Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources. Yesterday the Minister came out with a Minister’s statement indicating, or outlining the caribou numbers in the Northwest Territories, and in those numbers there was an indication that the Bluenose caribou herd seems to be rebuilding a little bit, to the point where our number is at about 98,000 caribou. I’m sure the Minister won’t be surprised to hear that when I got to work this morning I had a number of e-mails from outfitters who indicated that there are at least three outfitting organizations located out of Yellowknife who primarily hunt the Bluenose caribou herd. So they’re wondering what processes are in place to talk about giving those outfitters some tags so that they can have a season for 2011. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board came out with their report and recommendations, which we’re responding to, and they were very clear in terms of what they’re recommending in terms of harvesting and who should harvest and how much should be harvested out of the Bathurst. They made a reference as well to the Bluenose-East. So the new numbers, I’m sure, will be considered by the Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board, but at this point, those recommendations are being reviewed and will be responded to by the territorial government, as well as the Tlicho Government, and we’ll have that done by December. So at this juncture, given the processes that we’re involved in and the authorities that are there with the Tlicho Government and their regulatory process, I anticipate this will take some time over the course of this winter.
I thank the Minister for that response. In light of these numbers that have now come out, I think some of these outfitters who can demonstrate that they primarily hunt the Bluenose... I mean, there’s certainly an opportunity here for discussion, and my question was more specific to what is the process that these outfitters who primarily hunt the Bluenose caribou, what’s the process that they can use to go back to the review board, the Wek’eezhii, to see if there are any opportunities for these particular outfitters to get some tags so that we can start to rebuild this industry, which, for all intents and purposes, is now currently dead. Thank you.
We have a process that has just barely run its course and we’re still in the process of reviewing the recommendations from the Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board. The new numbers will be revisited by the board as it’s being revisited by Environment and Natural Resources as well as the Tlicho Government. Whether it will have any impact on any recommendation changes, it’s too early to say. Thank you.
Given the numbers, there certainly appears to be an opportunity here to help this industry and I suppose I could ask the Minister for ITI, but since I’m asking the Minister for ENR I’m wondering if he could tell us if they’d be willing to provide some sort of support to the outfitters who are primarily hunting the Bluenose. This is a lot of money in the Northwest Territories that has disappeared and if these numbers are solid again, why would we not stand behind this industry or help them out?
I think it’s too early to say the worst is over. We have one herd that has shown something of a rebound. The other herds have plummeted and have bottomed out. Some big ones we’re still not sure what happened to them and we’re waiting to see what’s happened with the Porcupine. There has been some stabilization we think because of the measures that have been wisely taken by the co-management boards and the territorial government.
The issue of compensation has been, I believe, asked and answered a number of times by the Minister of ITI. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good response. I’m not sure it was a response to the question that I was asking. The outfitters primarily take very small numbers and they primarily take adult males, which has a smaller impact on the decline. So my question is: Given what the outfitters take, given the money that comes in, can we count on this Cabinet and this Minister to find a way to support this industry and if the Bluenose numbers are solid, as indicated yesterday, why would we not stand behind this industry? Thank you.
What we’re standing behind first and foremost, of course, is the protection of the caribou herds across the Northwest Territories and we’ve had to make very many difficult decisions as we’ve dealt with a significant, often precipitous decline of the herds. So there’s a process. It takes time, as the Member is well aware.
In this part of the country, the Wek’eezhii Board has a very clear, mandated role to play. There’s overlap into the Sahtu with the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board and the co-management boards as well as up into the Inuvialuit, there’s involvement by the Dehcho. Also the herd is used sometimes from the Northwest Territories Metis. So we have a very complex area and there’s been some very clear direction given through a process that has taken a significant amount of time to complete and we have to respond to that. Our current system is clear; the decisions have been made and if they’re going to be revisited, that’s a process that’s going to take some time, keeping in mind that the numbers are, for all intents and purposes, hot off the presses. Is it going to be an ongoing trend or is it just a blip up? I mean, we have to assess all those things before we make any changes and that would have to be done through the full process that we’re all a part of. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
