Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let’s take a look at this glowing good work that the Minister refers to. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. The summer of 2010, the Minister reports the Bluenose-East was at 100,000, at or near record numbers for this herd. The hunting seasons of 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and now we’re talking about 2013-2014 are going by, have gone by, with no resident quotas. The Minister says these numbers give us an opportunity to open discussions. Well, they gave us that opportunity two years ago and now we’re talking four years of missed seasons. These numbers give us an opportunity to open discussions about an unrestricted Aboriginal harvest as well as the possibility of considering a limited resident harvest on this herd.
My first question is: When is resident harvest of any barren land caribou herd unrestricted for resident hunters?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, in the Northwest Territories, an agreed-to process for the management of wildlife in settled claims. That process is going to be involved with the Bluenose-East and involves the Tlicho, Sahtu and Inuvialuit, which are all public boards. They are going to be working with the department and we’re going to be reviewing those numbers. We’re going to be looking at pressures and going through that process. They will come back to myself as Minister and to the department with their recommendations.
The Minister refuses to answer. I will answer for you. Never. Resident hunters are never allowed unlimited harvest on barren land caribou. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, it’s simply the way it is. The season has been closed – that is zero harvest for resident hunters – for years now for all barren land caribou for resident hunters, except possibly the Porcupine. What has been the Aboriginal quota on the Bluenose-East caribou this year?
I apologize to the Member. I didn’t clearly understand the question. In terms of the unlimited resident harvest, the most that we’ve ever had, that I’m aware of, is five tags per resident hunter. The voluntary harvest that was in place for the Bluenose-East was in the neighbourhood of about 2,800 animals a year.
I continue to make my point. Meanwhile, the Minister keeps the season closed for resident hunters while we’re at record numbers here with this herd. How, in this time of total caribou deprivation for resident hunter families, can the Minister restrict resident hunter quotas to zero for years and years?
In the Northwest Territories we have a process in terms of how we prioritize access to wildlife and caribou in this case that has its basis in the Constitution where we talk about the Aboriginal rights to harvest for Metis, Indian and Inuit people. We have a list. When there are restrictions, Aboriginal subsistence harvest gets protected and we work our way down from commercial harvest to resident harvest, and then the last to be protected at all costs is the Aboriginal subsistence harvest. That is the basis that we have made all our decisions on, and that is what guides us in our decision-making process throughout the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Gobbledy-gook. Why can the Minister not work management authorities now and get a resident quota in place for this season? Record numbers of caribou, unlimited Aboriginal harvest, how about 10 tags for resident hunters?
Gobbledy-gook implies that it’s unintelligible and no one can understand what I’m saying. I think the Member can understand what I’m saying, he just doesn’t like it. So let me repeat the issue. We have a process in the Northwest Territories and across the land. There has been pressures on the herds. There have been decisions made by the management boards that we have agreed with, that have put restrictions on almost every herd. Some of them there are total bans, way up north. On some they’ve, like the Bathurst, there was a requirement from myself as Minister three years ago to make a decision, which we did, because of the plummeting numbers. We’ve indicated that there’s enough good news here that we’re going to go forward through the processes that are there, in place in the Northwest Territories, to review those with an eye towards seeing if there is a sustainable harvest for Aboriginal hunters. As well, can we at the same time manage the herds to sustain a possible resident harvest? We are intent to look at that in specifically two areas, the two herds: the Bluenose-East and the Beverly-Ahiak herd.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
