Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask some questions to the Minister of ENR, Mr. Miltenberger, in regard to the study on the Bathurst caribou herd. I want to ask the Minister has his department, along with other independent consultants, done an in-depth study on the impacts of the diamond mines that were opened up in the North part of this region in terms of seeing if that had any impacts on the migration of or the breeding or anything that has to do with the caribou?

Mr. Speaker, several weeks ago there was a leadership meeting in Fort Simpson convened by the Dene Nation where all the chiefs had some discussions on this issue. From discussion I heard on the radio, it seems like we are still at an impasse in terms of this issue here with the chief and this government in terms of the ban on caribou and there must be some form of miscommunication somewhere along the line. Would the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs see if there is a possibility of seeing if we could work with the leadership down the Mackenzie Valley in terms of how do we deal with this issue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in regard to the caribou issue that is happening right now. I want to ask the Minister in his role as the Affairs Minister, has he had any type of discussion with the Minister of Indian Affairs on the situation that is happening in the Northwest Territories?

Would the process in terms of this Mackenzie Valley Highway, I know there are discussions now between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik in terms of their ongoing process to see an all-season road made there. Would this process come down into the Mackenzie Valley in terms of connecting from the Dempster down to the community of Wrigley, or Wrigley up the highway in terms of project description funding and environmental assessment? I know the Minister has done an economic analysis of the Mackenzie Valley Highway in terms of the federal government coming forward and stepping up to the plate to support this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We certainly did receive a briefing from the Minister and I hope the Minister would make that briefing public so we could have the public look at it. Does he have a record of all the outfitters in this area that will be impacted or have been impacted in regards to this caribou herd and the impact of the outfitters taking the prize bulls in terms of doing part of their business? Can the Minister share that also with the Members?

Thank you. Does the department have a before and after report as to the impacts of the caribou? There are thousands of vehicles that go up to the diamond mines each year. They are doing a lot of blasting in those areas and there’s certainly lots of disruption in terms of the natural lifestyle of the caribou. Has the Minister shared that with this House? I haven’t seen a report in terms of the possible impacts of this diamond mine on the caribou.

Mr. Speaker, conservation is an issue. It is being cited in the actual resource transfer agreement act but also there are treaty and aboriginal rights also, so there are two sides to a story here, Mr. Speaker. I guess I am trying to find which will prevail for the day after this issue has been heard and discussed. I want to ask the Premier, if he has the chance, will the Premier commit to reporting results of discussions with Minister Strahl immediately to the House and to the Members?

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the possibility of future discussions with Minister Strahl, with our aboriginal Minister in terms of the contentious issues and the future of our relationships with the aboriginal governments, would the Minister then commit to having these discussions with Minister Strahl in terms of how we deal with this possibly very volatile issue in terms of future relationships with the aboriginal governments of the North here? Would the Minister commit to reporting to the House if he is going to have some type of discussions with the Minister?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this morning I was thinking about the issue of the caribou and how important that issue is going to be in the coming months or days in terms of our relationship, this government’s relationship with the aboriginal governments down the Mackenzie Valley. Mr. Speaker, this type of issue has been heard in court, decisions have been made across Canada. There are several cases that can be cited in terms of aboriginal rights to hunt, fish and trap; treaty rights to hunt, fish and trap. Even the Constitution of 1982 has affirmed the aboriginal rights in terms of...

...so much that she has come twice to the Sahtu. I want to say that the people appreciate her to come and sit in and talk about these important issues. Mr. Speaker, we have some complaints, some serious complaints that are very serious to people in Deline, people in Fort Good Hope, people in Colville Lake. I want to ask the Minister when these complaints come forward, sometimes we have a backlash from the regional health boards in terms of staff members saying things that shouldn’t be said to the people in our communities. Would the Minister see that stuff like this doesn’t happen with our...