N.W.T. caribou: Whati chief awaits meeting with government

The territorial government still hasn't scheduled follow-up meetings with aboriginal governments to complete plans for managing the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou herds.

The government stopped issuing Bathurst caribou hunting tags before the Christmas holidays.

Minister of Environment, Michael Miltenberger, said he wanted to meet as soon as the Christmas break was over.

But the Chief of Whati, Alfonz Nitsiza, says he hasn't heard anything yet.

“It’s up to them to call a meeting. It's not for us to chase them down," Nitsiza says. "They have a responsibility that they have to manage this herd, and we try to play a part in that. But it's their call.”

The meetings between aboriginal groups and the government are to talk about creating a mobile protective zone around the core of the remaining Bathurst herd.

Last year, Miltenberger said a meeting is necessary before launching that plan.

But Nitsiza says the delay hasn't stopped some of his community members from planning trips to hunt caribou from the Bluenose-East herd.  

The territorial government still has to set a new harvest limit for that herd as well.