Michael Nadli

I think it was just recently that one community in particular had worked on trying to advance the eight-step process and I think they’re at the point where they’re trying to conclude one of the stages to ensure that the process continues. Suddenly the government has stepped back and I want to know from the Minister why the department stepped back from the Protected Areas Strategy process.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Mr. Peter Redvers, who has been doing work with the community of Kakisa and also Ka’a’gee Tu First Nations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If our Electoral Boundaries Commission has its way, my Deh Cho riding will not exist in the next election. It will be folded into a large group of far-off communities. This is true of every proposal made by the Boundaries Commission.

This is unjust. It may comply with the cold, hard numbers a court suggested as standards for the composition of a riding, but this is a classic example of how the numbers do not tell the true story.

Even now, Members who live in Yellowknife are fairly quickly available to their constituents most of the time. But an MLA with many isolated...

WHEREAS nine Canadian provinces and Yukon have parliamentary ombudsman offices;

AND WHEREAS Yukon, a smaller jurisdiction than the Northwest Territories, has combined the offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioner with that of an ombudsman;

AND WHEREAS the Government of Yukon recently commissioned a report on the operations of Yukon’s combined ombudsman/Information and Privacy Commissioner, which in February 2013 recommended that the office be made a full-time position, citing pending health privacy and whistleblower legislation which are expected to increase the workload in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One thing that I’ve really been thinking about lots is devolution, obviously. What’s fairly significant is the statement from the Premier that this is a done deal and that there are five out of the seven Aboriginal groups that have signed on. One of the regions that hasn’t signed on is the Deh Cho. I understand there are talks to try to perhaps identify some common ground in terms of building consensus and partnerships and the level of collaboration.

What really concerns me is, in terms of trying to build partnerships, we need to trust each other. I think I’ve built my...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the government provide a response to this report within 120 days.

I move that this committee recommends that the Board of Management provide sufficient additional funding for legal expenses, on an ongoing basis, to permit the NWT Human Rights Commission to continue becoming a party to all complaints referred for hearings to the NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister assure this House that the pause that the government is taking at this point will not put into peril the PAS process and jeopardize committee funding. Mahsi.

The Protected Areas Strategy initiative has been long established. It’s a tripartite arrangement, as the Minister outlined, between the Government of the Northwest Territories, the federal government and First Nations. What’s really important to recognize is it’s an eight-step process that’s basically driven by communities. The Government of the Northwest Territories has suddenly stepped back from the Protected Areas Strategy process. Can the Minister explain this decision?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Here in Denendeh and since the treaty for Dene lands, we are living our traditional way of hunting and trapping, and also there are Metis and Inuit, and it’s to the point where they are governing their own lands. [Translation ends]

…has not yet signed their land claims agreement but has reached a number of interim arrangements. There are six candidate protected areas in the Dehcho in various stages of the Protected Areas Strategy process. The land is protected under a land withdrawal interim measures agreement that expires this year. The Government of the...