Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Premier for that, of course. I'm not suggesting that that be the sole and exclusive focus of the document. I want to make sure that sustainability is incorporated into it. It's offered as genuine input, and I hope that he'll take me up on the offer of including that sort of information and perspectives into the document. It's not just about resource development, and nor should it be.

I have another question for the Minister: is he committed, then, to sharing drafts of the chapters as it is being put together with Regular MLAs and keeping us updated on...

I would like to thank the Premier for confirming that there was no public consultation with regard to the development of that statement. I have had a chance to look at it. It is supposed to be about sustainable development. You could actually take the word "sustainable" out and just replace it with "resources." There is nothing in the document, really, with regard to sustainability.

The classic definition of "sustainability" is to make sure that things that we do today do not take away from opportunities for future generations. It is about intergenerational equity. The Premier himself has...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I don't think I actually heard a response to my question. I will try it again. I think he has leapt ahead to the next one I was going to ask. I was looking for a commitment from the Minister to an independent, evidence-based review of economic rent from mining, including taxes and royalties, during the life of this Assembly. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks to the Minister for that response. He promised to give more information on how this is dealt with in other jurisdictions in the report. It is not there. On October 19th, when he did appear before the standing committee, he promised there would be targeted public engagement on this report. Yesterday, he repeated that promise in the House. Can the Minister explain what this targeted engagement is and who is going to be consulted and when?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to start with something really simple: can the Minister of Finance tell the public whether our government actually believes in climate change and that carbon pricing is an essential tool to address this threat? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I would like to start off on the issue of the land rights negotiations. The Minister indicated that there is an additional $595,000 in this year's budget for it. That is likely a good thing, but this comes after two years of cuts within the department and its capacity to negotiate. It is good that we are trying to work towards that. I guess I'll have some questions about what that funding is really going to be used for.

The other thing I want to say about this is that there is a joint committee of Cabinet and Regular MLAs to talk about some of these issues, but it has never...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I will use my reply to the budget address to set out some of my thoughts on the following, as I did last year:

A quick summary of the 2018-2019 budget and fiscal context;

A review of what I recommended in my reply to the 2017-2018 budget address;

A description of the process for the 2018-2019 Budget and how it might be improved; and

The good and the bad of the 2018-2019 Budget as proposed by Cabinet.

Let there be no mistake, Cabinet continues to cut programs and services to fund surpluses that are being used to pay for large infrastructure projects such as the $67...

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency on his lengthy statement earlier today. He had to reach back in time to 20152016 and quote some figures from the main estimates, but can he tell me what is in the current main estimates of 20182019 in terms of royalties from minerals, oil, and gas extraction here in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks to the Minister for that explanation. It sounds like there are a lot of things that are still coming, but we actually have a hard deadline we have to deal with. The federal government keeps moving forward with the national approach on climate change that will allow Canada to meet its international obligations. We now have a deadline of March 30th, about seven weeks away, to make a decision about our own carbon pricing system or rely on the federal backstop. Can the Minister tell us how he intends to meet this federal deadline and still include the input of committee, and perhaps the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. Yes, I can clarify that. Can the Minister of Finance, then, tell the public: what is the position of our government with regard to climate change, impacts on our environment and our people, and whether carbon pricing is an essential tool to address this threat? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.