Michael Nadli

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to follow up on my statement regarding the moose ticks in the NWT. My question is to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Recently on record, the NWT experienced major impacts on the woodland caribou in terms of their population decline. At the same time, we experienced a major impact on the Mackenzie wood bison population in terms of the anthrax outbreak. Now we’re seeing, perhaps, the vestiges of a warming climate where it’s getting warmer in the NWT.

Has the GNWT identified a risk to the NWT moose from ticks or other insect infestations? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, in the southern NWT, the Deh Cho location, we’re situated very close to Alberta and there have been records in terms of deer coming up to the NWT, and cougar sightings as well.

Will the department undertake, perhaps, some work with local harvesters and, at the same time, prepare and maybe work on a moose population survey and whether that’s been planned for sometime this fall? Mahsi.

Thank you. I’m going to be very brief. Can the Minister, once again, clarify whether the GNWT officials have suspended negotiations? Yes or no. Thank you.

Thank you. The initial settlement boundary or the territory of the Dehcho First Nations is about 210,000 square kilometres, which is the southwestern part of the NWT. The negotiations between the federal government and Dehcho First Nations was bilateral for the longest time and the GNWT became a party to those negotiations recently. Now it’s a negotiations process that involves the federal government, the GNWT and the Dehcho First Nations.

Could the Minister of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs explain how he understands that, one, the federal offer to the Dehcho First Nations was a land...

Can the Minister describe what’s being done in small communities to build up the stock of private market homes for sale? Mahsi.

I’d like to thank the Minister for his reply. There is a forgivable loan option under the PATH program.

Can the Minister describe what measures are taken to inform NWT residents about this option? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to address the social divide between public housing and homeownership. Young people in my Deh Cho riding dream of owning their own home, but they need a lot of help getting there.

Becoming a homeowner is anything but simple. It requires a sophisticated level of financial literacy, something that young people haven’t necessarily grasped. A young person or a young couple have to decide on a type of home they hope to purchase. Then based on their income, they have to determine how much they can afford. After that a whole slew of characters get involved...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations was pleased to present its Report on the 2014 Review of the Official Languages Act to the House on Wednesday, March 11, 2015.

The report was read into the record, received by the House and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration.

The mandate of the committee’s review comes directly from the Official Languages Act. Members will recall from the report presented yesterday that the standing committee’s approach to the review was to pick up from where the last legislative review, which was conducted in 2009...

Previous efforts to bridge the gap. Right now the gap is getting wider as our discussions take place, or lack of discussions on the fundamental differences in terms of the jurisdiction, the ownership and also the sovereignty of the Dehcho First Nations asserted territory.

Previous efforts were to mandate a federal ministerial envoy to help facilitate that gap between the Dehcho First Nations and the federal government.

Does the Minister agree to a mediator as an option to help facilitate getting beyond the current impasse? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I raised some questions in terms of the Dehcho Process negotiations. We seem to be at an important juncture between the negotiations with the federal government, GNWT and the DFN. What’s at stake is the fundamental divide seems to be getting greater daily, and yesterday the Minister of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations stated that the GNWT never left the table.

So I want to ask a question to the Minister of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations whether he can clarify whether his officials have...