There are options that different parts of the country can look at. There are other species that may be healthier and could sustain some harvest: the use of moose, bison. All the caribou herds are in distress. The Beverly, for example, has all but disappeared. The Ahiak, we believe, is going to be, once the count and the census is done, will be demonstrated to be in the same circumstance. Those options are going to have to be looked at in conjunction with as we move into the east with the Nunavut government and other governments to make sure that whatever we do is sustainable and is based on the best evidence possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for that response. Just for the record, I am going to be asking some questions on this later to the Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, probably early next week. My last question today to the Minister responsible for ENR is: as I mentioned earlier in my Member’s statement, the loss of the Bathurst herd have significant impacts on the health and the cost of living of aboriginal residents who rely on the barren land caribou due to the loss of

the primary source of protein. What is the department doing to address these potential problems, specifically health issues and cost of living issues that may result of the recovery of these Bathurst caribou? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have engaged in a process in the North Slave with the Tlicho to look at what restrictions. Based on those restrictions that are going to be implemented, we will be able to determine next steps, what are the impacts, how do we collectively work together. As the grand chief from the Tlicho said himself, there are other species that now are not on the favoured preference of some of the folks, like bison or like moose, that we may have to encourage people to take advantage of, where possible and where sustainable. Those types of discussions we are going to have to have as we move forward with December 31 and the restrictions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for bringing that matter to our attention recently. I had some discussions with the department; we are aware of the concern. We are going to look at the facts that the Member has indicated and try to get an assessment. We are also interested. I haven’t had a chance to talk to the Members personally about suggested next steps. I know that there are some suggestions in terms of limiting access, trying to do things on the border side to make it clear to those folks thinking that they can come in from another jurisdiction, that there are…what the standards are and our expectations when it comes to use of the land and the trails of the Northwest Territories side. Thank you.

I know that I just brought this issue up to the Minister a couple of days ago. I do

appreciate his response today. I would like to ask the Minister in terms of assessing this situation here -- it is very concerning to the leadership in the Sahtu just in Norman Wells and Tulita -- will the Minister work with the leadership, the chiefs, the Metis and the Tulita Land Corp president, the Norman Wells Land Corp president in terms of looking at how we could do an assessment by working with his department to look at the trail and see for himself first-hand as to the type of damages these land rovers have done on the CANOL Trail?

Yes, I commit to do that on these issues that relate and pertain to issues on the ground, in the regions, in the Sahtu. It makes only good common sense to, in fact, work with the folks that are there, the aboriginal governments that are there, and our own people, to make sure we’re doing the right things for the people in the Sahtu.

Certainly the people in the Sahtu appreciate hearing the comments from the Minister in terms of doing some further investigation of this situation. I also would like to ask the Minister if he would work closely with the other Ministers -- Minister Michael McLeod and Minister Bob McLeod -- in terms of the overall picture of the CANOL in terms of looking at how we can in the future look at issues like this that would have some restrictions on motorized vehicles on the CANOL.

I’d like to assure the Member that we’ll work with all the McLeods necessary to deal with this issue and all the ones at our disposal, which are many and very competent, every one of them.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

I also would ask the Minister if he would commit to working very strongly with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in terms of this trail because of the jurisdiction issues, and looking if the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs can also put some pressure on these users of motorized vehicles in areas such as the CANOL.

We have a very positive working relationship with Indian and Northern Affairs and, yes, we will engage with them as appropriate as well.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier and they relate to my Member’s statement about the Mackenzie Gas Project. I want to get clarity from the Premier as to what role we play and what role we can play to

advance the agenda of the people who are actually doing this, the proponents. We have spent an inordinate amount of time and money as a government to get ready for this. We have seen industry spend an inordinate amount of money to get ready for this pipeline. Other than sitting on the sidelines waiting for the Joint Review Panel to report and waiting for the NEB to review that, what active role can our government take to ensure that the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development still understands that this is a project that we need? This is a project that Canada needs. This is a project that we need. How can we give it some kind of prominence or priority in terms of all those discussions that go on with Ottawa?

We went down there for NWT Day. We talked about devolution, resource revenue sharing, specific infrastructure funding, housing funding, protected areas. They give us one little thing, they say there you go, go away now, we gave you that. How can we get this pipeline, which I think would be a great economic boost to this Territory right now, somehow communicate that is front and centre for us, that we’ve had theme days on? I think that’s the truth. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The way we’ve been working on the Mackenzie Gas Project, number one, from a number of levels. We ourselves have worked internally to prepare departments for when permits would start flowing through appropriate departments. We’ve worked with Municipal and Community Affairs to help with communities to try to deal with some of those issues, through Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations and the Executive. We’ve worked with aboriginal governments to work with them on coming up with a common set of messaging. Over and above that we have worked through Industry, Tourism and Investment to build a business case, so to speak, of all the benefits this would pass on. Not only to the North and northern businesses and to governments, we’ve also built the business case of how much this will build in revenue to the federal government, to Alberta, to Ontario, because of all the materials and work that would happen being developed in those jurisdictions and flowing through to the Northwest Territories.

