Michael Miltenberger

Thebacha

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

I am very aware of my authorities as Environment Minister, and I have in fact used them in the not-too-distant past. The steps are being taken to deal with this issue. All the people of the Northwest Territories, all the governments of the Northwest Territories share a concern about the caribou and the need to make hard decisions, and it’s time not to worry about anything else but who speaks for the caribou or who speaks for the continuation of the herds. That’s going to be the people in this room; it’s going to be the Aboriginal governments and the leaders when we gather to make those hard...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

Thank you. Once again, I appreciate the Member’s concern, and I can assure the Member that the intent here is by the very first part of November before the winter hunt really takes effect that we will have decisions made that will protect the caribou. There is a process for us to follow. This is a very complex area. We have the Yellowknives, we have the Northwest Territories Metis, we have Akaitcho, we have Tlicho, we have the Sahtu, we have the Inuvialuit as well as the territorial government and interest in the Northwest Territories Metis plus all the other southern and the Deh Cho, all that...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

Thank you. We will ensure that we continue to touch all the appropriate bases as we provide the finished management plan to the Member as promised.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “2013-2014 60th Annual Report, Northwest Territories Liquor Licensing Board and Liquor Enforcement” and “2013-2014 60th Annual Report, Northwest Territories Liquor Commission.” Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

That is an option that we have used in other locales and we are definitely looking at that. We’re looking at the possibility of finding somebody with a tag that would be prepared to harvest one of the animals that are nuisance animals or, failing that, we would look at doing such an emergency cull on our own. So we are actively looking at that.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

We haven’t touched the price of fuel, motive or non-motive. We haven’t touched those for years, as I’ve indicated. The concern is the impact on the cost of living where we already have the highest cost of living and highest cost of goods and services in many cases in the country.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have some of the lowest gas taxes in the country and we, as well, don’t charge for non-motive fuel. Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, of course, would be interested to talk to the Member more about his thoughts on that. We have co-management boards we’d want to talk to and other involved stakeholders. So, of course, we’d have to look at the financial implications, but we could talk further with the Member about it. Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

There has been some activity in terms of working to acquire lease land near the community of Norman Wells to put in a waste treatment site in anticipation of the need that may come with oil and gas development. It is a very big issue. The idea of having a proper waste treatment facility would be a great asset to the Sahtu and to the Northwest Territories. Most jurisdictions now are not very receptive to having wastewater and other substances imported into their jurisdictions for treatment, so there have been some initial discussions. It’s something I know that industry is interested in as well...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 41)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have the responsibility and the capacity. Coming out of the Water Strategy that took four years to do, there were two major issues. One was get the transboundary agreements done with Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Yukon, and the other one was to come up with some good water monitoring, community-based water monitoring so we could do the work at the community level, work with the communities, which we’ve done, incorporated traditional knowledge, which we have done, to set up a community-based water monitoring system that would allow us to take the...