Mr. Speaker, I raise this issue due to the number of people I’ve been talking to in my region around this area here in terms of the importance of aboriginal people having access to their food such as caribou.
Mr. Speaker, I’ve talked to many people who know why it’s very important for us to have this food for our survival. People have said that we’ve been surviving for thousands and thousands of years. Mr.
Speaker, actually, I read in a book called “The Alpine Hunters.” There was an ice patch study done in the Mackenzie Mountains that showed evidence from our elders and from scientific data, that there were hunters hunting caribou 5,000 years ago in the Mackenzie Mountains. There was evidence that came back through the scientific analysis of what was found in these ice patches.
Mr. Speaker, I say that the aboriginal people have always hunted for caribou. It’s in our blood. It’s in our life. As one of the elders in Colville Lake said, if you take the caribou away, you are destroying our way of life. You are destroying our life, he said. So, he said, you should not let this happen. We should be working on this issue how we can work together on this important animal here, Mr. Speaker.
Caribou don’t know which jurisdiction is which jurisdiction. They migrate. People in Colville Lake locate themselves right on the migration route of their caribou. So one of the questions I ask is how do we know if this is the Bathurst, Bluenose-East or Bluenose-West? When did we start labelling the caribou? We don’t know, Mr. Speaker.
One of the things that I wanted to say in terms of this motion here is I think we need to really strengthen the consultation process; meaningful consultation. This is why a lot of people are angry. A decision was done in the middle of some good discussions. I am not too sure if a meaningful consultation process was carried out.
The other point, Mr. Speaker, is the labelling of our herds. When did we start classifying this is the Bluenose-East and this is the Bluenose-West?
How do you know if it’s Ahiak, Bathurst, Beverly, Porcupine? We start labelling different caribou.
Mr. Speaker, this is not only about the Dene in this area. There are over 1,000 Inuit in Yellowknife. There are Metis in Yellowknife. This is an assault on the culture, on a way of life, on people. There are lots of aboriginal people in Yellowknife, lots in the Sahtu, in Yellowknife. That’s down the region here. This animal was brought up with us. It’s part of our life. It’s in our blood. Traditionally, elders have talked about this animal. There’s no argument from this side here to say yes, we need to look at it, because it shows that we need help.
I haven’t yet seen evidence in terms of the mining, what they have done to this herd. The calving ground is north of the mines. There are big diamond mines up there, three of them that pour billions and billions of dollars. Thousands and thousands of trucks that go up there to those diamond mines, six minutes apart at one time. That’s incredible that we have, in the name of the big dollar to support our economy. That is incredible. I wonder what those poor, poor animals are thinking. How they can survive up there with all that blasting, blowing up the rock, the ground, the vibrations that go across this land. It scares them.
What happened to all those herds in those years? One year they’re up to 1,000; next four or five years they’re down to a few hundred. So should we trust the government in terms it’s in their best interest?
Mr. Speaker, there were motions on this in terms of this issue here. The last point I want to say, Mr. Speaker, is that, yes, we do like food. Caribou has given itself to us. Elders teach us how to use it. But, really, the issue for me is about our culture, our way of life, our values and beliefs that caribou has given us. That’s what the issue is. It brings a lot of unresolved issues when you tell a nation of people you cannot do this, you cannot do that, we want you to do this. We have heard this for so many years in our communities. And all that they say is: how can they tell us we can’t hunt caribou? That’s what they’re telling us. They’re crazy to tell us we can’t hunt caribou. We should be working out a process.
Mr. Speaker, I bring this motion because the bigger picture is no matter who wins on this issue here, how are we going to continue building a relationship with our most important partner, the true people of this land, the aboriginal governments who own this land? How are we going to go forward on some big issues like devolution and resource revenue sharing? I think we’re going to have to restart. With this motion I hope it gives an opportunity for the government to look at this again, look at this issue again and look at the consultation process that was rolled out. I’m happy this motion is on the floor. I’ll allow other Members to speak on it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.