Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Premier in regard to the long-outdated Wildlife Act provisions that have been waiting in some cases some 17 years. By way of minor amendments to the Wildlife Act it was 1994. Those small amendments were more in line with the Inuvialuit Agreement. The Inuvialuit Agreement has been in place for some 27 years, yet a lot of the elements of those agreements have not been enacted and I think it’s more important that... People have been waiting a long time to see the Wildlife Act revisions take place and take hold and come before this House and go out to the public domain so we can have consultations on the revisions for the Wildlife Act. There’s a lot of work and a lot of effort has been put into this. So I’d like to ask the Minister when can we see the revisions to the Wildlife Act come before this House so we can put it out into the public domain and start the public consultation process to get that legislation through during the life of this government.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If all goes according to plan, the intention is to give notice for first reading on the 7th of March.
We are running out of time here. I believe we only have a little less than seven months in the life of this government and I think we have to do everything we can to get it into the system. So again, I’d just like to ask the Minister in regard to the legislation. Like I stated, since the Inuvialuit claim it’s been over 27 years, the Gwich’in claim has been about 20, the Sahtu is just under 20 years. It’s been a long time coming for a lot of the Aboriginal groups that have land claim agreements, to implement those provisions of those agreements, to enact them, bring them into legislation and bring them into force and effect. I think a lot of people out there are saying, well, no consultation is taking place. This thing has been around for 30 years. So I’d like to get the Minister to maybe get it in here. I don’t know if he can get it in here any faster than the 7th, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. So I’d like to ask the Minister to get this legislation into this House so we can get it on the road and allow for public consultations. Thank you.
Thank you. The government shares the Member’s interest and concern in moving with this act. It’s been identified by this Legislature and the government as a priority piece of legislation. We are taking it down to the wire. So the intention, as I indicated, is to bring it forward into this House to give notice in the last week, from the 7th to the 10th, give it first and second reading, hopefully, and get approved, and then it will become the property of the committee to be able to do their consultation and either in May or August bring it back for third reading. Thank you.
