Thank you, Mr. Roland. Honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled Minister of Transportation's Report to the Legislative Assembly for 2006 on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, March 14, 2007, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nunakput, that this Legislative Assembly endorses the recommendations of the January 2007 Inuvik Caribou Summit; and further that this Legislative Assembly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories adhere to the regulatory processes and jurisdictions of the wildlife co-management boards, and the spirit and intent of provisions respecting wildlife in all Northwest Territories land claim agreements and self-government agreements; and furthermore that this Legislative Assembly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories work with the Government of Nunavut to protect caribou calving and migration routes; and furthermore that this Legislative Assembly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories ensure that the Government of Canada fulfils its fiduciary obligations in respect of Crown lands and wildlife management.

Mr. Speaker at the appropriate time I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Notices of motion. Notices of motion for first reading of bills. Motions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to deal with the motion he gave notice of earlier today. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may proceed with your motion, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the caribou are a precious natural resource, a gift to all northerners, and are essential to aboriginal life and cultures;

AND WHEREAS the caribou are among the last and largest free-roaming herds of animals on the Earth;

AND WHEREAS all northern people accept their role to act together as responsible stewards of all living things;

AND WHEREAS the people of the North want to ensure the survival and strength of the caribou for generations to come;

AND WHEREAS the combined impact of mineral development, ice roads, unrestricted harvesting practices, sport and commercial harvesting, predation, insects and climate change are causing unprecedented pressure on the caribou;

AND WHEREAS the caribou populations of the NWT have been found to be in dramatic decline;

AND WHEREAS the North's leaders, regulators, scientists and harvesters, at the Inuvik Caribou Summit in January 2007, have concluded that decisive action must be taken urgently;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Nunakput, that this Legislative Assembly endorses the recommendations of the January 2007 Inuvik Caribou Summit;

AND FURTHER that this Legislative Assembly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories adhere to the regulatory processes and jurisdictions of the wildlife co-management boards, and the spirit and intent of provisions respecting wildlife in all Northwest Territories land claim agreements and self-government agreements;

AND FURTHERMORE that this Legislative Assembly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories work with the Government of Nunavut to protect caribou calving and migration routes;

AND FURTHERMORE that this Legislative Assembly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories ensure that the Government of Canada fulfills its fiduciary obligations in respect of Crown lands and wildlife management.

Mr. Speaker, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I am very proud and pleased to bring this

motion to the floor of the Legislative Assembly. I am not a harvester, but I am an avid consumer of caribou. I appreciate and have come to embrace just how important this creature, this species is to the North, to what I am proud of about being a northerner, how the caribou have made themselves so much a part of everybody's life living here in the NWT. I enjoy the art and the craft that has emerged from the traditions of the aboriginal people and of other contemporary artisans and people who use the materials and the products that are a gift of the caribou.

The clothing and art that comes from them is something that is renowned around the world as is the skill and craft of the people who make it. It is the essence of the herds around which the survival of aboriginal people, over generations, has been part of their life. It has to continue to be, Mr. Speaker. That is why there is so much concern and I think so much resolve and unanimity demonstrated at that amazing gathering in Inuvik. I had the opportunity to attend it as the MLA for Great Slave. What struck me about that gathering, Mr. Speaker, apart from many others I have attended in my terms here as an MLA, was the resolve and the intensity and the urgency of people to focus on the true question of the survival of the caribou herds and of the way we, as the people who are the cause of so much impact on the caribou herds, the way we also need to look at the way we have been conducting ourselves, the kinds of management, restrictions, enforcement and ideas that we are ready to bring into play.

I have found, Mr. Speaker, compared to many other meetings I have attended, there was an extraordinary resolve to act decisively, to be bold and to do things in a very timely manner, Mr. Speaker.

There were a number of statements that came up throughout the meeting. One of them was keep politics out of caribou management. There is a certain level of politics that has to be accepted in that and that is where we need to look at our responsibility.

As I said in my statement earlier today, Mr. Speaker, the most significant thing that this Assembly can do is to heed the signal that was sent to us from Inuvik, from other recent gatherings, that we are gong to hear later on this week from the other Wekeezhii board, that we have to act boldly, we have to act in a very timely fashion and that we should not be shy. We should not hold back from taking strong and potentially even excessive steps, Mr. Speaker, to protect the caribou herds that we know are under threat today.

Mr. Speaker, I contend if the measures that we choose to undertake are potentially excessive or prove to be excessive, and the herds, indeed, rebound, as we all hope they will and indeed the traditional knowledge of the aboriginal people tells us they will, if we put rules out there that are excessive, we can pull back on them. We can open up restrictions we may choose to put on ourselves, but if we do not act strongly and with enough force, will and determination now, it may well be too late. Mr. Speaker, that is the key message that I would like to leave with the Assembly. Now is not the time to be timid. Now is the time to be bold, to take the signals, to take the messages that those 150...I saw a number, 180 harvesters, scientists, regulators, community leaders, that was the message they delivered to us and that is what we must take as our mandate to act. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. To the motion. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague Mr. Braden for putting forward this motion. I think this motion is very important to the benefit of our people in the Northwest Territories. It's unfortunate to have to come to a situation like this, but I think, as leaders in this Assembly, we have to take steps like Mr. Braden said, to take the bull by the horns and then do something to make sure our caribou population comes back.

