Declining caribou herds still a 'million-dollar question,' after audit: Sahtu Dene leader

Just why caribou populations in the N.W.T. are rapidly declining is a question that still lingers after the Northwest Territories' 2015 environmental audit.

"Major questions remain," reads the audit, which was tabled at the legislative assembly this week. It says the sharp decline in caribou herds could be due to a number of factors, but that "further research is required."

The audit has beenfiled every five years since 2005.

Ethel Blondin-Andrew, chairperson for Sahtu Secretariat Inc., says"a lot of outstanding issues" remain since the last audit, and reminds the government that there needs to be a partnership with aboriginal groups.

"We want to be part of the planin a meaningful way. Not just a pat on the back and, 'Yes, you can come to our meeting.'"

For Blondin-Andrew, what's happening to the caribou is the"million-dollar question."

"Caribou areso fundamental to the existence in the Dene people;it's integral in our lifestyle," she says.

"We're the ones who live on this land, and we depend on our country food source."

'If we knew [how to do] that we'd be doing it'

The report uses phrases such as"data gaps," "general lack of data," and "concerns with the delay" in thecollection of studies and publishing results on this topic.

N.W.T. Environment MinisterWally Schumannsays "it's too early in the process" for the government to take concrete steps to respond to the audit's recommendations.

"If we knew [how to do] that we'd be doing it," Schumann says.

"We have to sit down as a collective and have a look at how we've got to do something differently, figure out ways to mitigate and adapt and whatever we need to do to get the herds straightened out. All the herds."

Aboriginal groups also want to start working towardanswers.

"We can conjecture, we can guessbut until we get the facts and until we have the resources to do something, it's all just talk," saysBlondin-Andrew.