorically and unequivocally false. It’s egregious that he would even mention that in this Assembly. I’m surprised that the Member would stoop to such rhetoric on a bill of this importance.

The reality is, we did not just sit there and think, let me see, one year, there’s a good idea. We went from every community. We even talked to hundreds of people, groups across the land. This is the working group with all the Aboriginal...

We’re going to be briefing committee and we’ll provide you with the very many pages of all the groups that were consulted, all the individual feedback we received, public from all corners of the Northwest Territories. There has been full and adequate consultation. This is the most consulted on bill, in my memory as a legislator here for 15 and a half years. We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, thousands of hours of time and we’ve gone to every community and we’ve asked for feedback, and there have been substantive changes. The Member should know this. You’re not going to do 54...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that I will deliver the budget address on Thursday, February 3, 2011. Thank you.

I’ll get back to the point of the Member based on attendance at one meeting, one comment, and he’s prepared to negate years of work, thousands of hours of investment and it’s unfortunate. I’ll give him one example of the issue that’s in there that I know has been an issue. That’s been the residency requirement to go hunting. It used to be I think it was four years, they’ve cut it down to two. Now, there have been a lot of concerns raised and the draft that’s going to be coming forward is going to indicate that we’re proposing one year. That’s a significant issue and there’s been huge debate on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Wildlife Act was identified by this Assembly and by this Cabinet and government as one of the big pieces of legislation they wanted to see done after a process of some 10 years or so of work. We, as well, developed a unique approach with Aboriginal governments towards drafting this legislation where we had lawyers, working group members from the Aboriginal governments, as well as GNWT staff and lawyers working, and they’ve been working and put in thousands of hours over the last couple of years. They’ve gone to every community. They have come up with a process that...

The issue of biodiversity and loss of species is a big global issue. I will indicate that, yes, when I stand up to speak to the content of the process and the strategy and the questions that we’re asking and the points that we’d like to be considered, that type of detail will be there to set the stage and the context and try to map out how we move forward. We’ve taken a tack and a path as a government that’s allowed us to do a whole host of things. We’re now turning our attention to how do we do that not only for the government but as a Territory. There are many things in place. We’ve invested...

What we’re standing behind first and foremost, of course, is the protection of the caribou herds across the Northwest Territories and we’ve had to make very many difficult decisions as we’ve dealt with a significant, often precipitous decline of the herds. So there’s a process. It takes time, as the Member is well aware.

In this part of the country, the Wek’eezhii Board has a very clear, mandated role to play. There’s overlap into the Sahtu with the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board and the co-management boards as well as up into the Inuvialuit, there’s involvement by the Dehcho. Also the herd is...

We have a process that has just barely run its course and we’re still in the process of reviewing the recommendations from the Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board. The new numbers will be revisited by the board as it’s being revisited by Environment and Natural Resources as well as the Tlicho Government. Whether it will have any impact on any recommendation changes, it’s too early to say. Thank you.