Bob Bromley

Of course, we do have an entire division within the Department of Lands that is supposedly on top of liabilities.

In our fall session I was shocked to hear that the total shortfall of security deposits held by this government on behalf of mining interests was $176 million.

Can the Minister give me an update on the status of security deposits that are currently being held and what shortfalls there are now? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Lands, and I’d like to start by asking about recent news stories which have talked about layoffs at Cantung Mine. Cantung has recently cut their operating expenses and are considered by some to be in marginal operation at best. So I’m wondering if the Minister can give me a general update on the current status and fiscal viability of Cantung Mine. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to recent reports, the crisis regarding available facilities and beds for our growing populations of elders is coming fast. While we dither, the lineup for seniors care beds and services in Yellowknife and across the NWT is growing rapidly. While we claim that decisions must go through a long capital process, the situation worsens, forcing seniors to leave their northern homes or face the consequences. While we delay, our elder’s population grows by 6 or 7 percent a year.

The Department of Health and Social Services and Avens - A Community for Seniors hired Dr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Devolution was supposed to give the people of the Northwest Territories a voice in matters previously decided from afar by faceless bureaucrats with no skin in the game. It has become apparent, as illustrated by the issue of whether we should pursue fracking in the NWT or not, that our public’s voice continues to fall on deaf ears and that the government’s platitudes about decisions being made by the people of the North were just lip service. The people continue to be unheard when they speak.

That is why when presented with an initiative to give the people an opportunity...

Mr. Speaker, this motion is a reflection of the voice of the people of the Northwest Territories. They have written a petition, phoned, e-mailed, demonstrated, spoken at engagement sessions and petitioned, again, all without a single nod from either the Premier or the Minister of Industry to indicate that their voices have been heard.

The whereases of this motion speak clearly to those broad and deeply felt concerns about fracking, perspectives that have been clearly expressed by all of our regional Aboriginal governments and by all of those jurisdictions that have instituted bands and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I’ll look forward to that. Despite NEB’s rejection of surety bonds as acceptable surety against environmental liabilities, instead requiring irrevocable letters of credit, this government allows this form of security for mining operations after devolution.

What are the government’s plans for the form of financial instruments acceptable for risky environmental liabilities in the new fracking regulations? Mahsi.

Thank you. I’d say it would be important for this Minister to be on top of the viability of these mines because, of course, they’re the ones responsible for their cleanup and this Minister is responsible for ensuring that the liabilities are covered.

As we all know, mines failing and leaving huge environmental liabilities and costs to taxpayers behind are nothing new.

So my question is: What is the current status of Cantung’s security deposit for environmental liability?

Mr. Speaker, today I want to acknowledge the profound service to the people of the Northwest Territories and Canada by Weledeh constituent Marie Wilson, through her hard work on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Her effort towards healing for people affected by residential school experience is one of the most important and challenging tasks anyone could take on. Considerable healing was achieved through simply hearing people’s stories, a deceptively simple act that alone required extraordinary dedication and personal cost to her and her colleagues. The efforts by Ms. Wilson included...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all I want to thank all of my colleagues for their participation in the debate today and of raising their various perspectives.

First of all I’d like everybody to realize, in the Northwest Territories, that we’re talking about very big dollars here, very, very big dollars, and when we are doing that you can get a real distortion and move away from objectivity into distorted views and so on and a lot of biases.

So, I know it’s frustrating for the public, but that’s not unusual and it’s something we have to deal with. The public’s voice will be prevailing, but I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has chosen to pursue a focus on helping people lift themselves out of poverty. Unfortunately, the welfare-based system we now have in place has proven unsuccessful. It is complex, intrusive and inefficient and administration is too costly. Not enough dollars are getting through to the people who need them. Instead they are chewed up by an increasingly expensive bureaucracy. Positive outcomes are few and far between and the cycle of poverty deepens.

Economists of all political stripes, both right and left, agree that a better and more effective tool is the...