SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Delegates at the Tlicho assembly in Wekweeti last Wednesday voiced their disagreement with the government-imposed hunting ban on the Bathurst caribou herd and Tlicho leaders rescinded their prior support.

When the NWT government announced in mid-December that it would implement an interim hunting ban for all Bathurst herd hunters beginning Jan. 1, 2010, Tlicho leaders initially expressed support for the ban, saying they would partner with the GNWT to work on a long-term solution to the declining caribou.

The two parties will still work together in Behchoko on a joint proposal from March 22-26, said Tlicho government executive officer John B. Zoe.

He said Tlicho leadership had asked Michael Miltenberger, minister of Environment and Natural Resources, to postpone imposing the ban until February so the Tlicho could start a public awareness campaign about the ban, but it was already done.

"At that time, the chief (Grand Chief Joe Rabesca) said 'well, they're not going to support it if that's the case, but if it's done, it's done,'" Zoe said.

Last week, at the first meeting of the Tlicho assembly since the ban was imposed, delegates said they were against the ban and would rather focus on a long-term solution as a replacement for the hunting ban.

Zoe said while Tlicho members and leadership have formally decided not to support the ban, they will respect it.

"The ban is a regulation. As citizens, we're obligated to follow it," he said. "We don't agree with it, but we're not going to go against it."

Michael Miltenberger, minister of Environment and Natural Resources, said he will arrange a meeting in the "not too distant future" with Tlicho leadership and Monfwi MLA Jackson Lafferty to discuss their next steps.

"We're eight weeks into the ban, going on nine weeks now, and they've been there and been supportive. Three (Tlicho) communities have done very successful harvests outside of the no-hunting zone," he said. "We need to talk about where we are, where we've been and where we're going over the next month or so."

Miltenberger said he hoped they could work out a harvest management plan by next hunting season.

Zoe also said Tlicho leadership didn't want to get in the middle of legal proceedings now that the GNWT has asked the Supreme Court to rule on the government's authority to regulate aboriginal caribou hunting.

"That part is going to drag out for some time so it means being dragged into more things," he said.

The Tlicho assembly finished in Wekweeti last Thursday.