Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow along with my Member’s statement today, which is my concern about the caribou issue in context of the relationship with the aboriginal peoples of the Northwest Territories.
In my Member’s statement I called for the Minister to show some immediate leadership to this issue, such as working together in a partnership context by calling a caribou summit. This would well be under the authority of the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources to call upon the Dene leadership, as well as the Wekeezhii board chair to get them there, and anyone else who would have a definite interest in this issue.
Would the Minister be willing to take that under advisement and perhaps maybe even some serious consideration that we can do something in a timely way, recognizing that the Wekeezhii board is not going to make some type of decision on this issue for at least three, four, possibly even five months from now?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First I’d like to point out that the government and the co-management boards and the aboriginal governments across the Northwest Territories have been showing leadership in this issue of declining caribou herds for quite a few years now. We were just in the Yukon, meeting with the various principals to look at the Porcupine herd, for example. They have been hard at work on a quota through co-management process and it’s been working with the Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Sahtu. The Tlicho is not putting themselves into position to do that as well.
The Caribou Summit, as the Member has pointed out, was held in Inuvik and was very successful, but expensive. It was about a half million dollar exercise. What we recognize first is there’s a need. We have committed already to start working to bring the co-management chairs in with some delegates to look at the very many overlapping issues that are now before us in almost every herd that is now in the Northwest Territories in a state of decline.
The issue at hand here is that an emergency caribou summit should take place not just with the co-management but also with the affected Dene leadership and groups. That is the issue at hand. I’m not suggesting making the Caribou Summit, which I had the good fortune of attending three years ago, but ultimately the issue is let’s get people here immediately working together on a common solution or path. Would the Minister show some guidance to this issue of saying, I’ll do that right away and we’ll get on that right away and we’ll work together with these groups?
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, real chance that within a year or two with the hunting remaining unchanged, that the herd would disappear. We’re committed in the longer term to pull together the appropriate folks and appropriate venue to do that longer term planning. In the meantime we have to offer the herd protection until the Wekeezhii process is finished.
I appreciate being schooled in the long-term vision, but the reality is the short-term vision seems to be very nearsighted. The issue here is partnership trust. It’s a relationship that needs to be fostered continually. Therefore, I continue to ask the Minister quite clearly, could we pull a small group of the aboriginal leadership together? Could we work together with the chair of the management board and out of that could follow perhaps a positive direction on the short term, as we all know that the decision is going to be at least three, four, or five months away? How much more destruction on the relationships are we going to continue?
The issue is, when the Member speaks of destruction, making sure that we avoid the destruction of the Bathurst herd, we have, I believe, a very strong working relationship with the aboriginal governments and co-management boards across the land. We’ve successfully done a Water Strategy, we’ve collaboratively drafted and put in legislation the Species at Risk Act, and we’re doing the same with the Wildlife Act; very progressive and unique processes fully engaging the aboriginal governments. The Premier is engaged in a process with the regional leaders on a regular basis to bring them to the table. This issue in the North Slave, there is support from a whole host of areas. The Tlicho Government has supported us in our efforts, the Northwest Territories Metis has, most of the other folks have as well, the Northwest Territories North Slave Metis up here. So we have some issues to work out with the Yellowknives and we’re intent on doing that, but let’s keep this thing in perspective. We want to avoid the destruction of the Bathurst herd by making the right decisions.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The long-term vision won’t change with anyone. Everyone wants the caribou herd to survive. Everyone wants the caribou to be around forever. The decision may not change, but the fact is they would be party to the decision. They would be involved into the discussion of the decision and they would also feel responsible because they would be part of the outcome. That’s the type of discussion I’m talking about. I’m talking about getting rid of southern style of consultation by making sure that everyone’s involved in the outcome. That’s why I’m asking for an immediate caribou summit with the leadership. Would the Minister reconsider this?
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.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
