Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I listened to MLA Krutko and recall the terms of the rights for aboriginal people that have been fought for long and hard by some very good people. As a matter of fact, my grandfather signed a treaty in 1921, Chief Albert Wright, in terms of having these rights here.
I want to ask the Minister in terms of the protection of the herd and the protection of aboriginal rights with respect to the consultation and this interim measure. The Minister has indicated that he made a decision based on emergency conservation measures. I want to ask the Minister, with respect to the affected parties in the YK Dene in terms of their survival with the herd, has the Minister given that serious consideration prior to putting the ban on this specific herd?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Sahtu Final Agreement, as it pertains to wildlife harvesting and management, it states there that the government shall retain the ultimate jurisdiction for the management of wildlife and wildlife habitats, and in emergency circumstances requiring immediate decisions respecting policies and regulations in respect to the harvesting of wildlife by any person, the Minister may make interim emergency decisions. We see this as an emergency. We’re fully committed. We’ve got resources ready to work with the Yellowknives. We’ve come to an agreement with the Tlicho Government where they’ve supported this necessity and the alternative measures. We’re working with the Yellowknives to come to, hopefully, a satisfactory conclusion. As well, to address the issue to make sure there is caribou available from other areas. At the same time doing the fundamental issue of protecting the Bathurst herd.
The right to hunt and provide food for our people, to teach them many different methods of survival of the aboriginal people. The issue here is in terms of the rights of aboriginal people to hunt for food for their families for their survival. In terms of the attitudes of governments of the past not to recognize aboriginal rights, this is the attitude I see of this government here in terms of putting a ban on hunting without proper consultation with the affected parties. Is the Minister, in terms of his decision with his staff in terms of having traditional knowledge, let the people decide for themselves how to handle the caribou, will the Minister give that to the people?
We fully respect and engage in the area of traditional knowledge. In fact, when the caribou work was being done in the Sahtu, the Member’s riding, Colville Lake was given money because they didn’t really believe the government numbers about the decline of the herd and they were given money to in fact replicate and see what their numbers told them. They came back with the same information, that there was a decline. The Member helped negotiate the Sahtu Agreement where the quote I just made about where there are urgent circumstances, the Minister has the authority to intervene if it’s necessary and can be justified. We’re in the same circumstances here. The Member should appreciate that he contemplated, when he helped negotiate the Sahtu Agreement, that there is a conservation issue here that we are trying to deal with in the most constructive way possible keeping in mind the need to ensure that there is still the aboriginal right to harvest.
At the time of the negotiations I didn’t know Minister Miltenberger would be our Minister in terms of this issue here. I wanted to say that in terms of making reference to residents of Colville Lake, Colville Lake people, I spoke to them the other day, they had some words for it and I can’t say them in the House in terms of the issue of caribou. The Minister has indicated that. I’ll leave it at that.
I want to ask the Minister in terms of the impact of caribou in this here, has he really looked at the impacts of the diamond mines, vehicles that are going into the diamond mines, has that been given consideration in terms of he is putting a lot of weight onto the aboriginal people and that’s not fair. So I want to ask the Minister in terms of his discussions with the money over food in terms of the impacts of the mines and the vehicles.
The one thing we know we can control in the short term over this hunting season is the hunt, where we estimated that anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 animals are taken out annually. When you only have 30,000 animals left, that is a significant impact. We recognize there are concerns about the mines, the resource development, the winter road. All those projects, I would add, have gone through a fairly thorough environmental assessment process...(inaudible)...but in fact we recognize, as we do the broader, longer term harvest management plan, the issues of cumulative impact and if we look at all the measures required to protect the herd, are the issues about traffic on the winter road and all those other issues related to the mines there for discussion? Absolutely.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to the issue here it seems like the rights of the aboriginal people have taken a back seat to the conservation issue here. This is a basic right given by the Creator himself in terms of the relationship with the animals. This seems like it’s been taken away by this government here. That is the attitude. I want to ask the Minister with respect to resolving this issue as soon as possible to give the right back to the aboriginal hunters so they can feed their people. I ask the Minister if he can do that.
That right is there. It’s not for us to change that right. What we want to do is make the right decisions on the conservation side to ensure that future generations have a resource they can hunt in the coming generations for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and on into the future. That is the requirement for the conservation measures that are currently underway in the short term.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
