Mr. Speaker, I’ve been listening, with interest, to the responses from the Minister of ENR. I want to ask the Minister of ENR in regard to the Bathurst Inlet caribou population, which was 120,000 in 2006. The Minister indicated that in 2009 the population dropped to 30,000, so 90,000 caribou disappeared somewhere. I want to ask the Minister regarding his consultation on the ban in this specific area. Is the Minister willing to look at possibly the ban in terms of giving the aboriginal hunters a percentage of caribou in that area, maybe a half percent or 1 percent in terms of providing that to the aboriginal hunters?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They say at night when it’s dark and cold outside and the stars are glittering like diamonds in the sky and you’re away from the communities, if you listen closely to the wind and the whispers of the wind you’ll hear the caribou asking us for our help, reminding us for centuries that they have helped provide life and subsistence to the people of the North. Now they are in a time of need and they’re asking us not to forget all that they have done for us over those very many centuries. Our job is to now come to the aid of the caribou in this, their time of need, to avoid the destruction of this particular herd because of various, very many causes. The numbers are so low, Mr. Speaker, that right now biologists and all the folks that do this indicate that any further taking of this herd or diminishment of this herd could imperil its very existence. We have to be there for the caribou. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the lifting of a small percentage of the caribou, I believe that because the issue here is it’s so large and so huge to the people in the Mackenzie Valley here, it would divert a political volcano, I guess, in terms of the issue of aboriginal rights, conservation, who’s right, who’s going to win. It’s going to impact long-term relationships with the aboriginal people. I want to again ask the Minister if he would consider a small percentage of the total amount of herd, as we’ve done in the Sahtu, at least look at this issue in terms of the bigger picture, in terms of relationship building with aboriginal people and having some consideration to look at this.
Mr. Speaker, who has to survive is the caribou. The big picture is the caribou. That has to be the big picture. When you talk to every co-management board and every aboriginal government, the issue is the caribou. Back in 2007, even the Dene Nation said the Dene Nation leadership has identified the decline in caribou stocks as a crisis situation, a top priority to be addressed by all the nations within Denendeh to preserve caribou for future generations. That is the big picture. That is the issue. We are working hard to do that. We are very willing to come up with ways to accommodate the impact on hunting rights. There are other options, but we have to focus on why we are doing this. It’s to protect this Bathurst herd whose numbers have dwindled very, very precariously. Thank you.
In my discussions with the elders -- and I’ve had a few discussions with them, Mr. Speaker -- the elders say the animals on this land are there for us to survive as human beings. I believe if the Minister wants to quote more traditional knowledge, I think it needs to go to the people, to the real hunters, the real people who use caribou, people like Colville Lake, people in Deline who say this is not right. Why are our calves being born two weeks late? Something is wrong. Again, people who know this, it’s not the government. So I’ll ask the Minister again, in terms of the ban here, the people know what’s right. I believe that this government is going to be in a lot of trouble if they continue on with the attitude of ignoring what the people are saying. Will the Minister again consider lifting the ban to the aboriginal hunters, a small percentage, not everything, the aboriginal hunters so they can practice their hunting and their way of life as they were given by the Creator of this land?
We are very aware of our priorities and what is important. It’s the caribou. We know very clearly what the numbers tell us. The Member knows that. We have done a full documentation. We’ve laid out all the work we have. We’ve worked collaboratively with all the co-management boards across the land including in this part of the country. We’ve involved communities and hunters when we’ve done our counts and census. The issues tell us that the caribou here are in trouble. This Bathurst herd is rocketing its way to extinction unless we take some interim emergency measures to get us through this hunting season to allow that broader process to engage fully the Wekeezhii board, the Metis and all the other appropriate stakeholders to help with a longer term management plan. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If that’s the case, the aboriginal people would have agreed. Why is it that when I call my leadership in the Sahtu, they say this is not right, this is wrong. The Wekeezhii board has to make a decision and it has not yet made a decision. The government, in its wisdom, jumped the gun. Mr. Speaker, was there an agreement to say, yes, we’ll come back? Is that part of the consultation? Sometimes I hear consultation in terms of this is what you shall do and that is it. Was there an agreement in terms of putting a ban here and waiting for people? You should really come to the communities and talk to the elders. Why are the elders saying I would like to come and talk to the government as to what they are doing with this issue?
Let me restate the two separate issues: the broader issue of the long-term management plan for the Bathurst that’s going to flow the Wekeezhii process tied in with working with the Akaitcho, the Yellowknives and the Northwest Territories Metis.
The process was supposed to flow to certain deadlines. Those deadlines slipped. We had a situation where it was clearly identified that this herd is in very dire straits. Because that process had slipped, there was a gap. There was going to be full hunting going to happen this winter when the herd cannot survive further hunting at this point requiring interim emergency measures tied to the completion of the Wekeezhii process. We are committed to that. We have to remember the caribou are asking for our help. The numbers tell us they are in trouble. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
