Michael Miltenberger

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 5, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2012-2013, be read for the first time.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 8, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2011-2012, be read for the third time.

In our discussions with the leadership of the Dehcho, the issue of the 45 percent was raised, and through the bilateral process that was one of the items that was put on the table for further discussion. We indicated that we have some flexibility and we are prepared to enter into those discussions with them as we sort through that particular issue.

The key underlying principle, of course, is to make sure that, at the end of the day, we have an adequate balance between land that’s available for development that’s going to help the economy as well as recognizing that there are areas of special...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 6, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2013-2014, be read for the third time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has a critical role to play as part of this process. We devote a considerable amount of public funds to maintaining the secretariat. We work with other stakeholders, the federal government, the Aboriginal governments, the communities. We work through this eight-step process.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 10, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2013-2014, be read for the second time.

This bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has been fully involved in the Protected Areas Strategy. We have considerable resources invested in that process. We are intent on carrying on with the intent of that process.

There’s going to be a change in relationships here. The federal government is going to be stepping to the side and we are going to be playing a leadership role. We know in the Deh Cho that we are going to conclude Edehzhie and the other candidate areas. We are going to continue to work with the communities and the other stakeholders. We’ve had discussions...

As Minister I have the authority to act on conservation issues, on emergency issues. Other than that, I am bound and obligated and intend and have to follow the work that’s done through the process involving the various boards, the work that they do that are public boards. They make recommendations and we’re involved in those with our staff as well, but the recommendations come back up through the system. It’s a system that has served us well. We need to make sure that we continue to use that system. We’re going to do that.

These discussions take time. These are very complex areas. They are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve committed a significant amount of money to continue to do baseline work on an ongoing basis on the various herds. There are the major surveys, then there’s the intermediate work that’s done to check the health of the herd. We’ve done that over the summer, as I indicated, over last year and concluding some this year that I laid out in my Member’s statement yesterday. They’ve given us some comfort – more than comfort – some certainty about the herd numbers, to the point where we’re looking at going back to the co-management boards and the consultation processes that...

Thank you. It means, very simply, that there is a federal process and they have put some money aside for candidate areas, that devolution is being negotiated, that we as a territory have tools that we’ve talked about but not used very well and there may be other tools we need to in fact develop as we manage the land and resources.

I have had discussions with the federal Minister about the federal money that is there. This process, this protected area process was in place I believe before I became a Member 18 years ago and it works, the wheels turn very slow and fine. We’re at step five for all...