Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I give notice that on Thursday, December 9th, 2021, I'll move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the following Members be pointed as alternate members of the board of management: Mr. Rocky Simpson, the Member for Hay River South; and Mrs. Caroline Cochrane, the Member for Range Lake;

And further, that the following Members be appointed to the Standing Committee on Government Operations: Mrs. Lesa Semmler, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes; Ms. Caitlin Cleveland, the Member for Kam Lake; Mrs...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Can he commit to sharing this research with the Regular Members? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. Can he commit to share a copy of this letter that he's sending with the regular MLAs, even on a confidential basis, so that we're aware of what's being requested and how we might be engaged in the development of these regulations moving forward? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. And I want to apologize to the Minister in catching her a little bit cold-footed. But I guess I've had some concerns raised with me about whether we do actually have any criteria for the use of the airport.

One time in the early 1980s, this government actually took a principled stand against cruise missile testing in our territory, and I understand that this is a military weapon that is actually being tested at the airport. So can the Minister commit, if there is no criteria, to actually develop a set of criteria for a cold-weather testing at our airport? Merci, Mr...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister again for that information.

I'm not aware of any other economic sector or nongovernmental organization that has been able to have such privileged access with so little transparency. Last week we heard the Member for Great Slave call for a working group for the tourism sector and, you know, we had the business advisory council, the Minister tabled the terms the membership of this working group but the members for the Chamber of Mines were blacked out.

Can the Minister tell us whether any other economic sector or nongovernmental...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for trying to explain those notes to me.

But in the meeting summaries, there's also some sort of a pan-territorial investment study underway to support subsidies or grants to the mining industry. The chamber appears to have changed the terms of reference, influenced who was interviewed, and has been given advance drafts of the study.

Can the Minister explain what is going on with this study and when the public, and even Regular MLAs, may get a say in this work? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, I'm not a Member of the committee but I sat in on a lot of the meetings and deliberations, and I want to thank them for putting up with me. But, no, I think this is another example of a collaborative approach with our friends across the aisle where, you know, there were concerns identified by a number of presenters and compromises were reached. And the Minister accepted, I think there was seven different motions for changes to the bill to, I think, get a better balance in a number of areas in terms of Indigenous peoples, their representation in this moving forward...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for clarifying that. So I've suggested a couple of times now there are a number of options to bring greater transparency and accountability to these secret meetings.

Can the Minister tell us whether these meetings are consistent with our open government policy and describe how she is going to bring greater transparency and accountability to these secret meetings? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 43719(2), Main Estimates 20222023, be now concluded; and, that Tabled Document 43719(2) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. In October 2021, Alberta released the report from the $3.5 million Allan inquiry into foreign funded antienergy campaigns that found no evidence of wrongdoing by environmental groups.

Can the Minister tell us whether this government is going to hold a similar public inquiry in terms of watching philanthropic organizations, or does this government actually recognize the value that these organizations can bring to the NWT? Merci, Mr. Speaker.