Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Madam Chair. Committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 43719(2), Capital Estimates 20222023, and we'd like to consider the Department of Health and Social Services and Municipal and Community Affairs. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'll try to give him a real gift here, all he has to say is yes.

So with regard, though, to the Slave Geological Province regional study, you know, participant funding is going to be a central issue. And in the last Assembly, my friend, the Honourable R. C. McLeod said, on March 2nd, 2016, We recognize the value of having our NWT residents participate in a lot of these processes and will continue to the Member that I will continue to raise these issues with our federal counterparts.

So my question to this Minister is does...

Merci Monsieur le President. My question's for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I want to follow up on some important facets for the proposed regional study for the Slave Geological Province.

In June of this year, his department carried out extensive aerial surveys of caribou herds including the Bathurst herd, and of course those surveys were delayed by a year. Can the Minister describe results of those surveys and, more specifically, the results for the Bathurst herd. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that but I was hoping for a few more steps in the public engagement. There's probably no doubt that critical minerals could play a positive contribution to greener energy technology to assist with the climate crisis but more work is needed on whether these minerals are the only or best solution. One of the questions at the workshop was whether we could mine our way out of the climate crisis. So I want to ask the Minister, can the Minister tell us what work has been done by this government as to whether we can mine our way out of...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I think actually quite a bit actually is available online right now. But is there going to be some sort of policy discussion around how fees are set for online staking? I don't think we want to be in the situation where, like, with significant discovery licenses where companies get to tie up huge swaths of land and do nothing, and that's what online staking can allow. So is there going to be a place and a time for the public, others to weigh in, about how this is actually going to operate and the appropriate fee structures and so on? Is that going to happen in...

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I visited Jean Marie River and the Minister on August the 11th to see some of the flood damage. Can the Minister provide an update as to the status of funding expended to date by this government in Jean Marie River and efforts to carry out any of that work from other sources. Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks. Do I need to ask the question again? All right. Can someone tell me what the ballpark figure of this mineral administration or registry system is and where we're at with its development? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Thanks. I've got other questions but I need to move on to my comments, thanks.

Madam Chair, I voted against the last capital budget and I intend to do so again on this one. I think we are spending too much money on capital. We're going into debt at a greater rate than any other -- any time that I've ever seen in my six years in past governments as well.

$150 million, this is what the Minister said yesterday, $150 million in this budget alone is for roads, and this budget shows us spending $10.6 million on housing, when housing is a priority for this Assembly, and certainly for myself, many of...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, thanks to the Minister for that. Yeah, I'm interested in having that meeting or discussion at some point, because the mines, they have water licenses. That's where the closure obligations are set out. They have a closure plan, standards are developed. I've seen, you know, reclamation calculations using spreadsheets. ENR actually maintains that spreadsheet.

I don't know why our system should be much different. In fact, some of our assets probably have water licenses, or should have water licenses. The sewage lagoons and so on. And they're going to have get...