Thank you for the questions.
On the consultation process the government follows, if you don't have a copy of this MOU we've talked about today between the NWMB and government, the committee should probably get a copy of it, because it is actually a good-news story under SARA. What we've agreed on there is not what takes place in consultations, but how long they will take place.
We have section 37--Environment Canada, Parks Canada, Fisheries and Oceans conducts relevant public consultations in Nunavut, including with relevant Inuit organizations, between November and mid-February. So that's about four and a half months for consultations.
But what actually takes place, which I think is very sensible, depends on the species. Right now the listing of polar bears is before the board. It's a huge issue, as I'm sure you're all aware. There the government did a really tremendous job in its consultations. It went to every single community in Nunavut and had oral face-to-face consultations--the best kind of consultation. It took a number of months. But for wolf-fish, which occur in Nunavut waters, there's nothing like that going on because of prioritizing, and so on. The economic, social, and cultural needs and interests of Inuit are taken into account.
So it really depends upon the species. But the Cadillac version would be what was done recently with polar bears. The NWMB held a three-day public hearing and is expected to make a decision on the listing of the polar bear this June and go to the minister in July. So I expect that some time in the fall there will be a final decision. So within a reasonable timeframe look at the species and take it from there. But certainly under the MOU we think you can generally get everything done within those four and a half months. It may not take that long. You may be very busy for the whole four and a half months.
On how to enhance it, even with what I just said, consultations and communications with the public of Nunavut, primarily Inuit, over the first five or six years of SARA have not been adequate, and there are problems. People are distrustful of the act. They're suspicious when the consultations take place. There really has to be a redoubling of efforts to communicate and consult in an appropriate manner with the public of Nunavut, and I suspect with the aboriginal public right across the country.