Michael Miltenberger

There are two distinct issues. There’s the issue of the longer term plan for the Bathurst herd as well as the related Ahiak and Bluenose-East herds. It’s going to take time and it’s going to require a considerable amount of work with the affected aboriginal governments and the territorial government and other stakeholders.

The other big most immediate issue is right now, at present, there are no conditions that would allow protection of the Bathurst herd, whose numbers have gone precipitously down from 120,000 to 30,000 animals. Without action that has been taken, there is a very significant...

Of course, our choice would be the shortest time possible, but we have tied the ban to come off as soon as we can get the report from the Wekeezhii board and be able to respond and engage as well, then, with the Tlicho Government, the Akaitcho and the Northwest Territories Metis to come up with a longer term plan. The targets for that report, their recommendations to be done are April or May, at this point.

There are a number of factors here. The Wekeezhii board is part of the Tlicho Government and it’s new. It’s getting up and running. This is going to be its first full test. The other co-management boards have been successfully in place now, in many cases, for decades and have worked out the bugs. They have a good working relationship. As well, the North Slave circumstance is very politically complex where you have not only the Tlicho but the Akaitcho, Northwest Territories Metis, two unsettled claim areas and requires that extra work. So there are all these factors that have been playing...

We are very aware of our priorities and what is important. It’s the caribou. We know very clearly what the numbers tell us. The Member knows that. We have done a full documentation. We’ve laid out all the work we have. We’ve worked collaboratively with all the co-management boards across the land including in this part of the country. We’ve involved communities and hunters when we’ve done our counts and census. The issues tell us that the caribou here are in trouble. This Bathurst herd is rocketing its way to extinction unless we take some interim emergency measures to get us through this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They say at night when it’s dark and cold outside and the stars are glittering like diamonds in the sky and you’re away from the communities, if you listen closely to the wind and the whispers of the wind you’ll hear the caribou asking us for our help, reminding us for centuries that they have helped provide life and subsistence to the people of the North. Now they are in a time of need and they’re asking us not to forget all that they have done for us over those very many centuries. Our job is to now come to the aid of the caribou in this, their time of need, to avoid...

The issue is, when the Member speaks of destruction, making sure that we avoid the destruction of the Bathurst herd, we have, I believe, a very strong working relationship with the aboriginal governments and co-management boards across the land. We’ve successfully done a Water Strategy, we’ve collaboratively drafted and put in legislation the Species at Risk Act, and we’re doing the same with the Wildlife Act; very progressive and unique processes fully engaging the aboriginal governments. The Premier is engaged in a process with the regional leaders on a regular basis to bring them to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First I’d like to point out that the government and the co-management boards and the aboriginal governments across the Northwest Territories have been showing leadership in this issue of declining caribou herds for quite a few years now. We were just in the Yukon, meeting with the various principals to look at the Porcupine herd, for example. They have been hard at work on a quota through co-management process and it’s been working with the Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Sahtu. The Tlicho is not putting themselves into position to do that as well.

The Caribou Summit, as the...

The board, I believe, is working as fast and as fully applying themselves to this issue as they can. They are now looking at being able to be finished their work consultation and such and recommendations that can be considered both by the Tlicho and territorial government by I believe it’s now April or May. In the meantime, the support we’re giving is to do what they asked us to do back in July when they themselves identified the state of the Bathurst herd and the precipitous drop from 2006, 120,000 animals, to around 30,000 in 2009. The need to have these interim emergency measures to protect...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the assessment process and response process is going to be to look at the cost of the recommendations and our response to what that may cost so that we, in fact, know what the bill will be if we are going to recommend a certain course of action. Thank you.

We have committed to work with committee to brief them when we have sufficient work done and we have our communication plan that involves the release of the work going forward and we will be, at the appropriate times, making sure the public is aware of the work that we have done. Thank you.