Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I couldn't have made the point better if I wrote it myself. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt, and I don't think any Member of this House will challenge the fact that we need more information, we need better information, and that the information is never going to be satisfactory to everybody. We've taken it upon ourselves through the Caribou Management Strategy to do a number of things and that involves consultation with many people, many organizations, and many governments. We've attempted to do that in the last 15 months, to go out there and meet with the different co-management groups, to meet with the different parties that use the land or the caribou. It's been very costly. Surveys are very expensive. Helicopter time is very expensive. We've been spending an average of about $600,000 a year on caribou and counting caribou. We need to do more. We also need to be able to get a better handle on the harvest numbers. What are the aboriginal populations taking? What are the resident hunters taking? What are the outfitters taking? What is being left behind on the land? There are a number of things we still have to count and analyze, but how comprehensive is a comprehensive study? Do we start counting other herds that are not even in our jurisdiction? We have to start working with Nunavut; we have to work with Saskatchewan, other governments to do a comprehensive survey. Right now we're using the precautionary principle of we know the herds are crashing and we have to make some decisions and those are tough ones, but we'll continue to move forward. We'll gather information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Michael McLeod on Question 292-15(5): Accuracy Of Caribou Population Estimates
In the Legislative Assembly on February 12th, 2007. See this statement in context.
Return To Question 292-15(5): Accuracy Of Caribou Population Estimates
Question 292-15(5): Accuracy Of Caribou Population Estimates
Item 6: Oral Questions
February 11th, 2007
Page 788
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