Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks to the Minister for that. I take it from his response that there is no signs of recovery. GNWT has been leading a range-planning exercise for the Bathurst caribou herd, and I commended the Minister in the House for this work back in March of this year. Can the Minister give us a status report on this range-planning exercise and when we can expect to see a concrete plan and some actions to protect the Bathurst herd and its habitat?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. William Lines. He is the Giant Mine coordinator for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and I very much appreciate his work on that important issue. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I think this motion really deserves some very serious debate. I look forward to some comments here, but no, more seriously, we often don't get to recognize our staff. This is one of the few occasions we actually get to do that. Thank you, Doug, for over 30 years of service.

You are an encyclopedia of knowledge. You have this uncanny knack of enabling us to get the best out of ourselves seriously. Personally, you have provided some very solid advice to me. You have made my re-entry back into political life a lot easier. I sincerely wish you all the best with your...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't want to speak on this at length, but I personally had heard a number of complaints about our students in particular not getting absentee ballots while they were down south studying. Certainly, it happened for my son. The Chief Electoral Officer did identify this as a problem and an issue, and she brought this forward as a recommendation, so I am more than happy to increase opportunities for our students to participate in our elections. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is helpful information. I am just wondering if someone can explain, then, to me why this is not really in the O and M budget, and why this is not really part of the regular project planning for something like a new highway. Can someone explain why this is not part of the regular project funding and in the O and M budget? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is recommendation 13. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to enable the Chief Electoral Officer to develop and make materials available to schools for distribution to students who have reached voting age or will soon do so, including information on the NWT's electoral process, the right to vote, how to have one's name added to the register of electors, and any other matter that the Chief Electoral Officer considers useful to electors and prospective electors. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is the fourth recommendation. Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to limit and regulate third-party election advertising related to candidates and/or policy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Earlier this week, actually, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment made a statement about the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. In there, he said that ITI was working to position residents and business in the Beaufort Delta region to capitalize on economic opportunities from year-round road access. That led me to believe that ITI was sort of in charge of this part of this project and that they would be funding tourism-related activities and capacity building and so on. Why is this $100,000 amount appearing in the Executive and Indigenous Affairs Department? It seems...

I don't want to prolong this, but this is about clarifying the Chief Electoral Officer's ability to carry out investigations and enforcement and I think these largely stem from recommendations that she made, and I think they're very helpful in improving the transparency of the complaint process and providing some firm deadlines and certainty around complaints and. Thank you, Mr. Chair.