Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, first of all we are supportive of the surplus funds going to research programs. I'm not sure if there was a mechanism in the agreement that had allowed for that, and I will raise that again. We do have some FPTs that are coming up this summer. We have the Finance Ministers' FPT, as well as the Ministers of the Environment. It is our understanding, though, that INAC is actively working on a solution to address the concerns that were raised, but, again, at the earliest opportunity, I will raise these issues with my federal counterparts.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, I am not going to commit to doing that, but I am going to commit to encouraging our departments to try to bring on as many summer students as possible. I think, in the Member's riding alone, with the amalgamation of the new departments, there were an additional 24 positions being brought on into the Sahtu, so the Member has done quite well representing his riding.

We will continue to encourage our departments to try to bring on as many summer students as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We currently have two, but, as I said, we have 50 more that are outstanding, awaiting signatures. I am not quite sure where those are. I can find out and see how many we put into the Member's riding. As I said before, I will have to get the exact details on the actual advertising for summer students, but this is a program that has been going on for a while, as the Member has said. The numbers are improving this year. Two years ago, the numbers were 341. We are hoping to exceed those numbers.

If you count the other agencies that are funded by the Government of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have set the rates this year based on the 2015 NTCL rates, along with CPI. That is what has given us this rate. We have to do this first year of operations to determine what it will cost us to run this operation and what is going to be the ongoing funding to make this thing sustainable. At the end of this coming season, we will be able to have a look at what the rates are, and, if there is an opportunity to pass on the cost-of-living relief to residents of the NWT, we will do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As all Members know in this House, we bought the assets of NTCL in late December to bring the shipping season. The most important critical thing for us this year was to concentrate and get supplies to all of the communities that rely on the marine transportation industry. We have had to outsource the work force hiring, and that was to the company in Newfoundland the Member is referring to, ORSI. They subsequently had people sending resumes to Newfoundland, but, since then, I can update this House that they have a staff member sitting in Hay River that will receive resumes, and you can just go...

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Monday, May 29, 2017, I will move that Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we had a meeting recently with Health Canada and the INAC regional office, Environmental and Climate Change Canada, Department of Fisheries, and ENR and we do recognize that there may have been some, the communication was not as good as it should have been, and I think we've taken steps to address that. We're working more closely with Health and Social Services to address this and to make sure that all their information is up-to-date and correct, and we will provide them up-to-date information.

I can assure the Member and members of the public that this government is working very...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we recognize that the legacy arising from the history of Giant Mine is complex and that it's very emotional. We understand that the Giant Mine regional offices have met with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation to hear concerns directly in order to develop a formal response. The Member is right. There was some that was recommended by the Giant Mine or by the report, and, as a Legislative Assembly, we should have our internal discussion to come up with a formal position. To the Member's question, that, in my understanding, has not been raised with the federal...

I think the Member said it well when he said that part of the onus is on the property owners to take steps to ensure that their properties are protected. As far as educating the public about how fast a wildfire is, well, it is hard for us to predict. We can help them to try and be prepared in the event that there is a very fast wildfire that is moving. I think the wildfire will educate us more than we can educate the public. We have to be prepared for it, and we will communicate through our websites and other social media.

Again, as I said before, Mr. Speaker, I stress the importance of folks...

We are working on establishing contact information with all property owners. That is why we stress the importance of all property owners to let us know where they are, let the departments know where they are and, more importantly, give us some contact information so we are able to contact them in the event of an emergency. We talk of properties and values, but our most important value is the people who are out there. We need to know who is out there so, in the event of a forest fire that is moving very quickly, we can react to that.

We are looking at different communication methods. I think the...