Dene chiefs 'misinformed' on caribou ban: Miltenberger

The Northwest Territories government has the power to stop Dene from hunting caribou while a ban is in place,  Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger says.

Miltenberger is countering claims by Dene Nation chiefs who argue that the N.W.T. government does not have any authority to ban them from hunting Bathurst caribou in a government-imposed no-hunting zone.

The zone — which covers the Bathurst herd's wintering grounds, from the north shore of Great Slave Lake to the Nunavut border — came into effect Jan. 1, after a recent government survey found a steep decline in the herd's numbers.

All hunters, including aboriginal and non-aboriginal hunters, are prohibited from hunting in that area while the ban is in place.

'We do have that authority'

Dene leaders have said that while they don't dispute there's been a decline, they will appeal to the courts and the federal government to protect what they say is their treaty right to hunt.

"I would respectfully submit that they're misinformed. Under … our Wildlife Act, we do have the authority," Miltenberger told CBC News on Tuesday.

"If you look at all the claims that have been settled with the Inuvialuit, the Gwich'in, the Sahtu and the Tlicho, that responsibility is built in for emergency issues, conservation issues, wildlife issues and safety issues."

Miltenberger said his government also has the same authority in unsettled land-claims areas, although government officials use that power carefully in those situations.

According to the territorial government's latest caribou survey, the Bathurst herd shrank from 186,000 in 2003 to just 32,000 last year.

Miltenberger said the current hunting ban is temporary and is in place until the Wek'weezhii Renewable Resources Board submits its recommendations on what must be done to protect the Bathurst caribou herd.

Assistance offered

In the meantime, Miltenberger said the government will help communities affected by the ban to get caribou from outside the no-hunting zone.

"We're not saying you can't hunt caribou. We are saying you can't hunt in this area to protect the Bathurst herd," he said.

"We've offered to help [hunters] go outside the traditional range of the Bathurst. That will allow the herd to recover, and they will still have food."

Since the caribou ban began, wildlife officers have seized 17 harvested caribou from aboriginal hunters who went into the no-hunting zone.

The affected hunters, some of whom come from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, were planning to ask a justice of the peace on Tuesday night to make the government return the seized caribou meat.

Miltenberger said the government is arguing against giving the meat back to the hunters, but instead offering to distribute it to elders in N'dilo and Dettah, N.W.T.