Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk again about the Barren-Ground Caribou Management Strategy this government is initiating in the coming months.
The Minister stated yesterday that this government, and I quote, "had a clear plan laid out for the coming months." Well, Mr. Speaker, this plan may be clear to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, but it certainly is very unclear to northerners and to other Members of this House of what this plan will develop into.
I am not sure where this caribou forever strategy came from, but I can tell you where it is going. That is in the opposite direction of what hunters, trappers, harvesters and traditional knowledge tells us.
Mr. Speaker, the Regular Members of this House were not even aware of these interim measures until we read them in the paper just like everyone else. We are not sure where this money to carry out this plan is coming from. I don't see it in the budget. I don't see it in the supplementary appropriation coming before this House. I don't see the federal government, other jurisdictions, management boards pounding at our door to give us money to carry out these initiatives, but we are suddenly surging forward on a five-year $15 million strategy which does not have the consent of Members of this House, outfitters, hunters and trappers, and northerners in general.
So, Mr. Speaker, I want to see the Minister follow his own advice and have his Department of Environment and Natural Resources apply the precautionary principal when there are serious concerns in environment or natural resources and ensure management decisions air on the side of caution, because this sudden move by his department to implement some major changes to wildlife management, without due diligence and proper consultation on all fronts, is an error and to throw caution to the wind could have disastrous results on our wildlife, on northerners and, most importantly, on a way of life.
So, Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue on with a caribou fever mentality. We need to put more thought into this management plan that all northerners will want to work with and wildlife will truly benefit from. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause