Bob Bromley

Thank you, Madam Chair. Clearly, in terms of the guidelines that were presented to the commission, this is the worst of the three scenarios they presented. It does not resolve the issues of under- and overrepresentation. As well, the issues of culture and language remain as we’ve heard for at least two groups.

I would particularly like to say for Monfwi this is unfair and perpetuates an unfairness that’s been on record for some time now. This is our opportunity to correct that, I would say. So I don’t think we should be holding our head up much if we do pass this motion.

I’d also like to say...

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, colleagues. I’ll wrap up here. I wasn’t watching the clock.

We need to increase fairer representation across our territory while being as sensitive as possible to the recognition of cultural and language groups and determining constituency boundaries. We need to empower the next commission to grapple with and confront the likely need to cross some cultural or language group boundaries in order to achieve more fair representation.

As an MLA whose riding has the highest population by far, and with the greatest diversity of cultures, lifestyles and community...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seventy percent of inspections have failed to happen. We know that. Jericho. The Minister says there are no failures today. Baloney. The National Energy Board recently proposed new requirements to make sure companies exploring for oil and gas in the Sahtu don’t get to leave the public on the hook to clean up after them. Does the Minister support these new requirements?

How does the Minister know? He didn’t talk to them. Clearly, the Minister is not interested in speaking to residents. He said it himself. This is talking to the industry, saying what is our wish list here. I think we all agree that mines should produce a net benefit for the public, not a liability. The Mineral Development Strategy Industry Panel Report, on behalf of our 42,000 people, proposes at least seven new government subsidies for the mining industry.

Could the Minister explain which of these subsidies provides the best return on investment for the public? Is it the publicly funded...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week the Giant Mine Project Team released its response to the environmental assessment. I’m glad they released it. Having the government play the role of proponent and regulator is confusing. If this was a mining company cleaning up its own mess, we would demand that there be no secret communications with the regulator, so there should be no secrets here either.

As a co-proponent, the Giant Mine Project Team includes part of our government. They are proposing to do work that would normally be done by mining companies, but they are not doing this to make or save...

This Minister is out to lunch. The expert panel was an industry panel. There have been two mines approved in the last few months. There’s a list of mines that are on the docket to be approved. The biggest subsidy of all may be the pre-cleanup service that we offer when mines close. Past experiences at Faro, Giant, Colomac, Ptarmigan and Tom Mines should teach us that. All are costing more to clean up than either we or the federal government get back ever in revenues.

Under devolution we will assume full responsibility for cleanup costs on new mines. Given the clear and unaddressed inadequacies...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up from my Member’s statement on Friday, which was on the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure’s tabled document on responsible extraction, wherein the Pembina Institute reviewed the Industry Panel Report on Pathways to Mineral Development. I’d like to note right off that the panel public consultation effort was about a third of what was funded, unlike the economic development opportunities report which was its full budget and did a comprehensive consultation.

To focus on subsidies today, could the Minister please explain how...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure tabled a report by the Pembina Institute, entitled Responsible Extraction. As we heard, the report was commissioned because there were substantive concerns that the industry panel report towards the GNWT Mineral Development Strategy seemed to be not only far from public interest policy, but leaning towards an industry wish list of support and public expense. I mean no disrespect to the authors of that report, but I think that their terms of reference and their composition did not foster public...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s also with great pleasure that I recognize John and Helen Parker, who have had a big influence on my life, as they well know. I’m very glad to see them in the House. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the new Minister of Health and Social Services, with my congratulations, and it follows up on my Member’s statement on the need for a treatment centre or not within the Northwest Territories.

Does the Minister agree that the need for a drug and alcohol treatment centre in the NWT, which means the allocation of substantial funding and efforts, versus focusing on other programs and accessing southern institutions, remains unclear and needs attention and focus to be resolved? Mahsi.