Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for Minister Miltenberger and it’s about caribou. Recent ENR surveys indicate that most caribou populations in the Northwest Territories continue to plummet. One vivid comparison states that if the population of the Bathurst herd was compared to the population of Yellowknife, the Yellowknife population would now be smaller than Deline or Fort Resolution. This is disastrous with human and ecological impacts. We know what the numbers are, but what are the causes? We’ve had severe restrictions on harvesting caribou for several years now, with the last two years in almost complete moratorium on Bathurst and Bluenose-East herds.
What has the Minister learned about the effect of hunting on the caribou populations and whether he feels that the hunting restrictions have had a measurable and positive effect? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Miltenberger.
What we have learned as part of the decline in 1986, 460,000 animals, down to today about 15,000 for the Bathurst, during the prime hunting times a number of years ago, about 15,000 animals, mainly cows, were taken out of the herd. What we have learned since then – as the Member has indicated, no hunting for the last probably four or five years now – is that there are other contributing factors. They all combine together. There are access roads, cumulative impact, rising temperatures and things like in the last two years we’ve burnt four million hectares of forest.
With the pressures on the herd, the stressors, it takes a long time to turn around a decline that precipitous and we are still struggling with every herd in the Northwest Territories with probably the exception of the two to the east and the west, the Porcupine and the Beverly Ahiak. It is one of many factors. There are others like predation, climate change, as I indicated, and those other types of things, but there is still a need to control the harvest because, as the Member has indicated, the population drop has been precipitous. Thank you.
I appreciate the response. I didn’t hear, really, whether the Minister feels the hunting restriction has had a measurable effect, but one area that has been suggested and the Minister mentioned as a stressor on the caribou population is industrial development.
I am wondering what research is government doing into the effect of the impact of increased industrial development on the caribou and what actions are being undertaken to ensure the recovery with respect to those factors. Mahsi.
That issue came up during the Jay pipe hearings. The issue of cumulative impact was a directly contributable effect in terms of fatalities on a regular basis. It’s one that has not been clearly defined. There have been changes made as issues have been raised in terms of the road access, how the road is used, how the traffic flows, the ability of the herd to cross the road. So, there is continuing work as we look at that particular issue. Thank you.
…(inaudible)…what is this government doing on its own or with its partners to address or at least understand these factors so we can then address them? What research has been or is being done by this government or our partners on the role that our changing climate is playing in the decline of our caribou herds? Mahsi.
This is an issue that has been raised as one of concern as well. For example, the chiefs in the Tlicho region where we were visiting and having our regular meetings with the chiefs about the need to gather around the table and take a broader look, hunting is not the only issue. There are things that we have to better understand as a government, a territory and a Legislature. We’ve made significant investment to try to reduce our carbon footprint to switch off of fossil fuels, to get more involved in provision of renewable energies all in an attempt to mitigate what is now known to be a clear factor that is driving up the temperature. At the same time, we are struggling to adapt. There is work going on in many quarters on that particular issue and that is, indeed, one that is very complex. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I’ve heard the expression that work is going on. I have been asking, what work? But given that there is work going on and I’ve heard the Minister on the radio about the situation in Nunavut relative to harvesting and even commercial harvesting, given all these things, what does the Minister see, given our current, recent and continuing declines? What are the current priority management actions that are required and when will we be putting these into place to ensure the return of these critical populations? Mahsi.
The final harvest decisions on an interim basis will be done before the middle of October. We are in discussions now with all the impacted and affected Aboriginal governments, programs and boards, our Department of ENR. So that will be done.
In the longer term, we are hoping to get the Bluenose-East Management Plan up and running finally. I believe now that the conditions are right, where we can get the attention and interest of all affected parties to gather around the table to work on an ongoing, longer-term plan on the Bathurst herd, which is in the most dire straits. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
