Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The work on thresholds is underway. There has been a singular success at this point with the Porcupine Caribou Management Board. The agreement they reached in the very complex political jurisdiction with the threshold I believe the Member is talking about, that triggers certain responses without any politics, it’s just based on the science and the numbers. In my opinion, that approach would serve as well across the North. We are working towards that.

Having said that, at this point the boards have been requested to review the numbers of the Bluenose-East, and the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Gwich’in Land Use Plan is complete. The Sahtu Land Use Plan is down to, I think, some final issues that are going to get resolved. I think that’s going to be concluded in the coming few months. The Deh Cho Land Use Plan, of course, is a subject that we have been talking in the Deh Cho about and we are interested in seeing if we could come to a conclusion on that as well, keeping in mind that there are politics that have happened there with Edehzhie and the K’atlodeeche folks pulling out of the process. In the South and North Slave we have no land use planning...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The issue with the caribou is a wildlife management conservation issue first and foremost. As our system is set up, the Aboriginal subsistence harvest has priority, followed by the resident harvest and followed by outfitters, commercial harvesters. When there are any restrictions, when we have a voluntary harvest quota on the Bluenose-East, we have to be prepared to say that before we can open up outfitters’ harvest to the Bluenose-East, for example, we have to be prepared to say that the herd can sustain unrestricted Aboriginal harvest as well as the resident harvest...

Yes, at this point we’re consolidating and examining what the best tools are, and we’re also very interested in using northern tools in addition to strictly relying on the federal government who will soon be vacating the field anyways through devolution.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Ernie Campbell, deputy minister of Environment and Natural Resources; and Nancy Magrum, the director of shared services for ITI and ENR. Thank you.

That would be a question best posed in due course to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. We have assistance to communities for water and waste treatment. We have subsidy programs. At the same time, we also do have standards. They aren’t just all guidelines. We have Health departments involved. We have concern as a government. We want to be involved basically from the headwaters, which is why we’re negotiating transboundary water agreements to the tap so when people turn on the tap, they can do so in comfort and confidence that the water meets the best Canadian standards. So that...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Public Accounts 2011-2012, Section I and Section II. Thank you.

I want to assure the Member again that I am very aware that I am a Minister for the territorial government representing all Northerners and we are charged with representing everybody. In this case, we have been working to do that, recognizing the circumstances.

I’d point out, in the South Slave, for example, we are taking the steps to reinstitute the bison harvest for non-Aboriginal people and we have other species where there are still tags available for moose and such. So when conservation issues come to bear and become a priority, we take the decisions necessary, hard as though they may be...

The intent is to use the fastest means we have available, electronically probably, to get the information disseminated. Like I indicated, we’re sending out the work today with a plan to sit down I think mid-week or so next week to have a meeting with the SWAAG folks. So those are the timelines, keeping our eye on the calendar where we want to introduce this for first and second reading early in March so we can get it into the legislative process for committee before this session is concluded. Thank you.

I should also just reiterate that we also committed in this House, I think last week, to take a look at the milk cartons as well. Thank you.