Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to use my Member's statement to raise a very important issue that was brought forward at the
Caribou Summit that was held in Inuvik last month. One of these main issues raised at this historical gathering was the reliability of the data on caribou numbers along with the confidence and the methods used to determine herd numbers by our government officials and biologists. Mr. Speaker, I understand that we have a very difficult task ahead to get more definitive numbers on caribou and the numbers of caribou out there and that the resources required to undertake such an initiative are quite large given the limited budget in wildlife management programs in our government. But I feel that, given the importance of this renewable resource to all of the northerners and all levels of our northern society, we have to put more resources and money into this research initiative in the short term to get more reliable data. This has to be done before any restrictions are placed on northern businesses or residents alike. By not doing this, Mr. Speaker, the northern economy has a lot more to lose in the long term by infringing quotas on businesses and residents without the full confidence on how the numbers were derived at and the methods used to gather these numbers. So I would like this government to reassess its priority and also provide more than the $1 million towards this initiative, which I feel is just simply appalling in comparison to what the caribou have done for northerners and the value of caribou to our northern identity and livelihood. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause