Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for confirming that for me. For a government that says it is open and transparent, consulting only the industry and perhaps Indigenous governments, only consulting industry, I don't think that is a great idea, and I think that is a clear definition of regulatory capture. Can the Minister make public the work requirements and rental rates for future significant discovery licences and the rationale that he used in setting them? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Well, it is my understanding that, when the federal government issued those original rights, they made provision for fees to be charged as a rental rate. Perhaps the rental rate wasn't specified, but at least it was in there, so why did the Minister not include any fees or work requirements in the 10 significant discovery licences that he issued?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I, too, would like to recognize my friend, Violet Camsell-Blondin, and I have had the pleasure of working with Violet for probably 30 years. She now serves as the chair of the Status of Women Council, and I thank her for her public service. I would like to recognize Frame Lake constituent Louise Elder and thank her for her work as executive director of the Status of Women Council. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the explanation. Just to be crystal clear here, there is no change in the funding that is provided to the Information and Privacy Commissioner or the Language Commissioner. There is no reduction in their ability to carry out the programs and services that they do, other than the fact that the resources are being reduced to provide for a shared support person in the office. Is that correct? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I might go and have a chat with some folks in the library as well, because they provide great service to us, and it would be great to have that sort of archival information available online for research purposes as well. I want to thank our witnesses. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. There is a significant increase from 2018-2019 to 2019-2020 in research, information and library services. Can one of our guests here explain that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I will provide some introductory remarks and then turn to the process used to develop the bill. I will also provide some comments on the bill and concerns with what is there and what is missing.

The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we are already seeing the consequence of global warming, with an increase of 1 degree Celsius in annual mean temperature. There is more extreme weather and diminishing Arctic see ice, among other changes. The report notes that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius would require "rapid, far...

I thank the Minister for that commitment. Can the Minister give me an idea as to when he expects to make this information public?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to follow up again with the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. He talked about two different ways of capturing some benefits from significant discovery licences. One is in the initial call for bids, and second, in the actual issuance of the significant discovery licence itself. In the call for bids, has a decision been made by the Minister on what the rates would be for significant discovery licences in the future? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for that explanation. It was a fear of risk of litigation, so that we now don't get any benefits from these significant discovery licences. The Minister last week said that we should not, "set rules without a transparent and open process." The Minister also said that he will consider charging rental rates under the terms and conditions for future bids in the Northwest Territories when we put out plans for petroleum exploration in the future. Can the Minister tell us who is consulted in setting those rates and what they will be?