Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has basically listed the enabling legislation and subsequent authorities that we have used. The Northwest Territories Act, of course, is what gives us the ability to sit here in this forum to do the work of the people of the Northwest Territories. We have worked, and are working long and hard, to take over the decisions collectively as Northerners for the land and resources. Wildlife is one of the jurisdictions that we have authority over, as Minister Strahl confirmed when he was here last week. So the Northwest Territories Act and the Wildlife Act. Thank you...

Mr. Speaker, what is currently being discussed are specific proposals, suggestions, options in terms of moving forward to deal with the issue of the right to harvest, keeping in mind the broader and fundamental need to protect the herd over the course of this hunting season so that we can engage, through the Wekeezhii process and further consultation with the Yellowknives, the Tlicho, the Northwest Territories Metis, about a longer term harvest management plan for the Bathurst or the Ahiak or the Bluenose-East which is going to be, as I indicated, a very complex undertaking. Thank you.

That right is there. It’s not for us to change that right. What we want to do is make the right decisions on the conservation side to ensure that future generations have a resource they can hunt in the coming generations for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and on into the future. That is the requirement for the conservation measures that are currently underway in the short term.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, as recently as two nights ago, met with the Yellowknives council over in Dettah. We have had conversations and discussions with Chief Sangris in the interim as well. I have met yesterday with the acting grand chief for the Tlicho about the ban and the other processes that we have underway and the need, of course, to protect the caribou. We recognize that there are some unresolved issues with the Yellowknives. We have discussions underway with them that we are hoping will bear some fruit here in the next day or so. Thank you.

We fully respect and engage in the area of traditional knowledge. In fact, when the caribou work was being done in the Sahtu, the Member’s riding, Colville Lake was given money because they didn’t really believe the government numbers about the decline of the herd and they were given money to in fact replicate and see what their numbers told them. They came back with the same information, that there was a decline. The Member helped negotiate the Sahtu Agreement where the quote I just made about where there are urgent circumstances, the Minister has the authority to intervene if it’s necessary...

I’d like to separate again the two fundamental issues. There’s the short-term issue of the number of months of the ban, which we’re going to sort out here hopefully in the next little while. The longer-range planning within the Tlicho and between the Tlicho and Yellowknives and the Northwest Territories Métis and all the other stakeholders to come up with a harvest management plan is a process that is in fact now underway. The dates have slipped where the Wekeezhii board has not been able to meet its initial targets, but that longer term process is absolutely fundamental to the well-being and...

The reason we’re still having these discussions with the Yellowknives, of course, is because we haven’t come to a final understanding and agreement on the ban. There is work underway, but, no, the Yellowknives did not approve or support the ban when it was initiated.

Mr. Speaker, the normal course of events where co-management boards are in a place, that is fully functioning, that is the practice. Every agreement has a caveat or clause in there that, in case of emergency or situations related to conservation and safety, the Minister has the authority to act, to be used very carefully and judiciously but it is there. In the Tlicho, the Wekeezhii process is starting up. In the Akaitcho, there is no land claim, so we have a complex situation here. The Northwest Territories Metis don’t have a settled claim either.

So we have a very complex process here, a...

Mr. Speaker, of course, we agreed we are not limiting or restricting or taking away any aboriginal right to harvest. We are just indicating there is a conservation issue and we have to adjust where we hunt to protect the herd. We believe we have the full authority when there are conservation issues that are emergency in nature, which we consider the Bathurst herd to be where the precipitous drop in numbers indicate to us that, if something isn’t done, that herd will in all probability cease to exist. That is the rationale. We have the legislation and we believe we have made the right decision...

Mr. Speaker, the reality for us as a territorial government, as Members opposite well know, many of our pieces of legislation, including the Wildlife Act, are very old and need an updating. Our Forestry Act is another act as a case in point. We are not prohibiting subsistence hunting. We are saying yes, the North Slave is a vast area where subsistence hunting is available. In this particular area in the middle, because of the particular herd that winters there, we want to protect that herd because the numbers are low, but there are other opportunities to hunt. We are fully prepared and...