Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What this change is all about is to I think just shift the focus a little bit, not just from developing a five-year action plan for the Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program, but supporting the program as a whole. It's part 6 of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. This was part of the integrated resource management system that was negotiated through constitutionally entrenched land claims agreements to make sure that we understand what the health of our ecosystems is, but also to look at how the different components of that integrated environmental management...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't think I have anything further to add at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The important addition here is the words at the end to focus some attention on not just managing contaminated sites, but actually preventing them from happening in the first place. That’s really the purpose of financial security system. Earlier today in my Member’s statement and through questions, I raised a number of issues around the importance of this, and what happens if we don't manage our land and water carefully. We can incur huge liabilities that can cripple us financially. We don't have nearly the room of the federal government to absorb those sorts of costs, so...

Mr. Chair, I am going to be voting against this amendment. As a resident of Yellowknife, I have travelled a number of the highways in various seasons for work purposes, holidays, and so on, and certainly, our family has a much better piece of mind travelling along those roads and seeing emergency shelters, knowing that if we ever had to use them, they were actually there and available. It's not just folks from the small communities, but even for people from Yellowknife, it's created, I think, a better sense of safety and peace of mind knowing that those sort of facilities are there, so I am...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a motion I'd like to make to amend a document. I move Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, be amended on page 11 by deleting the words “We will ensure that residents are informed about the territories' resource development options, including the potential benefits and risks associated with different options” and inserting the words “We will ensure that residents have meaningful opportunities to participate in the assessment of potential benefits and risks associated with resource development, including...

My questions are for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. Regarding the co-management boards governing the Mackenzie Valley and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, what is the Government of the Northwest Territories doing to ensure that all vacancies on the co-management boards are filled? Could the Minister provide background information on the current state of vacancies, including:

the current number of vacant positions on each of these boards;

how long each of these currently vacant positions has remained vacant;

the nominating authority for each of these vacant...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don’t want to belabour this, but I also have a personal connection with this as I am quarter French Canadian. [English translation not provided.] I'll try to speak a little bit of French occasionally in this House, but also, my children did go through Ecole Allain St-Cyr. They did not have access to a gym and special classrooms, but I'm hoping that we can put that sort of stuff behind us and move forward in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration with the francophone community here in the Northwest Territories. Merci.

I just want to better understand the slow progress on the establishment of this division and the critical work that it's starting to get place. I believe the Minister may have partially answered the question here, but can the Minister of Lands describe what the barriers are for this work and what the Department of Lands is doing to get this important work back on track?

Mr. Chair, I believe I have another motion here to amend the mandate document. I move that Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, be amended on page 18 by inserting the words “We will work collaboratively with the NWT's francophone community to support French language education.” Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When I checked the GNWT phone directory listing on our website, there's no longer a director for the liabilities and financial assurances division, and only two staff: a project assistant and a specialist. It's not clear what is going on with the staffing of the division. Can the Minister of Lands tell us whether people are leaving this division and why, and what are the plans to fill those positions? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.