Robert Villeneuve

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just with regards to the depopulation of the herd in general. I know some of the leadership have expressed some dismay in the way the practices are being carried out, the depopulation practices, and they’re saying it’s disrespectful and should not be done in the way that it has been done in the past. Can the Minister maybe inform this House the current practices that the department is exercising in the depopulation are going to be more respectful and just basically more respectful for the animal itself and for the community members? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I realize the sensitivity of the whole issue is reliant on what the reaction of the community is going to be once they receive that letter and the notice of what the government intends on doing, but I think it’s in the public interest. You know, I don’t think it’s any big secret that we should contain or retain any information that I think that the public is entitled to, including residents of Deninu Kue, whether it’s heard here in this House or later tonight at a meeting with their chiefs and the president of the Metis. I think if they did hear it through...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to welcome everybody in the gallery, especially one of my constituents, Wilfred Simon who is one of our community wellness workers. He is also a very active volunteer in our community. He volunteers a lot of his time to making a lot of organizations successful in holding a lot of community events. I am really appreciative for that, and I am sure the community thanks him a lot, too. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that information. Just with regards to the proceeds of the sales of the good meat that’s going to be going down to Lacombe, could the Minister provide some information on any assurances that the proceeds will actually go back to the community and not get gobbled up by the department, or the administration, or the bureaucracy? What kind of reassurances or guarantees can he provide the community in saying that they will get all the proceeds from the sale of the meat? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources just for public record on what the bison recovery management plan that this government intends to follow through on. Maybe the Minister could just provide this House with information on the results, I guess, of the last meeting that we had this afternoon with some community members on how the Hook Lake bison recovery project is going to be handled over the next few months. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the barren-ground caribou management plan has always been a topic of many discussions, Members’ statements and public interest since the strategy was first made public. It may as well continue to be a contentious issue, especially for hunters and trappers here in the NWT.

I would hope that this being the last session until May, that my Member’s statement will be the final gut shot on this issue. Mr. Speaker, the seven immediate actions that the government has come out with in this strategy have to be revisited and rewritten to more accurately reflect some of...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, caribou management has been a topic of great importance to me of late, but equally important to my constituents is the issue of bison management.

Mr. Speaker, the Hook Lake bison recovery project has been providing food and employment opportunities to my constituents since its conception. The Deninu Kue residents do not want to see this project come to a sad and sudden end, especially after many years of active community participation and the gathering of scientific research this project has provided this government with in order to better manage our wildlife...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As I talked about in my Member's statement, I've got a couple questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Just in respect to the last session when the Minister committed to completing a community health review by January of 2006, which is passed already. I'm just wondering, I want to ask the Minister, has this review been done yet? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just having a problem seeing the big problem with having a medical travel toll-free line, and just for the fact that medical travel is basically pretty cut and dried, as far as I can tell. When people get the authorization to travel somewhere, it’s just as easy to phone a travel agent and make those arrangements themselves, where as they have the Stanton travel and authority to do that for them. There are many instances where people wind up at the airports with no information on travel arrangements, and the agents at the airport don’t have any information...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When is his department going to review and overhaul the Community Justice Program? I know that it is something that has been brought to his attention over the last couple of years. It is steadily coming to my office by our community justice workers. It seems to be an issue that seems to be talked about quite often, but nothing really seems to come out of it. When is the Minister going to commit to actually getting something going? Thank you.