Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made a statement in terms of how the moose play a significant role in Dene culture. Recently we had, of course, gone through a fall hunt where it was noticeable that the moose were not actively present in the area where people usually hunt. The question that I have for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources is: With the recent bison anthrax outbreak, was there any impact on the moose population?
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don’t believe so. We do know that as a result of the extensive time that was spent in the air throughout the region, they did find throughout the course of the summer six dead moose. They don’t believe anthrax is what killed them; however, they erred on the side of caution and we’ve gone to the Canada Food Inspection Agency and are awaiting the results. We do know that there is concern about the bison populations across the South and North Slave and in the Deh Cho. We are in fact going to be initiating a moose survey this October to give us a better idea of the status of the moose population.
I’d like to thank the Minister for giving us an update. I wanted to find out if there has been a survey on the moose population and when was the last time such a survey was done and what were the findings.
I don’t have the date of the last survey but, as I indicated, there will be another survey done because of the concern about the low numbers of moose and just to check the overall population and numbers. That information, of course, will be shared fully with the residents as well as the Members of this House.
At this point in the history of the NWT, we’re seeing an increased interest in terms of resource development in this part of the Northwest Territories called the boreal ecology, the terrain, or the ecosystem. At the same time, recently there have been pressures on the barren land caribou as well as the Woodland caribou. Recently, with the bison anthrax outbreak, these have put pressures on the ungulate species. I wanted to know if there were any special monitoring efforts to be made on the part of the department on the moose population.
There is work, of course, being done on an ongoing basis in monitoring and evaluation on the barren land caribou. We’re in the process of working with the federal government on a National Boreal Caribou Strategy. We have our own, but given the concerns of the near extinction of the Boreal caribou in Alberta, it’s taken on a much greater significance. We’re working on that. We are going to do, and will do, the work for a survey in November. When we have the numbers in and information before us in terms of the general health and population, then we’ll be able to have an informed discussion about what steps may be required in terms of any type of assistance to the moose population.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Minister for giving us an overview. I just wanted to see if the Minister would commit to involving the communities and ensuring that they play a part in terms of the management of the moose population, and other wildlife species, as well, for that matter, and to see how it is that the department will work with communities.
The answer to that request is yes. In those areas where we have settled claims and agreed to co-management processes, it’s built in and required and we work very effectively together. In the Deh Cho we have an arrangement, as well, on a more informal basis, but an arrangement and commitment to work with the communities and the Aboriginal governments on issues affecting wildlife. We will be working with communities as it pertains to the issue with the moose.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
