Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have some general comments. I guess the thing that I am most concerned about with regard to this new merged department is the progress or lack thereof that we are making on land rights negotiations.

Back on December 9, 2015, when the Premier was running to become the Premier  I am just going to quote something here. He says, "I propose a joint committee between Regular Members and Cabinet to provide oversight and give direction to our negotiators on files dealing with Aboriginal land and resource agreements. Let's get these land claim agreements completed, all of them...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the answer from the deputy minister. I don't need to lecture him on this, but there are lots of great models out there. The Norwegian pension fund is over $1 trillion now, and there are difficulties with the Alberta one; it's capped. In Alaska, they just give it away, which I don't think is an appropriate model. The governance issue is more than just having people watch over it. How the money is invested, I agree, we want to be fairly conservative because we do not want to lose the principle, but, at the same time, some funds have been placed in environmental...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Did any of those positions have any roles to play with regard to negotiations? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to just pursue this issue of changes to the diamond mine environmental agreements a little bit further with the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Earlier, I said that I can assure the Minister that the initiative to change the agreements last time to remove the federal government from the agreements was actually coming from our government, GNWT. I am pleased to hear him say that is not the case now, that there were some letters sent in December of 2016 about changes. Can the Minister table some sample letters in this House just so we have a better...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Minister is a good mindreader today. How much is in the heritage fund now? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I was not sure exactly where to ask this question, and it's partly a product of the merger of these two departments. In the business plan for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations it shows a staffing reduction of four positions from 201617 to 201718 in Yellowknife headquarters. I am wondering if someone can explain to me how that shows up in this amalgamation of these two departments and what those four positions were all about? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have three things I want to pursue here. Maybe I will start with the easiest. I guess I have been on record as raising this issue of the need to index our Northern Resident Tax Deduction. We have gotten an increase in the last federal budget, but I know the Minister had made a commitment to continue to pursue this issue of indexing it. I wonder if he could just give us a little bit of an update of where that work is at. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I thank the Minister again that he recognizes that there was opposition to the sorts of changes that were being proposed by our government on the environmental agreements in the past. So can the Minister explain how his department intends to meaningfully consult with Indigenous governments and the public regarding any amendments to the diamond mine environmental agreements?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Are there any further staffing reductions contemplated with regard to negotiations in the current budget? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do appreciate the commitment from the Minister to do that, and I am hoping it can be done in a timely fashion; probably, I do not know, sometime before June would be great. Do you think he can do that? Thanks, Mr. Chair.