Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. On April 17, 2020, the federal government announced $1.72 billion in financial assistance for the remediation of orphan and inactive oil and gas wells in western Canada as part of Canada's Economic Response Plan for COVID-19. On May 28, I made a statement in this House about the potential for the NWT to access similar funding, working in partnership with Yukon and Nunavut. The Premier provided some assurances that "remediation from mine sites has always been a priority." The Premier also said that a joint letter was in preparation to federal Ministers from the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I give notice that, on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Tabled Document 165-19(2): Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 1-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT; Tabled Document 166-19(2): Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 2-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT; and Tabled Document 167-19(2): Government of the...

I want to thank the Minister for that. It leads very nicely into my next question. In my statement, I referenced that literally billions of dollars are going to be spent on remediation at sites like Giant Mine, Norman Wells, and across the Northwest Territories, and I think that there are some enormous opportunities here to build a remediation economy that includes training, apprenticeships, research, and more. All of that, of course, should be linked to the polytechnic university. Can the Premier tell us whether our government has made that link between federal investment in an accelerated...

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Premier, who is responsible for federal relations. In my statement earlier today, I noted the potential for literally billions of dollars of federal investment across the northern territories as part of an accelerated program on contaminated-site remediation and economic recovery. It's not clear that my call for action was taken seriously in May. Does the Premier see this as a major opportunity for federal funding transfers? If so, tell us who is actually in charge of this work and how it's going to be coordinated across several...

I want to thank the Minister for confirming that. If the insurance companies would not agree to the sale of the Ekati Mine to the new entity, it raises questions of what our Cabinet's position is. Regular MLAs were not consulted in any way on this sale. Can the Minister tell us what Cabinet's position was or is on the sale to the new entity and who else it was conveyed to and when?

Merci, Monsieur le President. On June 3rd, I made a statement in this House about the uncertainty and lack of Cabinet communications surrounding the creditor protection proceeding for Dominion Diamond affiliates. The latest news is that the proposed sale of Ekati Mine has fallen through because the insurance companies that issued surety bonds covering the reclamation liabilities would not agree to the deal. The surety bonds cover about $280 million of the $295 million financial security for work that is supposed to be done in place under various licences and permits.

The GNWT now has total...

Merci, Monsieur le President. Your committee would like to report on its consideration of the matter of privilege referred by Motion 5-19(2) on March 11, 2020. To date, the committee has held numerous meetings to discuss this important and complex issue. A public hearing previously scheduled for October has been postponed to November 17, 2020, to allow the committee to further promote public engagement on the use of official languages in this Legislative Assembly.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the review period for this matter of...

I want to thank the Minister for that. I would just like to know a little more about how she intends to keep Regular MLAs informed about what is happening and what the position of our government is that is being put forward, moving forward.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to ask some more questions of the Minister of Finance around the Dominion Diamond situation, and I apologize. She doesn't have these questions before her. I know that, in her responses to some questions I asked earlier today, she talked about how the GNWT is involved in these proceedings and that they make sure that the court knows about the business interests at stake. Of course, we all want to see the mine continue, but one thing I didn't hear the Minister talk about was: we have a lot of workers at the mine site. Some of them are actually organized, as...

I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, we are at the table in those proceedings. Apparently, we have legal counsel there, and we do have a say in terms of the transfer of any of these licences, so I hope that it is exercised in a reasonable way and that this side is consulted. The Dominion Diamond news release said that the insurance companies that issued the surety bonds refused to agree to the sale to the new entity, so can the Minister explain what is going on? Why won't these insurance companies agree to the sale of the mine?