Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement today is about candidate protected areas in the Sahtu: Sayou and Edacho and the Ts'ude niline Tu'eyeta ramparts and the wetlands, Mr. Speaker, of Fort Good Hope.
Mr. Speaker, delegations from Deline and Fort Good Hope travelled to Ottawa last month to meet with the federal Minister of Environment, the Honourable John Baird. The delegations from Deline included Chief Charlie Neyelle, Raymond Taniton, Morris Neyelle, and Andrew John Kenny. The delegation from Fort Good Hope included Arthur Tobac, acting-chief Lucy Jackson, Henry Tobac and Harold Cook. I congratulate them on their hard work in Ottawa.
Mr. Speaker, their message to Minister Baird was clear, with the fast pace and scale of development taking place and being proposed for the NWT, communities need their most important lands protected before it's too late. Conservation priorities must advance at an equally fast pace. We urge the Minister of Environment to move forward on the permanent protection of Sayou and Edacho and interim protection for Ts'ude niline Tu'eyeta ramparts and wetlands.
In 1998, the Minister of Canadian Heritage designated Sayou and Edacho as a national historic site. This designation recognizes the contribution of these areas to our collective Canadian heritage, but it does not protect the values for which the areas were designated. It does not protect the land.
Mr. Speaker, there has been important progress; however, Deline and Parks Canada have been unable to secure the budgetary support necessary. Last month, the
community of Deline urged the Minister of Environment to work closely with his colleagues in the federal Cabinet to secure the necessary long-term funding to permanently protect Sayou and Edacho.
Mr. Speaker, the community of Fort Good Hope has been working with the NWT Protected Areas Strategy to move the Ts'ude niline Tu'eyeta to protection since 2001. In 2006, Environment Canada submitted an application for interim land withdrawals to Indian and Northern Affairs on behalf of Fort Good Hope. The community is waiting for approval for interim protection.
Mr. Speaker, I heard Premier Handley speaking on the radio on February 7th about the most recent trip to Ottawa. He is saying that he spoke with Prime Minister Harper about the shared belief that there must be a balanced approach to developing the Northwest Territories and some areas must be protected for environmental...