So I'm very happy at this time to speak in support of this motion. This motion is pretty well straightforward. It speaks for itself. I think, from the Inuit, I think right now the co-management boards play a vital role in terms of the decisions that I make, and I appreciate the Minister when he works with the co-management boards to try to find solutions in terms of what's best for the wildlife, the caribou that we require to survive in today's society.

Like Mr. Braden said, the meeting in Inuvik was well attended by a lot of people from across the Territories and I appreciate their input. I thank the Minister responsible for putting forward the workshop conference. We heard from the elders, we heard people from government, we heard people from across the jurisdictions in Alberta, Saskatchewan sort of said pointing in terms of Indian Affairs was there, but they didn't really have input in terms of what was coming forward. But I, you know, just in their attendance alone might have shown something, you know, we do care about our stuff here, our caribou here.

Mr. Speaker, I think we're trying to move in the right direction and all I can say is that I will support the motion that's before us here now and I will continue to support the Minister, like I said in my Member's statement, that as long as he works with the co-management boards, I will support all of the decisions that he may have to make. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. To the motion. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. To the motion. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to be speaking in favour of the motion that's before us today. I applaud the efforts of my colleagues in bringing this motion forward. There was a lot of work that went into it, obviously, with some of the discussion that's happened in this House over the life of this session and into last year. It's a very important matter, Mr. Speaker, and you can hear how passionately my colleagues speak of caribou, what it means to the people of the Northwest Territories, to their constituents, and the aboriginal people who have hunted caribou for thousands and thousands of years here in the Northwest Territories. I think it is vitally important that we get some clarity on the issues that are out there, we get some money into researching caribou and finding out more about them so we can protect the calving grounds, so we can protect migration routes, and we can make a difference, Mr. Speaker, because the decisions that we make, as leaders here in the Northwest Territories, obviously are going to have impacts well into the future, and we have an obligation to the future residents here in the Northwest Territories and generations to make the decisions that are going to ensure that there are caribou here for everyone's use well into the future.

So again, Mr. Speaker, I am in support of the motion. There definitely needs to be some more resources put into the research, the methodology, and the accounting of the caribou. We have to do the research. We have to work with the elders. We have to work with the communities, the co-management boards, in an effort to get everybody on the same page, and if the numbers are true, then we really, really have to take decisive action.

So again, I wanted to thank the mover and the seconder of the motion and I will be supporting the motion, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty. To the motion.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker...(English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to thank Mr. Braden and Mr. Pokiak for putting this motion forward. I fully support this motion that's in front of us. You know, I was just saying in my language that just the other day my family and I were having caribou ribs at home.

It's finger-licking good.

---Laughter

I think KFC stole the theme from the Tlicho regional Dene nation. Traditional word.

Mr. Speaker, this has been our survival for thousands of years, as some Members have indicated. We survive on caribou and we highly regard it, highly respect it, the caribou herds in our region, in other regions. We share the caribou. We share the meat as well. It has been in our generations for years and we will continue on the journey.

You know, we, as the Tlicho Nation, have consulted with our elders. We have consulted with various parties, with our neighbouring Sahtu, with our neighbouring Dehcho, with our neighbouring Thebacha. They're the ones who also hunt in our region as well. So we respect that. Just with the Tlicho consultation, there's been meetings in the past, Mr. Speaker; one in Behchoko late fall last year, another one in January in Inuvik. My Tlicho leadership went over there to monitor, just observe, sit back. But they were given an opportunity to speak and they spoke their mind. Another meeting took place in February in Whati; follow-up on Inuvik and Behchoko meeting. That's where we had four different groups, four different dialogues with the elders, the youth, the members, the traditional hunters and trappers. They all shared their stories; how important it is to preserve, to monitor, to protect the herds, and how can we protect the herd, what can we do as a Tlicho Government, with the assistance of the GNWT as government.

We, as Tlicho Government, need to do our own work, our own initiative. Of course we cannot do it alone. We have to do it with the ENR department; technical people with various departments that we will be working with still. The recommendation will be brought forward. Those are the recommendations that will probably be discussed tomorrow, the next day and Thursday. I will be attending that meeting this week.

Like I said, this has been our survival for a number of years, Mr. Speaker. I'd just like to again thank the two Members, Braden and Pokiak, for submitting this motion and again, I fully, fully support the motion. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. To the motion. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

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

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. To the motion. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the heels of many statements made in this House today on this motion, I'd like to just, for the record, thank the Members for bringing this motion forward and to put on record that I will be abstaining from this motion.

Mr. Speaker, I could tell you that in my entire time that I've been here I have never abstained on any motion. In fact, I have always taken a firm position and always vocalized my position. But without going into any details about this issue in general, and perhaps it may be true that I'm reading this motion and the whole issue much more broadly, but I'd rather air on the side of being too broad than being too narrow in the chance that we may in any way jeopardize the core cases that are before the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories where there are two parties in action and one of them being the government.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that in future I'll be able to speak more on this. But for now I think I have decided that it's most prudent for me in acting on my own principle and the respect for the separate independence of this Legislature to make decisions and the court to make their own decisions, and for Wekeezhii board and any other institutions and duly authorized bodies to make the decisions independently from others that I feel that I must abstain. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.