Kevin O'Reilly

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I've been at a lot of meetings about Giant Mine over the last 30 years, and certainly whenever I've been at meetings where there have been elders from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, they've raised this issue of an apology and compensation. They've been waiting a long time for that to happen, and unfortunately some of them are no longer with us.

How do you explain to somebody who used to be able to go to the lake and take water out of it that they actually now have to pay to get safe water delivered to their house? So why is this motion before us today? I think the Giant...

Thanks to the Minister for that update. It was very helpful. Protection of NWT caribou herds is a complex matter as there are a number of communities that have traditionally harvested herds, most migrate between the NWT and Nunavut, there are different management regimes on each side of the boundary, and very little habitat has any permanent protection. That raises the issue of whether our government has any policy or position on resource development within calving grounds. Can the Minister say whether our government has a position or policy on resource development within caribou calving...

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Later today, we will be debating a motion about development in the calving grounds of one of our migratory caribou herds. The Bathurst caribou herd has plummeted from a high of 472,000 animals to 16,000. Indigenous governments have voluntarily halted harvesting, yet nothing has been done in terms of habitat protection. Can the Minister give us an update on the status of the Bathurst herd and whether there are any signs of recovery? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Midwifery: where to begin? We go back to the last Assembly in 2012, when public advocacy prompted the government to commission a Midwifery Review and Expansion Analysis Report. That report recommended options for expansion of midwifery service, including creating a territorial model based out of Yellowknife in 2015-2016, so that the full rollout could be done in 2016-2017. Mr. Speaker, that was last year.

The Minister stated in July 2015 that he was still committed to introducing midwifery services, but then there was no money; so a further study and further public...

Mr. Chair, as you mentioned earlier, we are just going to work away through each of the recommendations as a motion.

The first recommendation I have: Mr. Chair, I move that the Assembly recommend that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to establish an electoral residency requirement of six consecutive months on or before polling day. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So yes, some of it's for unanticipated enrolment, but the $1.542 million for JK, how is that calculated and what does it actually get us? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is recommendation 9 from the report. I move that this Assembly recommends that Section 257.1(1) of the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to increase the penalty for non-compliance to $500, plus a daily fine of $50 to a maximum of $1,000. And further, that the act be amended to establish that the term of office for returning officers expires with resignation, change of permanent residency to outside the Northwest Territories, revocation, or death. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do sincerely appreciate the efforts of my Cabinet friends to speed up that work. I just want to go on the record, because I don't often do that, thanking them for their hard work on that one. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that very clear commitment. One more question for him, if I may, Mr. Speaker: the audit shows that there is often a flurry of activity around the adoption of a greenhouse gas strategy and then efforts to monitor and report quickly wane. We know that, if we don't get our act together, we may be ineligible for federal program funding. How does the ENR Minister intend to ensure that climate change becomes a real priority for this government with the attention and leadership it clearly requires and as called for by the Auditor General...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just would like to speak to this briefly. The committee was also cognizant that we did receive correspondence from the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and the NWT Association of Communities expressing some concerns about the recommendation that came from the Chief Electoral Officer on this subject. To us, that just flagged that this needs some more work and a discussion amongst these different organizations. I think there are probably some good opportunities for collaboration and coordination amongst them, whether having the Chief Electoral Officer run...