Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Water Stewardship Strategy, guided by the Aboriginal Steering Committee, represents a shared path forward for water stewardship and preservation with NWT residents and water partners. Water partners such as Indigenous, federal, and territorial governments; non-government organizations; research institutions and universities; regulatory boards; communities; and industry work together under the strategy, to ensure our water remains clean and safe for future generations.

The success of the water strategy is based on four main areas that require concentrated efforts...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document: "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 641-19(2): Hunters and Trappers Disaster Compensation." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Caribou have sustained generations of Northerners across the Northwest Territories. They are deeply tied to the NWT's society and culture. Communities have always relied on them for food, hides, and traditional practices, but today, some herds have seen major declines. They continue to face challenges, including climate change, habitat change, predators, and human activity. Illegal and disrespectful hunting practices are also real concerns.

Our government continues to work with Indigenous governments and organizations, and other co-management partners, to put rules in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the important work of Dr. David Schindler, who was an influential contributor to the NWT water policies. On March 4th, Dr. Schindler passed away at the age of 80. He was the leading Canadian water scientist who was instrumental in building our underlying knowledge of the effects that acid rain, climate change, long-range atmospheric transport of contaminants, and oil sands have on Canadian lakes and rivers. Dr. Schindler had a keen respect for the NWT. In a 2015 Globe and Mail article he wrote that "the water sources of the Northwest...

Key habitat is identified through a collaborative process with our Indigenous governments and organizations, and it helps us identify key areas that could be considered for habitat protection under the wildlife act. ENR has a series of workshops with partners to identify and prioritize areas of protection, and we are completing input from our partners and will collaboratively work on the plan to clarify key areas to be considered for habitat protection. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will try to keep my Minister's statement short on this answer here, but we want to make sure we get that detail and that information out there. The framework was applied against the proposed Slave Geological Province road. A technical package was supported with the Bathurst caribou range plan, and yes, we will be able to provide is to SCEDE.

ENR will finalize the framework by this summer. A draft framework has provided guidance to a pilot project that was done in collaboration with our industry partner, Aurora Geosciences. Because of COVID, we had to do a desktop exercise. The outcome of the project was the need for an operational guidance document, and we are working on developing that with Aurora Geosciences. We plan to test this operational document this summer.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for giving me these questions ahead of time because it's going to be pretty detailed on this one here. The range plan made nine recommendations to manage total disturbance on the range of the Bathurst caribou herd and to reduce and manage impact on the caribou and the caribou habitat. We are working on all nine recommendations and have begun. Habitat conservation is recommended in the Bathurst range plan, specifically in areas of importance to the caribou to maintain migration routes, such as key water crossings and land quarters. ENR is supporting...

For that detail, I will turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Historical actuals.