BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO - A Tlicho beneficiary, dissatisfied with the way his government has handled the caribou management debate, has collected about 400 signatures on a petition calling for the resignations of all four Tlicho community chiefs.

John Mantla, a Tlicho beneficiary from Behchoko, collected about 400 signatures on a petition calling for the four Tlicho community chiefs to resign over what Mantla said is a lack of respect for the Tlicho Agreement. - Alyssa Smith/NNSL photo

John Mantla, from Behchoko, alleges leaders went against the Tlicho agreement and violated aboriginal hunting rights by not asking for public input before releasing a joint statement with the Government of the Northwest Territories in late December 2009. In that statement, the Tlicho initially expressed support for an interim Bathurst herd caribou hunting ban, imposed by the GNWT on Jan. 1, 2010. Since then, the Tlicho have formally disagreed with the ban and are now working with the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board to discuss how to manage the herd with an allowed harvest of 300 – mostly bulls – and a major wolf cull over the next two years.

But Mantla said he feels that elected Tlicho leaders, from Behchoko, Gameti, Wekweeti and Gameti, have consistently neglected the needs of their constituents.

"Anything that affects the Tlicho agreement and constitution should be dealt with at the Tlicho annual gathering and that hasn't happened," he said. "The caribou management proposal plan is violating the Tlicho agreement and constitution. The only way they can resolve this issue is to go through the people, the whole Tlicho nation, and have a referendum or a plebiscite."

He presented his petition at the sixth-annual Tlicho gathering in Gameti last month and his motion was added to the assembly's agenda for members to vote on. But the vote never happened, Mantla said, because they ran out of time and the assembly ended without leaders ever acknowledging his petition.

News/North's repeated calls to Tlicho Grand Chief Joe Rabesca and Behchoko Chief Clifford Daniels were not returned.

"The only time Tlicho citizens can voice their concerns is at the annual gathering, and the Tlicho government has no opposition party to go against them," he said. "There's got to be changes within the government system."

Mantla said people in the Tlicho region are unwilling to publicly challenge the government for fear of losing their jobs or causing trouble with relatives. A handful of Tlicho citizens contacted by News/North, even those who Mantla said helped with his petition, refused to comment and no one would speak on the record.

"If you're related to a councillor or assembly member or chief, all your relatives will get a good job in the Tlicho companies. Right now, there's still the same thing happening and it won't change unless somebody does it," Mantla said. "That's what I'm trying to do."

Mantla said earlier last week that he was considering trying to present his petition again at the Whati Community Consultation, which is scheduled to end Aug. 12.