Kevin O'Reilly

I want to talk a little bit here about caribou protection measures. The Minister mentioned that GNWT rightly opposed the mineral development in the calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou herd on the Nunavut side. Yet, there is still no caribou protection measures in place for the Bathurst caribou or any herd on the NWT side of the border. I would like to know from the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, what specific actions has GNWT taken to reduce the impacts of mining activities on the Bathurst caribou herd on our side of the border?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just want to provide some assurance to the department and the staff that in no way am I questioning the integrity of any of the staff there. I'm just trying to understand how they implement independence. So that's all I've got. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just on this subject of net metering. Although we have that policy in place for it, people that build up credits, they lose them at the end of the year. So it is not really a very good policy. And I don't think it goes far enough in terms of encouraging people to become more self-sufficient. Is the department looking at developing a better policy when it comes to net metering? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess where I'm going with this is the individual services executive director is a government employee, indeterminate, and does he serve, then, at the pleasure of the Minister? How is that position crafted? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. There seems to be a lot of numbers being thrown around in terms of predictions of revenues and so on. Does the Minister actually have a business case, or the projections? I guess, because -- yes, does the Minister have a business case and can he share that with the Regular MLAs? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, monsieur le President. The Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board released part A of its decision on the joint Tlicho Government and GNWT management proposal for the Bathurst caribou herd on May 26th of this year. This decision focused on the state of the herd, harvest restrictions in time for the 201617 season, and wolf control. Part B will come later this summer and will feature recommendations on biological and environment monitoring and cumulative effects.

Mr. Speaker, the board found that "despite all the management actions taken over the past seven years, the herd is still declining...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. It's not a question about the court library, so the Minister can breathe a huge sigh of relief. I should have asked this earlier about the office of the regulator of oil and gas operations. Since the staff are government employees, how does the department and the government ensure the independence of this office? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am assuming this is the part of the department's budget where there would be funding to prepare a plan to get all the communities of the Northwest Territories off diesel. Is that where that sort of funding would be found? Is that something that the department is working on? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm going to approach this cautiously, because I have the greatest respect for the staff in this office. As I understand it, these folks are all employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Is that correct, Mr. Chair?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just so I understand this, the entire budget for the Surface Rights Board is coming from the feds, and how long is that going to last for? Thanks, Mr. Chair.