Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is a question to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Madam Speaker, caribou is important to all the Indigenous people, you know, and it because it sustains us, and it for Tlicho people, it sustained us for thousands of years. And my people used to go out to the barren land for fall hunt. But since 2009, that has stopped, since that caribou restriction came into effect. My people, especially my elders, it is sad because many of my elders since 2009 have passed on, and many have never went back to barren land to go hunting since 2009 because of the caribou restriction in place. Why? Why should we go back to barren land to go hunting? You know, I mean, we can't even go hunting so why should we go back to barren land? So many of the elders have that said that. So now it's good that, you know, Lutselk'e people they still practice they still carry on with their tradition of going hunting in barren land.
So I just wanted to ask the Minister it's good that I support that livelihood because my people never had a chance. My elders never had a chance to go back to go the barren lands since 2009, but slowly we're it's coming back. Our school just our Chief Jimmy Bruneau students went out to the barren land recently. So I really admire that. But I want to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources if he will apologize to the Lutselk'e people, to Lutselk'e Dene First Nation. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of ENR.
Thank you. I thank the Member for her beautiful Member's statement; I greatly appreciate that. In regards to the question, I've already told the Member from Tu NedheWiilideh and Member from Great Slave, I've reached out to the chief from Lutselk'e. We are right now having a conversation, and we're working together on this. So that's what I've made a commitment to and that's what I'm going to do. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ENR. It's going to much easier once you're Minister of ENR/Lands. All right, Member for Monfwi.
I want to ask the Minister how much did it cost to send in those helicopters to Lutselk'e and a SWAT team? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, they're officers, not a SWAT team. They were reacting to a tip and they went in there and they executed a warrant. This Member seems to want to make it sound illegal what the staff were doing. The staff did their job. As for the cost, the operational cost of how long it was, they waited an hour and 20 minutes before they even went into the camp. So we had to actually pay for that time as well. So if the Member wants to know, it's three hours. So whatever the operation of the helicopter time is, that's what it was. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Yes, I want to know the cost of sending, you know, helicopters. And okay, well SWAT team, ENR, they're like a SWAT team because, you know, they went in there. You watch it on the social media, you know, like harassing the elders and the young people in that a woman and child. So they are for me, I view them as a SWAT team. So thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I am going to have to disagree with the Member. She doesn't her definition of what is SWAT team is and what my definition of my officers that work for the Department of ENR do is totally different. So as I said, it was approximately three hours. So whatever the helicopter time was is what it was. But these are part of the jobs that we need to do. So as for the amount, it was three hours of what the cost is.
I just need to really stress with this mobile zone, she should reach out to her leadership and talk to the Wek’eezhii Renewable Resource Board, because they are the ones that work with us to develop this mobile zone. So if the Member doesn't want that mobile zone, she should really reach out to her leadership because I can tell you my conversations with her leadership and the Wek’eezhii Resource Board, they're very much about protecting the caribou in this. And as I said before, I've had a relationship with reached out to the chief from Lutselk'e, and we're working on something that where I will go in and meet with chief and council and elders to discuss this very topic. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
No, well I said SWAT team because it was retraumatizing for them in describing their experience with residential school and all that, and it was it was not a pleasant thing to see. So that's why I referred to them as a SWAT team. So that's just more of a comment. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I appreciate everybody has their own definition. But let's get it clear. It wasn't a SWAT team. There was two officers that came in, met with the people that were in the community. They came up. They waited an hour and 20 minutes before they even went and did their job. They worked with the people that were there. So as I said before, I am having a meeting with the chief and council and some elders in the community, and we are having this very discussion about this. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