So we’ve built the business case and we’ve taken that now and gone down and used that information whenever we have meetings with other Ministers, myself with the Prime Minister, as well with Minister Strahl, Minister Prentice, Minister Baird at times. When it came to the stimulus package, we used that avenue to see if that could be used to help offset the costs there. The magnitude of this project goes beyond those types of projects or initiatives

that the federal government would put in place. Our avenue has been to go up to the higher ends, and that’s the Prime Minister’s office and a number of the other Ministers, to work on them in a sense of the information, the business case, and work with industry in making sure our numbers work together.

As well, on the other side of the equation, we’ve had to work on our environmental side with industry to let them know that this wasn’t just going to be a project for the sake of a project. It was going to happen on the basis as we saw it happening or liked to see it happen in the North. That business case has been worked along. We’ve had to coordinate that. We continue to coordinate that and continue to stay in touch with the bodies that are in place to, for example, see where the Joint Review Panel is and their news recently coming out and confirming that they’ll come out in December with their electronic report and, as well, the recent announcement on the National Energy Board that they’ve put a timeline in place. So that’s good news, as well, that people are lined up and prepared and are waiting for the transmittal of that report, and once we have that we know there’s much more work going on. For example, our meetings with the federal government, our meetings with industry, and our meetings with the leadership across the Territories on this project and trying to keep things moving along and the information flowing.

I know it’s been very frustrating on the outside dealing with, for example, the Mackenzie Delta businesses that have felt the slowdown because exploration has slowed. But there is much work still going on and we’re hoping to see the fruits of that work come forward in December.

I know it is a complex issue and it’s affected, as I said, by things like the downturn in the economy and all those things which we don’t have control over. But I still get the sense that when you’re listening to the federal government via the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, that they are still kind of throwing back at us that they are getting mixed messages. Some people want this, some don’t. Some people consider this a priority, that a priority. I guess, is that just a stance, posturing that’s taken by the federal government just so they can, I don’t know, find their way out of giving us solid and concrete kinds of responses or is our message mixed and are there too many voices?

I would say that question flows right into the work that I’ve been trying to do as Premier, working with the regional leadership across the Northwest Territories. There are always going to be cases where we agree to disagree, for example, on initiatives and steps that we would like to take as a government that the aboriginal government would see as not their priority, for example. That was an issue that we started this

government around devolution and resource revenue sharing, for example. There are jurisdictions or places within our Territory that are still in the negotiation phase that would want some certainty in their area of negotiations before, for example, the pipeline goes through their jurisdictions. But we’ve continued to work with them, we’ve continued to work with the federal government in trying to smooth out that messaging in the sense of being more consistent in the benefits that would flow from that and that type of production that would go on as we see the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline put in place.

There is still a challenge in coming up with a consistent message out of the North, but I believe that our messaging has become closer and closer together. For example, when people used to say what’s happening in the Deh Cho. Dehcho has moved along significantly in their process, have had many meetings. In fact, their chiefs have met with the Aboriginal Pipeline Group on an ongoing basis to get either information as to that process or what’s going to happen as that program moves forward. So we’ve been building on that sort of a basis as we go forward and we will continue to do so. Thank you.

Maybe it’s just my own sense, but this issue of the hopes that have been pinned on the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline seem like they have kind of dropped down on the radar a bit of late. So I’d like to ask the Premier: people out there are looking for some hope for some economic activity. I mean, we’ve got a big capital budget and there are definitely things going on in the North, new things, new mines, there are bright spots on the horizon, but there are lot of people who have banked on this Mackenzie Gas Project proceeding. Is there anything the Premier can tell us in the House and tell the public of the Northwest Territories, the business community, the people who are looking for work out there today, that gives him hope and a feeling of encouragement that, in fact, in the near future we will see the wheels begin to turn on this major project? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the messaging that we have for our own constituents and people of the Northwest Territories, the businesses, is an important one. That is, we continue to support and work to push the Mackenzie Gas Project forward in as many avenues as we can. We continue to go to the federal government to highlight the importance.

Our Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, when he travels to the U.S., travels to Ottawa, travels to B.C. or Alberta, continues to send a message about the benefits of the Mackenzie Gas Project, because the more people -- not only in the North but in the South -- that resonate on our messaging also enforce with the federal

government that if they are to make an investment, for example, in the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, that that investment will bring a return to the federal government as well as other governments across this country. So we continue to do that.

The messaging that I will send, continue to send, to the businesses in the Northwest Territories, is there is much work still going on. I know there’s frustration out there about that, but there’s much work going on. In December the announcement on that report was a good one, and NEB making their recent announcement is even a better one. So things are starting to line up and we’re very hopeful that once December comes, things will start to pick up the pace and move along. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.