Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of Justice some questions in regard to a tabled document he had on February 8, in terms of he’s going to ask the Supreme Court of Canada some questions. I’m not too clear in terms of what this Minister is asking, because in the tabled document he indicated the Bathurst caribou herd and later on in the document he talked about the barren-ground caribou in the Northwest Territories. I want to ask for clarification from the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we’re dealing with here is barren land caribou. The question that we’re posing to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories is: did the GNWT have the authority to issue the banning on the caribou. Mahsi.
Thank you for the clarification, Minister. So it’s the barren land caribou. The barren land caribou covers a wide range of jurisdictions. I want to ask, in terms how it affects the Gwich’in, the Inuvialuit, the Sahtu and the Tlicho in the Mackenzie Delta in terms of the authority, because we certainly have land claim agreements that speak to the authority. I want to ask the Minister in terms of how this is going to be impacted on the various other land claim groups and also the groups that would have treaty rights, groups that are not in the land claim discussion right now, in terms of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11.
Mr. Speaker, this is a generic question to the Supreme Court. We’re asking if the GNWT has the authority. We want to clarify that, because there are a lot of questions from the organizations throughout the Northwest Territories, if the GNWT has the authority to ban caribou hunting. So that’s the question that we’re throwing out there. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, that’s a very disturbing answer from the Minister in terms of banning caribou. This is right down the Northwest Territories. We certainly have agreements that speak to the authority and the management of caribou. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister, through his wisdom, in terms of we passed a motion to consult. How come he didn’t come to us to talk about we want to have this discussion and pose the questions to the Supreme Court of Canada? I never had him once come to us and ask us. You are putting a question that is going to be fighting our people. How come he didn’t come to this side here and talk about this and consult, rather than going to the courts? This is a really disturbing question to the courts there.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This area the question that the Minister of Justice has put forward on our behalf is one that addresses the issue of authority in the Northwest Territories. When you have your own Members of the Legislative Assembly questioning your authority under the NWT Act, we clearly need to address the issue. We believe we have the authority. This is a confirmation. There are too many times in the history of our Government of the Northwest Territories when it comes to issues around what and how we affect aboriginal peoples in the programs we deliver. From time to time it has come up and it has been said that we don’t have the authority, that we are a government with limited authority. Well, let’s clear the question once and for all, so that even Members of this Assembly elected under the authority established under the NWT Act will clearly know where they can stand as Members of this government. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You go back into communities. This question always comes up to us as Members in terms of the authority of the federal government, the authority of the territorial government, even the authority of the federal government in the region. I guess I want to ask how come, instead of going to the Members across here, this government decides to go to the courts and look to seek authority? Certainly they could have come to us, consulted with the Members and talked about this issue here. Now it is fighting our people. I am not here to fight my people. I am here to support my people. I ask that to whichever Ministers, when I ask in terms of coming to consult with us. How come they have not come down and sat with us and talked about this important issue?
Mr. Speaker, the legislation is clear. Under advisement of the Cabinet, the Minister can pose a question to the Supreme Court. This is not challenging aboriginal leadership in the Northwest Territories. This is going to provide final clarification on who has authority. That is not taken lightly, because when you have your own Members of the Legislative Assembly raising issue of whose authority, that definitely needs to be cleared up. So we have provided that avenue. The courts have their own process now which will seek input from all of the people that they feel is necessary across the Northwest Territories. There will be ample opportunity for them to do their work and answer the question that we have posed. Clearly, Mr. Speaker, there is risk of doing this, in a sense, from the Government of the Northwest Territories itself, because if the question comes back and it clarifies that, indeed, the GNWT was not on the same ground that we believe we were, then we will have to change our policies forward from here. So I think, Mr. Speaker, this is not a challenge to leadership. This is setting for the record in clarifying who actually has that authority so that this is not a question that has to come up in debate and further debate in the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
