Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. Just because he says it's coordinated, it doesn't actually mean it actually is coordinated, so I am going to have to push that with him. There is nothing, though, on the ENR website about the Environmental Rights Act. There is a general page that talks about how the bill or the legislation was going to be reviewed in the last Assembly, but there is nothing there to help promote the understanding of the new legislation. Can the Minister tell us when his department will finally take a more proactive role in promoting this...

I am feeling kind of SLAPP-happy right now. I want to thank the Minister for that, but talk is cheap. I am happy to be part of that conversation. My next question: I have reviewed the ENR website and could barely find any mention of a public registry for the Protected Areas Act, let alone some of the other legislation that the department is responsible for, including the Environmental Rights Act. Can the Minister tell us when or whether his department is considering a central environmental public registry to capture all of the reporting requirements found in the various environment and...

Merci, Madame la Presidente. The original Environmental Rights Act was passed as a private Member's bill by the Assembly in 1990. That legislation went through its first and only review in the last Assembly. There have been only four requests under the act in 30 years, so it's obviously not very well used or promoted. Of the four requests filed, there has only ever been one investigation actually carried out.

Unfortunately, the new Environmental Rights Act only made some minor improvements to what was already in place. The basis for investigations was extended to include acts of omission, but...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I want to thank the Minister for his honesty in all of that and forthrightness. I do have some ideas, though, that I will pitch his way. There was a collaborative approach taken with the NWTAC for the municipal funding gap review. There was a working group. They looked at the issue. They looked at some alternatives. It included people from MACA, as well. One of the principles that they said was that no community should lose funding as a result of this. I think that is a good thing. I think that is something you might want to think about as a principle for looking at the...

I want to thank the Minister for that. I am kind of putting him on the spot, but that is his job. I would like to know if he could be a little bit more particular or give us some more specifics about what these issues are. Look, this proposed protected area has been in process for years. The feds, as I understand it, are ready to go. They have the surface of the area that is going to be protected as a national wildlife area. The feds are ready to invest. I understand the community has lined up some private donors to set up a trust to hire guardians and so on. What is the problem? The problem...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Minister seems to be looking at some numbers. Can those be shared now with Regular MLAs? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Minister for that reply. Back in June of 2019, the then-Minister of Finance read out in the House a series of proposed decreases in fees, and I mentioned those in my Member's statement. I'm not going to run through them again, but is that what the Minister going to do with the regulations that are coming forward as early as fall of this year?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Well, it only took me six minutes to get there. Look, I've met with these people. They do a good job. They've got in place some guidance. They carry out their jobs good. No issues there whatsoever. They've been very helpful any time I visited or had questions, but at some point, there is no oil and gas activity happening here. How and when will we sort of review the financial needs for OROGO, and make any necessary adjustments if there's no oil and gas activity? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. In my statement earlier today, I talked about how we have some of the best access to information, protection, and privacy legislation in the world, maybe. The problem is it hasn't been implemented; it hasn't been brought into force. I'd like to ask the Minister of Justice to explain what the next steps are with regard to bringing these changes to ATIP into legal effect and when that might happen. Merci, Madam Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't think that was the answer I was looking for. This budget is prepared by the staff. Does it go to FMB for approval and/or the Minister of Finance or Cabinet? Who makes the final decision about whether and how this appears in the main estimates? Thanks, Mr. Chair.