Statements in Debates
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Like I said before, this is hoping to improve services. I mean, we can't predetermine the outcome and condemn it to failure before it has even gotten off the ground, but what I can commit to do to the Member, the Members -- not the Member, the Members -- is provide them an update when we come to our May/June session, because I think we will have a pretty good indication then of how the move is going and an early indication of some of the improvements that are bound to happen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Exactly, Mr. Chair. As we travelled through the Tlicho, listening to elders talk and listening to an 87-year-old elder in the Tlicho saying that he has hunted caribou his whole life, and he always believed that the wolves are a major predator. He told us that they take between 30 to 35 caribou apiece. I mean, I recognize that the Member was referencing a couple of comments that were made by one outside Canada, in Montana, and one in Saskatchewan. I am not sure what their connection to the Northwest Territories is, or if they know where it is on the map, but I would take the word of our elders...
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. We'll be glad to provide it to the Members. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I share the Member's concerns about the Nutrition North program. We are glad that we are able to help many communities with the community assistance program. I think we have helped some communities get some different types of meat in when the caribou are not readily available. That is there. I think we have also helped with the Member's riding in paying for part of a charter last year, or paying for the charter. As far as a long-term agreement, it is application-based, but I think we have demonstrated in the past that we are more than happy to assist the community. I am...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure if we have actually reached out to them. If it is an issue that is concerning the community, then they would have a conversation with our folks there. If they want to have a conversation, we are more than willing to sit down with them. Actually, as to whether we went and called them or not, I am not quite sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's not like we're trying to make work, or anything like that.
---Laughter
Thank you, Mr. Chair. When ENR had identified the Fire Boss and not the potential savings that were going to be realized, it came back to the FMB and asked if it would be able to defer that and they would find other sources of reductions. They did, and we approved that. All the other departments within the GNWT had met their obligations. Because we had asked for a waiver on the Fire Boss potential savings, that is the reason we came up with this.
As we go forward now into the next budget, I think with some evidence we have on the actual cost of operating the Fire Boss, I think the numbers that...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have the Mackenzie Population. I guess that would be by Fort Providence. The Nahanni Population would be in Fort Smith, and then we have the Slave River Lowlands Population. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is it's about $1.2 million for this fiscal year.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I directed the department after we've had some conversations with many of the Aboriginal partners on coming forward with a plan to take some initiative with the caribou issue. Part of that plan, I think, would be travelling to the regions and chatting with the different Aboriginal groups, and getting their input and coming up with a bit of a plan. That's how we want to deal with the caribou issue collaboratively. We've already mentioned the Tlicho, and hats off to the Tlicho. They showed tremendous leadership in trying to deal with the caribou issue. As far as the...