Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Thank you, colleagues, for allowing us to have this debate in the House on this motion here. When I was reading the motion and the comments from the other interested groups it was quite an eye opener because of the Bill C-38 having an impact in the Northwest Territories. We in the Northwest Territories are going to be dealing with the impacts. We are right now in a very critical stage with our relationship with the federal government. We have devolution. We have the fibre optic line. We have the P3. We have other relationship building that would enhance the territory. We even have, in the Sahtu region, an increase of the oil and gas exploration. Even in the Beaufort Sea and the Nahendeh area and around Yellowknife. These new laws that are coming into place play a critical point for the people of the Northwest Territories. It’s like having a new set of clothes that we’re going to wear. Like it or not, we’re going to wear it. We’re going to have to get used to it. We just don’t know what size it will be. That’s the situation I see us in in the small communities. Not too many people in the small communities will really understand the consequences of Bill C-38. Not even Bill C-45.

I’m talking about Bill C-38 because this motion talks about the new rules coming into effect and how the Northwest Territories is going to deal with it. It talks about our system in the Northwest Territories; the ecological system is in jeopardy. We have a very sensitive, rich ecological system in the North here. You go down the Mackenzie Valley and people talk about the climate change and the effects it’s having on our land.

I have some concerns from the Sahtu Renewable Resources Council that wrote me a letter. I just tabled that document. They wanted me to say that earlier this year the federal government passed Bill C-38, the first of its budget incrementation acts. The bill is over 40 pages long and amends dozens of federal laws. Buried in all those pages are some major changes to the federal Fisheries Act. These changes have people in the Sahtu and Canada very worried. They have brought in the new, weaker standard of protection for fish and fish habitat, protection which now limits the cases where there is serious harm and only applied to fish and habitat

supports of commercial, recreational Aboriginal fishery. This act also allows the new regulations that could exempt both categories of projects from the law that says you can’t seriously harm fish and their habitat. Worst of all, there were no public consultations on these changes before they were made. Even some of the former Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans, both Liberals and Conservatives, have raised concerns about these changes and especially the lack of consultation. There are many questions left unanswered and many uncertainties.

Who will step in to fill the gaps of fish monitoring and regulation? Is it the federal government trying to offload its responsibilities to the provincial and territorial governments? If so, where are the resources for us to take this on? Will the changes have an impact on Aboriginal rights? Why weren’t Aboriginal governments and land claims organizations consulted? What kinds of projects will be exempted from the law protecting fish and habitats from serious harm? What criteria will the federal government use to decide? Will it consult with anyone?

We cannot afford to stand by and let this go without saying anything. We have to speak out and add our voices to all the other Canadians who want to make sure our fish are protected for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

These are the concerns that have been raised by the Sahtu Renewable Resource Council through the Sahtu Renewable Resource Board. These are the people who are asking, on this one specific legislation, that they have some serious concerns on the protection of our life. Our fish, our animals and our land are our life. We are the land. As one elder said, our blood is in the land and that these types of changes are going to have an effect on our land.

Even the Sahtu Renewable Resource Board said, when they had federal people coming to their meetings, they weren’t very consulting. They were told this is what’s going to happen and how you’re going to deal with it. Their concerns weren’t taken very seriously.

We have a lot of responsibly now that the Bill C-38 is going to come into the Northwest Territories. These Ministers here are going to have to figure out how to deal with it. We hope that this debate here doesn’t give any type of indication to our federal counterparts that what we say will harm us. We are concerned about what the people are saying and what these acts will have as impacts in our small communities. I thank the Member for speaking on this issue here and raising it.

I guess, in essence, what I want to say is that when this bill came in I was very surprised at the lack of consultation with the people in the North and how these bills will be impacted on our lives, and having

our Aboriginal governments not feel that they were properly consulted through this process. It raised a lot of concern for me. I hope that the federal government style of government changes but I’m not too sure. For me, I guess, I call into question how we’ll do our business in Canada with this bill here being piled up like everything has been put in a wheelbarrow and saying this is what we’re going to deliver to the people of Canada, and not really knowing the consequences of these new laws here.

I guess the bottom of the whole thing is that we have to deal with it. We’re asking this government to look at, very seriously, what kind of consequences there will be in the Northwest Territories and hoping that we would have good answers for our people, because we’re held accountable.

I want to thank Mr. Bromley for bringing this motion to the floor and asking other Members to speak on it also.