Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for the detail in that response. I have frequently mentioned the economic potential for the development of a knowledge economy. Creation of a world-class centre on contaminated site remediation is a major opportunity from the Giant Mine project. Can the Minister describe what steps our government may be taking to ensure that we create such a centre and to help us take advantage of the remediation economy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I'm trying to figure out here: is this ongoing activities within the department? Are resources being diverted from within ENR to support work on the Slave Geological Province Road? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am certainly confused by this. This money, is it going to be carried over? I didn't think you could carry over O and M. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Minister for that. I actually got to go on a caribou road show with him one time, too, while we were driving around, driving-around stories. I want to thank the Minister for that answer. The working group is supposed to develop an action plan to flow benefits to the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister tell us whether this action plan is finished, and can he share it with Regular MLAs so we can see what kind of benefits may be coming for NWT residents from the remediation of Giant Mine?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Which departments are contributing towards this funding? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Far be it for me to complain about new positions in a facility that is in my riding, but certainly the messaging that I have been giving to my constituents was what I was told, was that the facility would operate with the same number of staff. So I will certainly correct my messaging. I am happy to sit down with the Minister to try to figure out why or who may have passed that information on. I just want it clearly understood now, and I regret if I have misled anybody, that it is going to require more staffing to run the new facility. That is all I have. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier this week I attended the annual public meeting held by the Giant Mine Remediation Project staff. A lot of work was required to contain and manage arsenic trioxide waste for at least the next 100 years, to remediate soil, demolish buildings, build and operate a new water treatment facility, and more. A report on the water licence application and process was also provided.

A good deal of the meeting was taken up with discussing opportunities for northern benefits during the decade-long remediation. Contracts valued at $430 million have been let so far, but...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think this is where the Slave Geological Province Corridor funding is found. Can someone tell me whether there's any matching funding from GNWT for this work to go ahead? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can anybody tell me what the current staff level is at the hospital and how many new positions are being added as a result of this funding? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Minister for that. I appreciate that he is going to raise this at the next federal-provincial-territorial meeting on consumer affairs with his colleagues that he works with. I think that is a good step. In my statement today I spoke about cross-jurisdictional issues that can sometimes frustrate consumers, and those include things like air carriers, flight complaints, and those sort of things. Can the Minister explain how he works with his federal counterparts in terms of consumer rights and protection?