Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks Mr. Chair. That’s helpful information to have. Anything above $50,000 that we’re going to save with the staff person is being spent on publications? I’m trying to find out, I want to get a specific breakdown of this $467,000, and I don’t seem to be getting it from the department?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I appreciate the response from the Minister. I guess the reason why I’m pursuing this in the House today is that the Nunavut Impact Review Board announced its recommendation recently that the Sabina Gold Project should not go ahead on the Nunavut side of the border because of its potential impact on the Bathurst caribou herd and its calving grounds. Now, the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories in that proceeding and that process was that we did not want to see any development in the calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou herd. If we’re going to...

I understood, though, that there was an internal restatement within the department where a number of costs that were associated with a library have now been apportioned to the court registries. Can the Minister or his staff confirm that? I think the figure was about $220,000. Can the Minister or his staff confirm that, please?

Yes, certainly, I’m talking about Bathurst caribou, specifically the Bathurst caribou herd and that’s the herd that was the subject of the response that the Minister tabled in the House earlier this week. That’s what I’m asking is habitat protection on the NWT side of the border for the Bathurst caribou herd.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I believe this is the page where the court library for the Northwest Territories has been cut, including the staff person there. I wanted to start by asking the Minister how the cut of the court library meets the mandate of the 18th Assembly, especially in this regard. Mandate item 4.4.3 reads, “we will seek to improve access to justice in the Northwest Territories by expanding legal outreach programs and expanding public education on programs and services.” I’m wondering if the Minister or his staff can explain how cutting the court library helps us achieve that part of our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I appreciate the answer. In the absence of any action by our government to ensure full and adequate security for Prairie Creek, it’ll be increasingly difficult to demonstrate due diligence. Without due diligence, it will be harder and harder to turn this site back to the federal government. The clock is ticking and we have less than three years to sort it out. Can the Minister commit now to voluntarily turn the Prairie Creek site back to the federal government to avoid us picking up the expenses of remediating another contaminated site? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister or his staff describe the six positions that are being cut here? Talk a little bit about what those positions are and whether they’re vacant or not? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. There are terms and conditions in that lease that limit the liability of Canadian Zinc and leave GNWT taxpayers at risk of having to pick up the unfunded liability of the site, which could be as little as $6.5 million or perhaps as much as $19 million. That lease is also in over-hold tenancy right now. Would the Minister tell this House what actions he is taking to close the financial security shortfall under the lease?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Are we going to be making more effective use of the facility? Are there other purposes that it can be used for? I understand that the number of youth offenders in there is not that great, which is a good thing overall, but are we able to repurpose parts of it or use it for other purposes to get some efficiencies? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi, colleagues, and mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The federal government calculated the liability at over $19 million, should the site actually go into production. The Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board settled on over $17 million. Clearly the financial security currently held would not allow for a proper remediation of the Prairie Creek site, and leaves the taxpayers at risk. In these times of fiscal restraint, this is not sound public policy. I will have questions for the Minister of Lands later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.