Shane Thompson

I'd like to thank the Member for bringing these up. It's important, and he keeps us on our toes, and I appreciate that. I thank him for these questions here today. The Tlicho Government and the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board are currently working together to develop an adaptive management framework for the Bathurst herd. The Barren-land Caribou Technical Working Group has prepared a draft framework. This framework will help us make decisions by all co-management partners on the Bathurst caribou herd management, including habitat protection. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The government is currently working with our co-management partners to identify high-priority habitats through traditional knowledge workshops with elders and land users. As well, once areas are identified, the government will work with our partners to identify appropriate ways for protection.

This is exactly some of the things we're looking at. We are willing to work with committee. We're trying to understand how we can best serve the people of the Northwest Territories. Right now, I've asked the chair and the board to come up with a governance model to give us some options, and we're willing to work with committee on this as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

What happened was we had a board, we needed to appoint a number of people so the board could continue, so we did that. In the meantime, deputy ministers, we're using their skill set to run it. They are actually not deputy ministers sitting on the board. They are actually regular people in there working together with the government, with the Power Corporation. The biggest challenge is that we need to look at making a right decision and how we can improve it. Right now, we have to get the board up and running, so we appointed deputy ministers in that role.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two individuals here; first, my CA, Deborah Richards. She is back, and I am very thankful for having her back here. As well, Father Daley, who has now moved to Yellowknife, but he was our priest in Fort Simpson. Thank you and welcome here.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 7-19(1), Bison Management Plan." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Alberta-NWT bilateral water management agreement was signed in March 2015. This agreement makes a clear commitment that Alberta will maintain the health of the aquatic ecological system of our shared waters, which include water quality, quantity and biology of the Slave River. Upstream monitoring by Alberta and the federal government provides the GNWT with an early warning of changes and an opportunity to mitigate effects before they are realized at the border. The GNWT monitors water quality and the biological indicators at the Alberta territorial border and has developed a system of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The environmental assessment for Teck Frontier began in January 2012. The government did not make a submission to the Environmental Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. At the time of the environmental assessment, the GNWT was actively negotiating with the Government of Alberta towards a bilateral water management agreement. The Alberta-NWT bilateral water management agreement addresses concerns related to upstream development and was signed in March 2015. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The government works closely with the Government of Nunavut and our co-management partners in the management of the Bathurst herd. The two governments signed an MOU to work together on caribou research, monitoring, and management of shared barren-ground caribou herds in 2017, and we presently are working to update that MOU. ENR has committed to provide the committee with a briefing on caribou management, which will include an update on our relationship with Nunavut on caribou.

Lands has not been in any discussion presently. There may be some conversations at a regional level. Right now, we haven't seen anything at headquarters.