Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So I just want to start by saying that although I ask a lot of tough questions of this department, I do appreciate the work that the staff do, and I know that they're always doing their best.

But I do have some questions around climate change and the conservation area planning and management over a longer period of time. The Nature Fund protected areas grants and contributions is going down, down on page 81. It's about, I don't know, almost $300,000 less this year than last year. When I look at conservation planning and implementation program detail on page 80, it's about $1...

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm not asking him to splash it all across the newspapers, but the only information I've got from this Minister, from this government, is what I get in the House about this issue. That is totally unacceptable.

What I want from this Minister is to start sharing what they're doing behind closed doors with this side of the House. So as the "polluter pays principle" says, you know, the Northwest Territories should not have to spend our resources to understand what the impacts may be from the tar sands. Can the Minister tell us what...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think I may have seen a document, but can the Minister commit to share it with standing committee and report regularly on progress on that initiative? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm not sure he actually answered my question. So I'll try it a different way here.

So one of the most important pieces of work that's going to be done is considering any potential discharges and the impacts of the tar sands tailings, and that usually involves modeling of contaminants downstream. So can the Minister tell us if any of this modeling work has been done and whether it includes the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Yeah, okay, thanks for that. Okay, for the tailings cover, the dust suppressant, stuff starts to dry out in May. Do we actually have the suppressant in stock, so to speak, and is it ready to be sprayed on or whatever in May? Because that's when the stuff starts to blow around, so. That's something we've seen from Giant Mine for years and the same out there so do we have the stuff ready to go? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Madam la Presidente. Lots of issues here were raised at the recent hydrogen workshop, including the need to pose the right research questions, ensure stakeholder engagement, do life cycle analysis of options, and looking at bridging technologies.

Can the Minister commit to developing a Northwest Territories hydrogen strategy that will examine these issues and more? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. You'll want to reset the clock but I don't think I need the full ten minutes you might be relieved to know.

On this one, contaminated sites is listed as one of the program areas, and I note that in one of the very few successful environmental rights act requests for an investigation, there might have been two only successful in about 20 years. The last one, though, was about the Ptarmigan Mine, which is down the road here in Yellowknife. Quite frankly, it's a disgrace. People, tourists have to drive by that thing all the time, and it's just a total mess. But the Minister did...

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for her excitement over the workshop. We heard that a regional approach is needed for the required energy transition to get us off fossil fuels. For example, trucking and shipping is a big part of the economy for northern regions while surplus hydro is found in the south.

Can the Minister tell us how the new energy action plan will recognize and embrace our regional needs here in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Nothing further.

Yeah, thanks for that information. So this review one of the questions I had was whether the criteria are going to change because I understand there's only some things that can get claimed. There's a maximum amount and that not everybody was necessarily happy with the amount that they received compared to the actual damages. So when is this review going to be finished and when will the criteria be changed? Thanks, Mr. Chair.