Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. Again, thanks to the Minister. I'm glad to hear him say that promissory notes are not good. What he should be looking at is something called an irrevocable letter of credit from a charter bank. That's what you want. I'm helping him out with his homework here, but public consultations are under way on a new Mineral Resources Act. The words "financial security" are nowhere to be found in the discussion paper and the word "abandonment" appears once in the table.

The discussion on rehabilitation closure takes up three paragraphs and four questions with no analysis or...

I want to thank the Minister for that response. I think it doesn't really quite jibe with what he said on October 5th when he said, "We know the present system is working quite well." Earlier in my statement, I described the financial security mess involving a promissory note created against the closure and reclamation costs of the Mactung and Cantung properties. Can the Minister update us on the costs at work to property reclaim of Mactung and Cantung?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Committee Report 1-18(3): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures, Report on the Review of the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2015 Territorial General Election, Supplementary Recommendations, and the White Paper on the Independence and Accountability, be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2015 Territorial General Election, Supplementary Recommendations, and the White Paper on the Independence and Accountability of Election Administration in the Northwest Territories.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the Northwest Territories issued three reports, tabled by the Speaker on May 31, 2016, February 28, 2017, and June 1, 2017. These reports contain 107 recommendations for changes related...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I’m agreeing with the sentiments raised by my two previous speakers, colleagues from Yellowknife North and Yellowknife Centre, respectively. I think we had a more collaborative process this time around. That’s a good thing. There are, however, a number of conflicting items and commitments in the mandate, and it’s not possible to do it all. It’s so big that you could drive trucks through it. I’ll use one example. When we say that we’re going to try to accomplish three major road projects all at the same time, I think it’s unrealistic and raises unrealistic expectations among...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Premier for his very thorough answer. I very much appreciate getting the information. Can the Premier tell us whether he had any side meetings with Northern territories Premiers, and generally what might have been discussed, and any outcomes?

Merci, Monsieur le President. The Premier, I believe, was in Ottawa yesterday and maybe even this morning. I want to welcome him back. I’d also like to use this opportunity to get an update of what was discussed and any outcomes at the first Minister’s conference. Can the premier provide us with a brief summary of the main issues discussed and any outcomes? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Earlier in general comments, I neglected to say that I actually support most of the changes that are going to come forward. This is one, though, that I think the public deserves to know more about. This is a fundamental change in the document, in the mandate, that was tailored by Cabinet about what we are going to do about child care. The original mandate document reads "implementing universal and affordable child care." The version that has been tabled by Cabinet reads "making child care available and affordable." The words "universal" have been taken out. All along, I have...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will keep this very short. This is one of the changes that I do support, and I am well on record in this House as supporting post-secondary education here in the Northwest Territories and how we do not have a university. There are no universities north of 60 degrees, no universities in northern Canada, and I have talked about how a community like Akureyri in Iceland, 19,000 people, has a university, and there are Canadian students there studying circumpolar matters because they cannot do it in Canada. I am well on record supporting the development of a knowledge economy...

Once again, I would like to thank the Premier for that information. I really do appreciate getting this information from the Premier, and I know he is just fresh off the plane. Again, I sincerely thank him for this. I know that other Ministers also go to federal-provincial-territorial meetings. I am just wondering, this sort of reporting back would be really helpful, at least for myself and probably other Members on this side of the House. Can the Premier find a way to more systematically get back to Regular Members about what happens at federal-provincial-territorial meetings like the First...