Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. Yesterday I tabled a 2017 report contracted by the Industry, Tourism and Investment Department called "Policies for Generating Socioeconomic Benefits from Natural Resource Extraction Projects." This report shows how jurisdictions around the world make sure their citizens get a fair share of benefits from non-renewable resources extraction.

Unfortunately, this report received by the ITI 18 months ago was only recently posted deep on the department's website because I forced this government to make it public through an access to information request. Committee was not...

I guess one last thing. I would like to see the commitment that if there were an interest in pursuing additional exclusions, can the Minister commit that he would consult with interested stakeholders, including the City of Yellowknife and Regular MLAs before expanding that exclusion list by regulation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have a couple of questions I want to ask on clause 7 about the regulation-making authority. I want to know whether it's the intention of the Minister to bring forward any regulations with regard to expanding the exclusions as set out under the Act. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Okay, that sounds like that there were some sort of, at least preliminary calculations done. Does the department have any kind of analysis that, even a rough estimate, of what the cost to GNWT would be without this exclusion? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just have a few thank yous at the beginning. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the thorough review they did on the bill. I sat in on some of the work and appreciated that opportunity.

The City of Yellowknife has done a lot of work on these two issues of the accommodation tax and local improvement charges for energy retrofits. These were live issues when I served on city council from 1997 to 2006. These have been a very, very long time coming.

This will provide some funding for tourism, promotion, and investment, and I just wish that our...

I would like to thank the Minister for that, but he didn't tell me why the report was withheld as part of the public consultations for the development of the act.

One of the major findings of the report is that there "may be potential for a comprehensive NWT strategy for resource-led development" and that "a consultative process could get a consistent approach to tackling the hard questions that might otherwise divide the NWT's various constituents." Does the Minister intend to act on this recommendation, and how will this be included in the development of the Mineral Resources Act?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I outlined my efforts to pry the contracted publicly funded report, Policies for Generating Socioeconomic Benefits From Natural Resource Extraction Projects, from his department. First, I was refused the report. Then, because I wanted to make it public, I insisted upon an ATIPP request, and the report was posted deep on the ITI website without public notice.

Can the Minister explain how a government purportedly committed to openness and transparency would only make such a report publicly...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As chair of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures, I am pleased to present Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act.

Bill 24 is the result of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures review of three reports submitted by the Chief Electoral Officer in the life of the 18th Assembly. The first, entitled "Modernizing Election Administration in the Northwest Territories," was tabled by the Speaker on May 31, 2016, and reports on the conduct of the general election. The second report is a white paper on the independence and accountability of...

Thanks. I appreciate the comments, and in fact, I try to do that, but given that the traffic there is, like, actually five lanes wide when you consider the turning lane into the hotel, it is hard to see that far, and if another vehicle is sort of in behind, you don't know whether they are stopping or not. I get it; you guys are going to check into that and try to improve it.

That is from the pedestrian perspective, but also, I think, for the drivers, because I have driven that part as well. All of a sudden, somebody's pressing a light. You don't know whether the guy in front of you is actually...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have two documents to table today. The first is entitled "Policies for Generating Socioeconomic Benefits from Natural Resource Extraction Projects, A Research Report for the Government of the Northwest Territories" by Eric Werker, Maggie Cascadden, and Katherine Zmuda, dated April 23, 2017. Mr. Speaker, the second document I wish to table is entitled "NWT Resource Production 1999 to 2017," one page. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.