Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Roland. In terms of meaningful consultation and with the very important government that we have with the aboriginal governments, in terms of this issue going forward and a nation-to-nation-to-nation trust building relationship, from October 19th to 23rd there was a Dene leadership meeting here in Dettah. A motion was moved by Chief Edward Sangris of the Yellowknives Dene and seconded by the grand chief, Joe Rabesca, of the Tlicho Government, talked about the importance of this issue of the caribou here. They talked about having the discussions on the government-to-government basis with our government here in terms of looking at this herd and how to deal with it. I want to ask the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in terms of this type of serious motion that was passed by the chief in terms of raising the issue to a government-to-government relationship, did the Minister act on this motion from the Dene Nation?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process that we use at Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations when we become aware of these motions is we work with the appropriate departments to see their responses and how they would respond and work with the First Nations government or the Metis or the Inuvialuit, for example. There’s a process that is involved that we bring forward and work with them to try and work with the groups when it comes to the motion. In fact, in this particular case the Wekeezhii process is in place. Part of the Tlicho Self-Government Agreement that we work with and, as the Minister has pointed out, is a process that we undertake, as well as meetings we would have one-on-one with the affected groups and governments.
Again I would ask the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, in regard to the Dene Nation leadership motion that was passed, did the Minister act on this motion as the leadership wanted some work to be done in regard to the caribou?
As a result of the motion and motions prior to that, in fact as early as 2007, the importance of caribou was raised that we as a government from those motions worked with the First Nations aboriginal governments to come up with, number one, the accounts that were in dispute initially. We worked with them to get that information together using traditional knowledge and modern science and supported them with resources to help do the accounts. As well, that then set in place the initiatives that were undertaken by governments by reducing some of the earliest, when it came to tags or else those that qualified for resident harvesting, right up to the point where the last group affected were the aboriginal harvesters and we’re doing work to accommodate. So, yes, we have worked with those motions.
The motion speaks to a long-term plan with the GNWT on a government-to-government basis in terms of the basis to recognize the inherent right to hunt and the authority in terms of this issue here. Has this government here sat down with the Dene Nation leadership and talked about this issue as the motion dictated in terms of our saying this is what they wanted to do? Has this government done this in terms of answering to this motion that was passed on October 19th to 23rd, 2009?
The motions that are passed, whether it is by the Dene Nation or the regional leadership or the specific regional government that brings forward initiatives that we sit down and respond to those motions. We have agreements in place. For example, through the co-management boards, through the settled areas, whether it’s the Inuvialuit, the Gwich’in, the Sahtu, and through the self-government process of the Tlicho. In the unsettled areas there was a number of discussions held. There were meetings, as well, around this issue as well as at the larger meetings at the Dene Nation itself talking about the importance. I believe the Minister of ENR has provided a list of meetings that were held around caribou, around their importance and the need to take some action around conversation. So, yes, I would say we have acted on those and continue to do so as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Time for question period has expired, but I will allow the Member a final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, based on the government’s list in terms of consultation, he listed off a bunch of meetings. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has certainly done a lot of meetings. He’s shown me a very impressive list in terms of meetings. However, I believe that, Mr. Speaker, this will not stand up in the Supreme Court of Canada in terms of meaningful consultation. There is one process of doing meaningful consultation. The others tell him this is what we’re going to do and leave it at that. So, again, I ask the Minister in terms of building a relationship with the aboriginal governments on bigger issues that the Northwest Territories has to face, how is this going to ensure that the aboriginal governments should trust this government because of its own interest? How can we assure the aboriginal governments that we have their best interest at heart in terms of their rights and their culture and their way of life?
Mr. Speaker, it’s our responsibility as a government to make sure we work with the partners in the Northwest Territories. In fact, the list of meetings the Member has shows our commitment to work with the aboriginal membership across the Northwest Territories, whether it is around water, land, caribou, the many examples that we’ve worked in partnership developing either legislation or implementation plans about how we can serve and regulate the use of wildlife in the Northwest Territories. So we continue to do that.
As for seeking my opinion about what would qualify as satisfactory engagement in front of the Supreme Court, I’m not a lawyer, but I know with what we have and the practice we’ve put in place as the 16th Assembly, we do engage, we do consult and we work to accommodate. In fact, Minister Miltenberger talked about the accommodation factor with the Tlicho, and that’s been presented to the Akaitcho about harvesting outside this zone. So initiatives have been undertaken to try to make sure that we can serve and have caribou for the future generations. Thank you.
