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 well as we all know the impacts on the First Nations, residents and outfitter hunting.
So what brings me to my question is with all this discussion and concern built around the numbers, what are the target numbers that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working towards that is clear and transparent so that everyone can fully appreciate and understand what we’re working towards and trying to achieve before normalized hunting can return? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That process is now going to be underway. We’ve stabilized the fall. The numbers went from almost 500,000 in the 1980s down to 32. There has been a modest recovery from that point within our margin for error. The co-management boards, and all the biologists, and all the people on the boards will be looking at that management plan. The Wek’eezhii board plan is good for another year, which we have signed off on and agreed with. Their job, in terms of the Bathurst, is to review that and they will determine based on the science, the numbers, the feedback from the traditional knowledge and the communities as well, recognizing that there’s more than just the basic numbers. We talked about cow/calf recruitment, the herd, and the health of the females, and those types of things. It’s a complicated issue and they have to look at all those variables.
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.
If we look at the Bluenose-East, the numbers went from 60 to roughly, our best estimate based on the information we do have in terms of cow/calf recruitment and such, to we think up to 100,000 in a relatively short period of time. The Bathurst, one of the biggest impacts was, of course, the harvest. It’s one of the most heavily populated areas of the Northwest Territories. It was a herd that was used by all the folks around Yellowknife, all the folks in the South Slave, some from Deh Cho. In addition to that, there were clearly some issues with warming temperatures and such that were affecting travel. Some concerns were there about possible impacts of winter roads and such. Overall, the issue of wolves is not one that is seen as a major factor where we would want to go in and start doing a wolf cull, if that is what the Member is suggesting.
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 hunting levels for Aboriginal people.
What has stopped us from getting to that type of number and description, as well as full transparency on this process? As I’ve said repeatedly, if nobody knows what they’re working towards, nobody knows what the government’s doing on this particular issue and they assume it’s nothing. They will never get to hunt again.
The Member raises a good point. If I could point to the work done by the Porcupine Caribou Management Board where they, over a number of years, came to an agreement on the very issue and process that the Member has so astutely suggested as a way forward, which is to agree on numbers that are triggers to certain kinds of action. If they get low enough it triggers a ban. Once there’s an improvement to a certain number, it triggers certain specific conditions. If it gets healthy enough, then there are no specific harvest restrictions. What has precluded us from doing that is being able to work through with all the various co-management boards in the settled area and in the unsettled claims to come up with a management plan with those same kinds of triggers, and to do that you need, of course, your first solid baseline of information, in terms of your herd numbers, so you know where you’re starting from and what you’re going to need to go forward. The Member raises a point and we do have a model that, I believe, we should all be looking at and that’s the good work done by the folks managing the Porcupine caribou herd.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
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 the solution while the government appears to be the problem.
I’m more than willing to lavish praise where it’s due, with exception, possibly, of his work in progress of his Movember efforts. I know he will keep at it. He’s got a few days yet to fill in all the blanks.
In my statement I laid out a process, and we’re going to follow that through with the Wek’eezhii board and the unsettled claims areas and work through to lay out the management plan. We know it’s good for the current year. The broader issue of coming up with the same type of management plan that the Porcupine Caribou Management Board has developed, I think that is something that all the boards and settled claim areas and unsettled claim areas will be looking at because it is a good model to emulate.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
