Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to talk about caribou and, at the end of January, I undertook, as the MLA representing the Yellowknife constituency of Great Slave, to travel to Inuvik and to learn more about this incredibly valuable resource. The success of this was unprecedented, Mr. Speaker. I know that the event attracted about 150 leaders and stakeholders and experts; far more than was originally envisioned. Mr. Speaker, in the two and a half days of this event, which was very capably and warmly hosted by the people of Inuvik, I got a sense of resolve and a sense of urgency, a sense of commitment collectively to act and a sense of collective responsibility, Mr. Speaker, for the requirement on us to join together. It was said many times in that venue, Mr. Speaker, that we don't have a caribou management problem. We have a people management problem. Therefore, the decisions that we make and the actions we take as individual harvesters and here at this level as a decision and a policy-making body are going to be very significant.
Mr. Speaker, the responsibility of our government to, indeed, act responsibly and effectively on behalf of all stakeholders is very much part of the expectation that came out of this event.
Mr. Speaker, as the significance of this came to me in the media in December and in subsequent weeks, I have made some comments on it. At one point, Mr. Speaker, I said that I thought that our numbers were flimsy and that our information was flimsy and could not be relied on.
Mr. Speaker, in the course of our business here, we learn and I learn that my assessment of flimsy numbers was wrong. I want to apologize to the scientists, experts, and the staff and the people who are engaged in examining our caribou. However, Mr. Speaker, there is something about how we apply this information that is missing. I want to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement, Mr. Speaker.