Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that, and I will acknowledge that, pretty quickly after some time she finds out about these things, she does share it with us. I want to give her credit for that. However, it seems to be changing almost daily or monthly, and I am just wondering what kind of lines of communication our government keeps with some of the creditors, Union of Northern Workers who represents some of the workers at the site, even the insurance companies that have the surety bonds, Dominion itself, if the Minister can speak in broad terms about the lines of...

I want to thank the Minister for that. I just hope that part of our messaging is that we have workers at the site. They do have rights, and we want to make sure that they are protected, because, if pensions aren't paid to these workers, guess what? They are going to come back, and they may end up on Income Assistance. It's going to cost our government something, as well.

I guess this really gets to the broader question of communications around what we're doing. I don't want to get into the specifics of the court proceeding, but the only place I can find any information about this is in the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, we all want to see the mine reopen, but I just don't want our government to get short-changed or the environment to get short-changed in the process. For the first time I can recall, GNWT accepted surety bonds as financial securities for this particular mine. Insurance companies don't stay in business by paying out. Can the Minister tell us whether it is Cabinet's position that these surety bonds should be converted to or replaced by the more reliable and irrevocable letters of credit issued by a Canadian chartered...

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. [English translation not provided.] I have tried to choose my words very carefully. Firstly, I would like to thank the residents of Frame Lake and indeed all the Northwest Territories citizens who have shared their views with me. I have seriously reviewed and considered them. I take the issue of removal of a Cabinet Minister very seriously. This is not a process or decision that I have taken lightly or quickly.

There are a couple of points I would like to start with. Firstly, processes and rules at the Legislative Assembly have evolved over many years and have...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I am still confused, and I think members of the public are still confused about this. If someone presents at the border and they don't have an exemption, they don't have a self-isolation plan, and if they head off somewhere, who is going to cover the costs associated with that? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to chat with the Minister afterwards. You have an opportunity to make a personal explanation to correct the record, but that's a procedural thing. This is still very confusing, Mr. Speaker. What happens when a Canadian citizen arrives into the NWT and they do not meet any of the current exemptions? Will they be turned back, or are they allowed to stay somewhere, even if it's at the border? Are they allowed to stay for 14 days and self-isolate and then apply for an exemption? How does this work?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I have been pushing him on that for some time, so I look forward to getting the information.

The scheduled calving ground survey for the Bathurst caribou herd is not going to proceed this summer as a result of the pandemic. Can the Minister tell us what the management implications are for the herd now that this key population assessment tool is not going to take place? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that. It was good to see the Minister working with Indigenous leaders to condemn the illegal killing of caribou and meat wastage in March of this year. Can the Minister tell us what enforcement actions resulted from this hunting and what preventative measures this government is taking?