Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Finance. Sorry, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
This past summer the Minister and I toured the Sahtu region and we met with the members of the communities of the Sahtu. We heard from the communities in terms of support for the hunters, the trappers, the harvesters on the land and that the high cost of living in the Sahtu is something that is quite a concern for us. More importantly, the high cost of pursuing their traditional activities in terms of eating wild food from the land.
I want to ask the Minister, in these types of discussions we have with our people, what type of support will the Minister look at to support our traditional activities to support our people.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There currently exists a selection of programs that support the traditional activities on the land that are housed in ITI and MACA. As well, one of the things we’re looking at in terms of new support would be through the business planning process coming up. We’re looking at the expansion of the funding program that now assists community hunts.
In terms of one of the programs the Minister talked about, the Community Harvesting Assistance Program to support traditional hunts, I know from the reports I’ve been getting from the Sahtu in the last month that there’s been a huge increase in interest of hunters going out and pursuing this activity with their children and families. As you know, there’s a high number of families with less than $30,000 of income.
I want to ask the Minister, in terms of the high cost of living and the uniqueness of dealing with the situation in the Sahtu, is this type of funding going to be looked at in terms of the high cost of living in areas and allocating dollars to communities that do have higher costs to pursue the harvesting activities.
This I know is an issue of great concern to many of the members of the communities outside of Yellowknife where harvesting and hunting are significant activities. As the Member is aware, discussions have been held in relation to the business plans and Strategic Initiatives committees and work that’s being done. The intent is, having travelled with the Member to the communities in his riding where we heard in almost every community about as we look to live off the land and we look for other opportunities other than may be available through some of the caribou herds that are in decline, the need for assistance. It’s on that basis that we’ve had those discussions and we want to come forward with some options for expanding the funding for the CHAP funding.
Can the Minister inform the House as to when some of these changes could come to light in terms of sharing the CHAP funding program with the communities?
Being part of the business planning process, it has been discussed. It has been built into the main estimates. The House will be gathering for its final major budget session in late January or February, going into March, and that’s when the matter will be decided by the House.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of the outline that the Minister has informed the House, how soon after that discussion will we know if it’s a positive discussion or positive outcome that the communities will know that they will be eligible for some of these support dollars that they desperately need to continue on with the harvesting of their traditional foods?
Mr. Speaker, the business we do in the south is tied to, of course, the fiscal year which ends March 31st and starts April 1st for the new budget. The budget for the House will be passed and approved and we will start the flow April 1, 2011.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
