Michael Miltenberger

That right is there. It’s not for us to change that right. What we want to do is make the right decisions on the conservation side to ensure that future generations have a resource they can hunt in the coming generations for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and on into the future. That is the requirement for the conservation measures that are currently underway in the short term.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, as recently as two nights ago, met with the Yellowknives council over in Dettah. We have had conversations and discussions with Chief Sangris in the interim as well. I have met yesterday with the acting grand chief for the Tlicho about the ban and the other processes that we have underway and the need, of course, to protect the caribou. We recognize that there are some unresolved issues with the Yellowknives. We have discussions underway with them that we are hoping will bear some fruit here in the next day or so. Thank you.

We fully respect and engage in the area of traditional knowledge. In fact, when the caribou work was being done in the Sahtu, the Member’s riding, Colville Lake was given money because they didn’t really believe the government numbers about the decline of the herd and they were given money to in fact replicate and see what their numbers told them. They came back with the same information, that there was a decline. The Member helped negotiate the Sahtu Agreement where the quote I just made about where there are urgent circumstances, the Minister has the authority to intervene if it’s necessary...

I’d like to separate again the two fundamental issues. There’s the short-term issue of the number of months of the ban, which we’re going to sort out here hopefully in the next little while. The longer-range planning within the Tlicho and between the Tlicho and Yellowknives and the Northwest Territories Métis and all the other stakeholders to come up with a harvest management plan is a process that is in fact now underway. The dates have slipped where the Wekeezhii board has not been able to meet its initial targets, but that longer term process is absolutely fundamental to the well-being and...

The reason we’re still having these discussions with the Yellowknives, of course, is because we haven’t come to a final understanding and agreement on the ban. There is work underway, but, no, the Yellowknives did not approve or support the ban when it was initiated.

Thank you. I’ll reiterate my commitment and information that I gave when the Member from Hay River South asked the questions. We have discussions underway. We have agreement with the Northwest Territories Metis. The Tlicho Government has supported our efforts for conservation. We have, and continue to have, dialogue and some clear proposals up for discussion with the Yellowknives and we are committed to hopefully resolving this issue in the not-too-distant future. Thank you.

Thank you. We are not talking about restricting or removing any rights, we are talking about conservation, we’re talking about an accommodation with the aboriginal governments to ensure that their people have access to subsistence harvest. There is agreement by the Tlicho, support by the Tlicho, support by the Metis Nation. We are working on a resolution with the Yellowknives. We are interested in resolving this. The Members in this House now have become legal scholars, well scripted with legal questions from vast talk and smooth-talking lawyers and that’s not our job. If there’s a question...

Mr. Speaker, the reality for us as a territorial government, as Members opposite well know, many of our pieces of legislation, including the Wildlife Act, are very old and need an updating. Our Forestry Act is another act as a case in point. We are not prohibiting subsistence hunting. We are saying yes, the North Slave is a vast area where subsistence hunting is available. In this particular area in the middle, because of the particular herd that winters there, we want to protect that herd because the numbers are low, but there are other opportunities to hunt. We are fully prepared and...

I want to speak first to the issue of, yes, there are some treaty right implications, but the aboriginal right to harvest, as well, includes those of the Metis, and we are very sensitive to those as well. I met with the Yellowknives last night. We’ve had discussions this morning. I met with the Tlicho acting grand chief today along with Minister Lafferty. There are discussions happening this afternoon. There is active work with the Yellowknives and with the Tlicho to make sure that we can keep moving forward, keeping in mind the primary function and focus of the ban and the purpose of the ban...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there’s the short-term need, because of the precipitous drop in numbers, for the ban. The long-term goal, to affect the rights of all aboriginal harvesters especially going forward into the future, is to make the right decisions now to make sure that there are caribou, in fact, available to be harvested and so that aboriginal people can, in fact, exercise that right to harvest. Thank you.