Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and concerns traditional knowledge. Members have had some discussions in terms of traditional knowledge implementation by this government. I’d like to ask the Minister: could he update the people in the North and the people in Sahtu about the progress of traditional knowledge implementation in terms of the discussion we had in the previous government? How will traditional knowledge be implemented in my region in a government-wide approach?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of traditional knowledge is an important priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories. ENR has continued to work as the lead department with other departments to advance this so that government-wide it’s ready and applicable. We will be speaking to this in the coming weeks as we move forward with the business plan. The commitment will be that within the course of the next round of business plans we will have a government-wide traditional knowledge strategy that is implemented across government.
Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the hard work the Minister is doing in terms of moving this type of issue forward for our own people. I’m very happy. I would like to ask if he can tell me, if he’s privy to the information, how much concrete strength we’ll have on a government-wide approach in terms of putting traditional knowledge into the government’s present policies and regulations and making it stick, in terms of his report, with certain programs and services.
Mr. Speaker, I can give three specific examples. The water strategy we’re working on for the Government of the Northwest Territories has built in as a key component the issue of traditional knowledge as it pertains to water: the decisions made with water, the natural capital and how it fits in with western science.
With things like transportation, for example, I’ve always heard the example of the Trout Lake Airport, where we didn’t listen closely enough to the knowledge of the people on the ground. The airport was located the wrong way.
I remember working with the Member in Health and Social Services. We would have traditional knowledge and elders brought to the health centre to assist with the healing and delivery of those services, similar to what was set up in Yukon.
Those are the areas we’re going to try to build on and expand on across government.
Mr. Speaker, I’m very happy to hear that. The Minister made several references…. Certainly in the community of Délînê it was the same with our school. People said there was a school that was built on an underground waterbed creek. I’m looking forward to that type of information in terms of how traditional knowledge will be implemented into certain areas. Would this include education programs also in government-wide initiatives? Justice? Language? Housing? I guess I’m looking at the weight of traditional knowledge in today’s government. How strong would it be for the people in our region?
It has significant weight. I point the Member once again to the business planning process, where that issue will be clearly articulated. There will be an opportunity to talk and review with every department as they review their business plan with the appropriate committee about traditional knowledge and how it’s going to be implemented in those various departments. It’s a cross government initiative. The commitment is to have this once and for all put into practice within the life of the next business planning cycle.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Would the elders be involved in terms of carrying this traditional knowledge into the government in the system we would have? Would there be a place for them to bring this traditional knowledge to the forefront?
How it’s brought in may vary, but the fundamental point is the one that the Member has indicated: the role of the elders, the handing down from generation to generation of traditional knowledge. That will be built in department by department across government. It will all be ready for review as we come forward into the business planning process here in the next number of weeks.
