Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Madam Chair. It gives me great pleasure to have the motions before us. I just want to remind committee and, of course, the general public, these are a bunch of motions we had read into the official record when we had read the report yesterday. With that, I wanted to thank the Members publicly for their assistance in doing that.

At this point, I’d like to get straight to the committee motions that are on the official report.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to first thank the Minister for that lavish praise and, of course, if he wishes to further gild the lily with how great I am, I would be willing to accept it.

When can we expect these particular numbers before us so we can have them for good discussion? The outfitters are feeling left out. Resident hunters are concerned. I support the return of full hunting for First Nation people, their opportunity.

The point is, when can we get the numbers out for discussion so we know what we’re working towards, because right now everyone’s in the dark and we want to be part of...

I can’t disagree with the Minister when he says it’s more than just about the basic numbers. I would like to know what positive effects, other than just banning caribou hunting, the department has proposed. What I mean by that is, has the Minister, or working with the boards or co-management partners, have they proposed anything such as hunting more wolves, any type of activities that will help increase the population? To be frank, waiting for the caribou to repopulate themselves to their old numbers may take a generation of our lifetime, not the caribou’s lifetime.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to echo Mr. Yakeleya’s comments. I’ve never seen the two, Mr. Krutko and Ms. Lee, look happier together in my years. That said, I would like the occasion, as well as Premier McLeod, to recognize all our Pages. Specifically I would like to highlight Ally MacInnis. She’s a Page from Yellowknife Centre, and I want to thank her as well as all the Pages for their fine duties. They support us in our work and it’s a very valuable service that we treasure here.

As well as Mr. Bromley, I too wish to recognize Ben McDonald, who is a constituent of Yellowknife Centre. I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Members be permitted to use tablet computers during all proceedings in the Chamber with the exception of the following times: during prayer, at any time when the Commissioner is present in the Chamber, during the Speaker’s opening and closing remarks and rulings, during votes, and at any other time designated pursuant to instructions of the Speaker;

Further, that the use of tablet computers be subject to the existing convention that any electronic device used in the Chamber must be on silent mode at all times. Thank you...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just before I read the final motion, I once again want to thank the committee members for their efforts on this study, as well as I want to thank the Minister, Minister David Ramsay, and all the department who have helped facilitate this, including committee staff who helped facilitate a very good policy tour which I think will be helpful for years to come.

Madam Chair, that said, I move…

---Interjection

I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake meaningful public consultation in the development of policy on hydraulic fracturing. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In listening to this motion today, it’s become clear that there’s still a lot of work that needs to be examined and considered before we can accept some type of judgment on this particular motion. So looking at the particular numbers before us at this moment, it looks as if it won’t pass.

I want to stress that many Members who are speaking in favour and against it are raising very important concerns. Some people are speaking against the motion saying that they will vote against it. They’re highlighting their caution, but they’re still echoing support for environmental...

Well, first I should be clear that I’m not suggesting anything, because I’m not a wildlife biologist. All I can suggest is, I’ve heard from other people who make suggestions of that type of manner, that is the right choice. I will leave it up to the biologists to make that determination. I again ask the question of what stopped us from putting numbers on the table to this point of saying when we reach a certain number, whether it’s 35,000 for the Bathurst or, for example, maybe 2,500 for the Cape Bathurst, then we can open up to residents and outfitters, as well as return to traditional...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to continue today with my questions to focusing on my Member’s statement, which was the concerns regarding the caribou surveys and their numbers.

The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources provided a statement and he talked about the numbers; three out of the four groups were increasing, one is decreasing, as well as he showed clearly that two groups we were unable to fully survey to get a sense. He did highlight that there was a problem. I’d like to say he skipped over predation pretty quickly in one of his statements on trying to focus as a solution, as...