Northwest Territories
Residents across NWT are concerned about how proposed changes to the territorial Wildlife Act will work, especially now that several land claims agreements that have been implemented since the act was last updated more than 20 years ago.

John Max Kudlak, president of Paulatuk's Hunters and Trappers Committee, said members in the community want to ensure their land claims rights will be protected under the territory's upcoming new Wildlife Act. - Katie May/NNSL photo

"The main concern is the implementation of our lands claims agreements to be included in the Wildlife Act," said Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers Committee president John Max Kudlak. "As long as we're covered under the land claims, that should go for any concerns the members might have with regards to their rights of harvesting. It's good information for us to have."

Environment and Natural Resources representatives were scheduled to visit Paulatuk and 25 other NWT communities to explain the changes and gather feedback on the new act as four teams of representatives to spread out across the territory until Dec. 9, stopping in every region.

"They're taking notes and logging that feedback," Environment and Natural Resources spokesperson Judy McLinton said. "They're going almost every night to a different community (hearing) different issues."

Once the proposed changes are implemented, the new act would phase out general hunting licences so that aboriginal hunters, including those who have land claim agreements in place, would instead show proof of entitlement. As well, resident hunters won't need export permits.

Currently, residency is official after one year of living in NWT – the point when non-aboriginal hunters can apply for a hunting licence. While the new act is up for discussion, however, some would like to see that time period increased to cut down on the number of transient workers who are allowed to hunt in the territory.

Mary Rose Tetlichi, president of the Fort McPherson Gwich'in Renewable Resources Council, said about 13 people attended the public meeting in the hamlet Dec. 1 and many council members questioned residency dates.

"They were trying to push for additional years to be in the community before you can go out to do any harvesting," she said. "They want transient workers to be in the Northwest Territories longer so that they are familiar with land claims here, with the terrain, familiar with the area, familiar with the population of caribou or any type of wildlife."

Another point of contention was the question of allowing hunting in special protected areas that fall between or fit into more than one land claim agreement, such as the stretch of Dempster Highway between Inuvik and Fort McPherson in the Mackenzie Delta.

"They don't want a non-resident to go on those private lands or special management areas without authorization from the claimant group," Tetlichi explained.

Overall, though, she said the council supported the proposed changes to the act. Many people simply wanted more information and indicated the changes were a long time coming since the Act hasn't been updated since 1988.

The updated version would make clear that land claims agreements take precedence over regulations set out in the act.

According to the draft legislation, the new act aims to increase hunting and trapping activity in the territory by lowering the minimum ages for young big and small game hunters, and would introduce higher fines and stricter penalties for violating the act – including wasting meat.

After consultations wrap up, the act is expected to go to a vote in the legislative assembly by this spring. If MLAs vote to pass the legislation, the act will be reviewed after five years.

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