Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
A Wildlife Act forum in Fort Simpson failed to attract a single member of the general public on June 17.

Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Herb Norwegian was the only member of the public to attend the public hearing on the Wildlife Act held in Fort Simpson on June 17. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The meeting had been cancelled last month because the government committee holding them was having difficulties, with its members being frequently absent.

Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian was outraged by the cancellation of the hearing and demanded it be rescheduled so Deh Cho residents could voice their concern. However, Norwegian and Carl Lafferty, the regional superintendent of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, were the only people who attended the rescheduled forum.

The need for consultation and references to the Dehcho Land Use Plan are among the concerns the Dehcho First Nations has about the new Wildlife Act.

The public meeting was originally scheduled for May 13, but it was cancelled along with meetings in Nahanni Butte, Fort Providence and Behchoko because six members of the committee were unable to travel.

Speaking to the committee on June 17, Norwegian said Dehcho First Nations (DFN) had planned to have a number of chiefs attend the original meeting, but now people have moved on to other issues. Norwegian said he felt it was still important to do a brief presentation on the concerns DFN has about the new act.

The concerns include the need for the minister of environment and natural resources to consult with DFN as the act progresses. Many times issues are only settled in Yellowknife, said Norwegian.

The act also needs clear references to the Dehcho Land Use Plan, which it is lacking at this point. The plan is 95 per cent complete and once it is in effect, it will have bearings on the Wildlife Act, he said.

Norwegian also said the act needs to recognize that DFN will have exclusive land that it will have primary authority over once the Dehcho Process is settled. An understanding of how the act will coexist with DFN's authority will have to be reached, he said.

As a harvest, hunter and trapper, Norwegian said the act is particularly close to him.

"When I'm out on the land trapping, it's my job to make sure everything is well taken care of," he said.

Committee member Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley encouraged DFN to be involved in the development of the regulations for the act where a lot of the specifics of the act will be laid out. If the third reading for the act is passed this year, the act won't come into effect until 2014 and then the regulations will still have to be developed, he said.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, the chair of the committee, said the act will be reviewed five years after it is passed and then every seven years after that.

The act, which updates provisions for the protection of wildlife and habitats, will replace the 1988 Wildlife Act. The meeting in Fort Simpson was the eighth public hearing the committee has held since April 2.

The committee also held meetings in Nahanni Butte and Fort Providence on June 18 and finish in Behchoko on June 19.

The committee plans to report what it heard as well as its recommendations on the act to the legislative assembly this fall, said Hawkins.

A variety of people have requested the act include reporting measures for all groups, including aboriginal people, for harvesting management purposes.

The act is about wildlife management and conservation, but people argue it is hard to manage a harvest without knowing what and how much is being harvested, Hawkins said.

People have also spoken both for and against the change in the residency requirement for resident hunting licences that reduces the wait from two years to one. Most people have said they want the change to make the requirements compatible with other jurisdictions across Canada, while others are concerned about the potential influx of new hunters, he said.

There are currently about 1,000 resident hunters in the NWT.

The consultations have been slowed down due to a number of absences by committee members, said Hawkins.

"There is definitely a frustration to it because we need to get this business done," he said.

Hawkins said the situation got so bad that a scheduled public meeting in Inuvik last week became "more of an information session" when three out of the six committee member MLAs failed to attend.

Hawkins, who refused to point to individual MLAs, said one member called only 30 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to notify him that he wouldn't be in attendance.

To be an officially sanctioned meeting, there must be at least four regular or alternate committee members in attendance.

The legislative assembly can remove MLAs from committees if they miss six meeting dates in a calendar year without a valid reason.

"For some members, personal reasons are taking priority. For others, it's unclear," said Hawkins

Of the six members of the committee, Hawkins, Weledeh Bromley, and Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli attended the meetings in Yellowknife and Inuvik.

Frederick Blake Jr., MLA for Mackenzie Delta, said he was attending funerals on the days of the meetings in Yellowknife and Inuvik earlier this month, and was therefore unable to travel.

Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche said he was unavailable to travel "due to constituency business in my own riding."

Robert Bouchard, MLA for Hay River North, said he was unable to attend meetings in Yellowknife and Inuvik due to prior commitments, including hosting an auction in his riding.

"We're juggling our time, and we make it when we can," said Bouchard. "We have a lot of balls up in the air."

Blake, Menicoche and Bouchard were all present at the public meeting for the Wildlife Act in Fort Simpson.

Instances of absenteeism are recorded, with reports tabled in the legislature by the Speaker, which are later published on the legislative assembly's website.

The last report, pertaining to committee meetings held between May 26 and Oct. 16, 2012, was filed in late November of last year.

Jackie Jacobson, the Speaker of the legislative assembly and MLA for Nunakput, did not respond to a request for comment.

This past April, Menicoche missed a day and a half of meetings in Inuvik due to "excessive drinking the night before."

Menicoche resigned as chair of the legislative assembly's Committee on Priorities and Planning as a result.

In a statement following the April absence, Menicoche said he would "be taking the necessary steps this week to address my personal problems, which includes use of the Members' Assistance Program to seek treatment."

An MLA speaking off the record said Blake had missed a day of meetings over that weekend for the same reason.

In addition to the public meetings, people can also send written submissions to the committee about the act until June 24.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.