Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had a concern from one of the residents in the Sahtu. When the Minister of ENR talked about caribou and outfitters, my question to the Minister is before any tags go to any outfitters, that due diligence is there, that the caribou herd is healthy and the first tags go to resident hunters.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure what herd the Member is talking about. Most of the herds, with the exception of a very small harvest on the Porcupine, there is only Aboriginal subsistence harvests, plus there’s the banned area outside of Yellowknife, which has specific restrictions. But there are no other harvests going on in the Territories as far as I’m aware. Thank you.
I do apologize for not being specific. The concern came from my riding and all this concern was that before any tags go to any of the outfitters, that tags for caribou go to the resident hunters so they can feed their families. That’s the question I asked of the Minister.
We have a working arrangement, a very close relationship with the co-management boards in the Sahtu as well. So as we look at the health of the herds and if there are any decisions made to change or adjust the harvesting, that will be done through that due process with ENR involved. There is a clear ranking system where Aboriginal subsistence harvest is protected and that is, as in the case of the banned area, the last one to be impacted. As you work your way up from the commercial harvest outfitters, resident hunters up to the Aboriginal harvest and that is the process, and there’s been no change to that process and we honour that most insidiously.
Mr. Miltenberger talked about the sequencing and that it will go through a process for any caribou tags that are going to be going out to the people. First we looked at the Aboriginal hunters, trappers, then northern residents and then possibly to the outfitters if there is enough healthy caribou for the taking. Is that the sequencing as I understand it so that I can tell my people this is how it will be played out?
Yes, that is the sequence and the fact is there is no other harvest across the territory except for the small harvest in the Porcupine, except for the Aboriginal subsistence harvest at this juncture. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
