Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of ENR, Minister McLeod. First off, I would like to thank the Minister and the various renewable resource boards across the Territories and others who were involved in putting on the Caribou Summit in Inuvik. Mahsi.
If the numbers of caribou are declining, Mr. Speaker, I would be the first to say we do need to take action. But from where I stand, the numbers have not been fully vetted publicly or proven one way or the other. Biologists have argued over the years in terms of how many caribou herds there really are. In 1954, there were 16 herds; in 1986, there were four identifiable herds: the Bluenose, Bathurst, Beverly and Qamanirjuaq. Presently, ENR says there are seven herds: Cape Bathurst, Bluenose West, Bluenose East, Bathurst, Ahiak, Beverly and Qamanirjuaq. The first question I have for the Minister today is does the Minister of ENR and the Department of ENR know what the total population was of the four identifiable herds in 1986? Mahsi.