Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I always appreciate the Member's questions on the caribou, because it gives us an opportunity to speak of our dedication to the preservation of the caribou across the Northwest Territories, because they are very important to our existence. We have to do what we can to protect them.

Having said that, I did say that we met with the Nunavut Minister. I appreciate their dedication to the preservation of the caribou herds across the north, because they are very important to their people as well. We did ask our officials to initiate some technical discussions on the proposed...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I totally agree with you. Alberta is a different jurisdiction than ours. We have been doing the work on our particular one. To say that, giving the heads-up on the motion, I have been discussing it with committee, and I think that we did ask committee if they would be willing to move the motion to change the implementation date as we went through clause-by-clause. I take issue with the fact the Member keeps saying that these things are being sprung on us in surprise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We will have to have those discussions with our co-management partners, because, as we know, a number of years ago, they implemented the grizzly bear tags because there was a lot of hunting of grizzly bears, but it seems like it has done what it is supposed to do and brought the population back up. We will have to have those discussions with our co-management partners to see if they would be receptive to maybe increasing the amount of tags. We will have those discussions and see where that takes us.

September 1st, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I share the Member's concern with the number of grizzly bears that are in the community of Aklavik. We continue, obviously, to respond to bear reports. My understanding is that we have destroyed three grizzly bears in Aklavik due to public safety concerns. Our local renewable resource officer is on-call, and an additional renewable resource officer will be travelling to Aklavik to assist with monitoring the bear situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When ENR reads the proposed clauses together as worded, the clauses would require the Minister or the deputy head to apply the criteria provided in the motion when considering all decisions the GNWT makes. This would include large decisions as well as minor decisions. If on the basis of the criteria it is deemed that the decision would significantly affect the environment, the Minister would then have to consider the statement of environmental values. For example, prior to making any decision, including every meeting requiring duty travel or every purchase of paper, the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe that the next Assembly decided that this was something that they wanted to have a look at this; maybe towards middle to the end of the Assembly, then it is a decision that they would make. As the Member pointed out before, this has been around since 1990, I think he said. Last time it may have been used was 1991, been used four times. I think we have strengthened the bill a bit. We don't know how many more times it may be used because of some of the additions. The next Assembly, when they come in, they can make a determination if they want to have another look...

Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to recognize in the gallery a candidate in the upcoming election for Inuvik Twin Lakes, and also a constituent of Inuvik Twin Lakes. I'd like to welcome Lesa Semmler to the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Environmental Rights Act, there would be a lot of technical talk that is in there. I think we would owe it to the general public to prepare a plain-language summary as to some of the contents of the Environmental Rights Act. It would be very technical, so we would work to prepare a plain language summary. Thank you, Mr. Chair.