Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, as well, stand to speak in support of this motion and would like to thank Mr. Braden and Mr. Pokiak for taking the time and effort to bring this forward. Mr. Speaker, as the motion indicates, caribou are a precious resource and a gift to be nurtured and protected in a time of difficulty.
Mr. Speaker, I see this motion, like the motion on climate change and the motion on the fundamental right to water, as a statement of a basic value that we have as a Legislature reflecting the constituents that we have in the Northwest Territories, and that this motion, as well, will help set the public policy going forward for the remainder of the life of this Assembly and set the stage along with the other two motions and laying out the public policy direction for the 16th Assembly for their consideration when they take office.
Mr. Speaker, clearly, this is, first and foremost, a wildlife and conservation issue where actions have been based on the precautionary principle. It brings into question some of the things we have to balance as we look at what do we do with the caribou, and they're touched on in the water motion and the climate change motion about the development pressures and the balance with the environment and the need for a strong and healthy environment if you're going to have a good economy. The caribou are part of that. They're part of the warp and weft, of the fabric of the wildlife and environment of the Northwest Territories. It's important that we move on this and that we make this statement in this House.
I'd like, as well, to touch briefly on the role of the federal government. While we speak clearly that the federal government has a role at the policy and program level, especially as we're going to be talking to other jurisdictions about the protection of calving grounds, operation on the ground here, I want to acknowledge the work of Dr. David Livingstone and the contributions, financial contributions that they have made both this fiscal year and their contributions for next year as a start to their further involvement to this process.
Mr. Speaker, the world is watching. The intergovernmental panel on climate change has finished their second report. Some of those recommendations and results were leaked to the newspaper. They were in the Globe and Mail on Sunday and they talked very clearly of the extinction of species around the world. They talk of the extinction possibly of the polar bear and other species in the North. I know when they're talking about other species in the North one of the species they have in mind is what may happen to the caribou if things do not go well in their favour. So we have a very critical task that the generations yet unborn are counting on us to carry out and that is the protection of the Barren Land caribou. I hope that the people of the Northwest Territories will gather together on this issue and recognize how fundamentally important this is to us and those yet to come. Thank you.
---Applause