Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I sat in this House and listened to many Members who support the aboriginal hunting rights but not the outfitters, and to those who support the outfitters but do not support ENR's numbers. In January, I had the honour of attending the Caribou Summit in Inuvik and have to say that I was very impressed by the aboriginal groups who said that they were willing to temporarily set aside their traditional hunting rights if they had to in order to make sure that the caribou populations rebounded. Mr. Speaker, they did say not give up, but were willing to set it aside. That was a bold statement, Mr. Speaker. I was glad to see that they were truly willing to make great sacrifices.

I can also empathize with the outfitters. They've contributed to our economy, our tourism industry, and they've established great livelihoods here in the North. I can only imagine what it must feel like to have their livelihood threatened. As I see it, government needs to tread lightly when taking a position that could lead to the elimination of someone's livelihood.

As we all know, the caribou are under tremendous pressure from the cumulative effects of climate change, hunting predation, and pollution. They are literally under siege in their own environment, Mr. Speaker. It's my hope that the outfitters can stay in business, even if it means adapting some of their business to a more eco-friendly style with adventure tourism and cameras, not guns. If they need to halt some of their hunting, we need to make sure that we have a plan and we can help them diversify. We need to help our outfitters and all our northern businesses by investing into the tourism industry. I have advocated for tourism in the past on a number of issues and this, our outfitters, are no less important and they deserve respect for what they mean to our economy.

No one in the territory wants to see the caribou go the way of the buffalo, Mr. Speaker. Our thundering tundra is replaced by the echoing silence. We all want healthy viable numbers in all of our herds, and we want traditional ways of life to continue to flourish and be passed through to many generations that follow.

But before any drastic action is taken, all survey data must be up to date and beyond any question. Unclear numbers leads to unclear decisions. If we put the caribou first, as we should, we need to be totally clear on what the numbers are and to make sure we have measured decisions, not best guesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause