Check Against Delivery

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a mandate commitment to support the Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program or NWT CIMP. This program is a research and monitoring program to help understand environmental trends and the cumulative impacts of both human and natural changes.

Today, I am pleased to announce this program is providing $660,000 this year to initiate 11 new research and monitoring projects.  These projects address key cumulative impact monitoring priorities for caribou, water and fish. Funding recipients include Indigenous governments and organizations, universities, territorial and federal government departments.

Mr. Speaker, these projects include studying the impact of wildfire on boreal caribou, understanding ecosystem processes in our two Great Lakes, and using traditional and local knowledge to monitor environmental change.

Results from the projects will provide valuable scientific and traditional knowledge to support effective resource management decisions by communities, governments and co-management boards.

The recommendations on project funding were made by a Steering Committee of Indigenous, territorial and federal governments representatives.

Mr. Speaker, NWT CIMP provides approximately $1.7 million dollars in funding for scientific and traditional knowledge projects each year.  This year the program is supporting a total of 28 projects. 

Fourteen projects were completed in 2018 and results are available online. Information on NWT CIMP, including a list of completed projects since 1999, can be found on-line at www.nwtcimp.ca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.