Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about the Darnley Bay Marine Protected Area and my questions are for the Minister of ENR. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: has the GNWT participated in any capacity on consultations for the Darnley Bay Marine Protected Area? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Mr. Speaker, when necessary ENR has been providing information and working collaboratively with our federal counterpart.
Recognizing that the GNWT does not have jurisdiction over the offshore, how much influence do we have as a government on recommending areas for protection?
Mr. Speaker, as far as the protected areas, we do have some influence, I mean, we would work closely with our federal counterparts; work closely with the communities. I understand in this particular situation, the community of Paulatuk are keepers of this particular area, so we will work closely with them. But as the way things are working now we do have a bit more influence than we may have had in the past.
Mr. Speaker, recognizing that all ecosystems are connected, would the GNWT be involved in the creation of a management plan for the new protected area designated for Darnley Bay?
Mr. Speaker, because we would have a vested interest in this particular area, we will work closely, as I said, with our federal counterpart. We will work closely with the community of Paulatuk and then if they determine that it was an area that needs further evaluation then I can see ENR playing a very significant role there because we do, at the end of the day, have to be the caretakers, so it would be to our benefit if we work closely with the federal government and the community of Paulatuk.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my final question to the Minister of ENR, is there anything more the GNWT can do to help advance its priority on behalf of the people of Nunakput and the Northwest Territories and urge Canada to keep its commitment to protect ten per cent of marine areas over the next four years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I can work with my federal counterpart and see what they have in the works for this particular area and see what the next steps are, and again, we will work closely with them and the community to see if we can advance the community's wishes.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
