Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee that plays a very lead role in terms of bringing together all the resources and planning functions that relate to that. Tied into that, in an advisory capacity of course, we have the Climate Change Committee. There are tie-ins with other work that’s being done in terms of electrical rate reviews and those types of things. We’ve also committed to the broad government approach to redo our Greenhouse Gas Strategy, but the central focus for government here in this Assembly has been the Ministerial Energy Coordinating...

We have heard that concern from some elders, but we also know that if you take the long view that it is actually out of respect, that we’re doing this to try to get the best understanding possible about the caribou, which covers vast tracks of land and moving as only caribou know how they’re going to move, so that we can have the information to make the most informed decision both as co-management boards and as the territorial government. We do it very carefully. We do it with as much involvement of the local aboriginal governments and co-management boards as possible, recognizing that there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The elders, aboriginal governments, aboriginal leaders, all Northerners have told us that caribou are of critical importance. I quoted part of a motion that was made in the Dene Assembly in 2007 that exemplifies and gives voice to that concern through our traditional knowledge process. I can point to some very specific things we have done. For example, on the Water Strategy we have done it with an aboriginal oversight committee. We have worked with all the communities up and down the valley. We have held workshops with our Species at Risk Act. We’ve worked very closely...

We’ve enhanced the coverage with the officers around Yellowknife. As well, they’re working in Behchoko with staff. We’ve also taken on some part-time seasonal staff to assist the officers that are currently on the job.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We recognize very clearly that this is a politically complex part of the country with Tlicho with settled claims, and the Yellowknives Tlicho with unsettled claims, along with the Northwest Territories Metis, the largest population centre, the most heavily drawn upon herd in the Northwest Territories. We recognize that this whole process we are engaged in the longer term process for our Caribou Management Plan is going to require whole involvement of all the aboriginal governments. We are committed to doing that. When we looked at the ban, we looked at the caribou...

Mr. Speaker, We have a number of… You can look at departmental strategic plans. You can look at the business plan. You can look at the Energy Plan that is in place along with the Greenhouse Gas Strategy, both of which are in the process of being updated to reflect the changes over the last number of years. We have, of course, the work that we’ve pulled together and offered to committee in terms of briefings on the ongoing work of the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee. Thank you.

Let me restate the two separate issues: the broader issue of the long-term management plan for the Bathurst that’s going to flow the Wekeezhii process tied in with working with the Akaitcho, the Yellowknives and the Northwest Territories Metis.

The process was supposed to flow to certain deadlines. Those deadlines slipped. We had a situation where it was clearly identified that this herd is in very dire straits. Because that process had slipped, there was a gap. There was going to be full hunting going to happen this winter when the herd cannot survive further hunting at this point requiring...

Mr. Speaker, who has to survive is the caribou. The big picture is the caribou. That has to be the big picture. When you talk to every co-management board and every aboriginal government, the issue is the caribou. Back in 2007, even the Dene Nation said the Dene Nation leadership has identified the decline in caribou stocks as a crisis situation, a top priority to be addressed by all the nations within Denendeh to preserve caribou for future generations. That is the big picture. That is the issue. We are working hard to do that. We are very willing to come up with ways to accommodate the...

I seriously consider everything the Member says. I know his heart is in the right place, his intentions are honourable and pure. Sometimes we have to look at the process, though, and how do we get to where we want to be, which is to protect the herd until these other longer term processes kick into gear. We are, I would suggest to you, probably one of the most consultative governments in this Dominion of Canada.

There are two distinct issues. There’s the issue of the longer term plan for the Bathurst herd as well as the related Ahiak and Bluenose-East herds. It’s going to take time and it’s going to require a considerable amount of work with the affected aboriginal governments and the territorial government and other stakeholders.

The other big most immediate issue is right now, at present, there are no conditions that would allow protection of the Bathurst herd, whose numbers have gone precipitously down from 120,000 to 30,000 animals. Without action that has been taken, there is a very significant...