Debates of August 21, 2007 (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a couple of carefully crafted questions for Mr. McLeod, the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources. It concerns the very high profile debates and work that has gone, so far, into the plight of our caribou herds and our role as stewards of the caribou to see what we can do to better manage them. Mr. Speaker, we got into a jurisdictional dispute between our government and the Wekeezhii Renewable Resources Board over who has jurisdiction for allocating tags and harvest levels in Tlicho land. My question is, will the GNWT recognize the Wekeezhii board’s claim to jurisdiction in allocating caribou harvest in the Tlicho region? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his carefully crafted question and I’ll craft my answers accordingly. Mr. Speaker, we work with all aboriginal groups, all aboriginal governments and we respect and abide by all the land claim settlements and all the agreements that are out there, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues

Mr. Speaker, $800,000 was allocated by this Assembly for additional work to conduct surveys to confirm, determine, and keep a much closer eye on the trends and circumstances that are affecting the health of the herd so we can make better management decisions. I would like to ask the Minister if he can advise, have those surveys been undertaken yet and what indicators, if any so far, are the caribou counters bringing back to us in terms of the health and the status of the herds? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we don’t have the results of the surveys that have been conducted. Some of them are still ongoing. The ones that have been done haven’t been compiled and been provided to me. So I don’t have that information and we don’t expect we’ll have all the information compiled until sometime later this fall. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In Inuvik we participated in a number of workshops there over a couple of days. It was one of the more remarkable meetings that I’ve attended, Mr. Speaker, because of the unity and the consensus that was demonstrated there. Many, many different ideas and approaches were discussed about a very wide range of actions that could be undertaken by the GNWT, by aboriginal organizations, by hunters and trappers to help us do a better job of managing the resource. We talked about better education, better monitoring and reporting practices and, above all, collaborating. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister what other steps are we undertaking to do our part in better managing the caribou herds? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s been contact with all the different regions regarding the situation with the caribou herds in those specific areas. We’ve had action plans discussed with the different resource management groups and aboriginal governments. Some of the actions have been readily accepted, others we're still discussing on if there’s better ways to do and implement some of these actions. Mr. Speaker, they’re all at various stages and I certainly could provide that information to the Member if he wanted. It’s quite a lengthy process and there’s a lot of different actions. Some apply to some areas and others don’t. So, Mr. Speaker, I’ll have to commit to do that.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues

Thanks for the information. Mr. Speaker, given the high profile, the seriousness, the significance of caribou in our economy and our lifestyle up here, can the Minister advise is there a solid communications strategy in place that will be distributing this information and helping to inform everybody of the results and the steps as they are developed, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are action plans that we’re working jointly in the Beaufort-Delta and the Sahtu. There is still some concern in this area where we’ve made recommendations to the Wekeezhii board and we don’t anticipate that we’ll hear back from that board until the end of September, Mr. Speaker. Then certainly if our legal division has a review, we can provide what we can make public at that time, Mr. Speaker.