Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that any remediation that needs to be done at this site when it was, now, is the responsibility of the federal government. On a go-forward basis, we need to ensure that as the Member said, we need to ensure that we’re doing our due diligence to ensure that this government and the people in NWT are adequately protected when we have these sites going up. I’ll explore this further and see if there’s any options out there. We want to ensure that we protect anything that we’re responsible for since taking over those responsibilities through devolution.

Mr. Speaker, as the Member noted, the current lease is in an over-holding tenancy and production is not allowed on this lease. Under the NWT Lands Act, the company will need to negotiate a new surface lease that allows for production and at that time, we’ll negotiate updated securities in the context of the most up-to-date reclamation plan. The Member is correct that there is some liability that’s held there and he mentioned the figure $2 million and out of that, $250,000 was for the surface lease.

Mr. Speaker, as far as the waterways go, that would still be a federal responsibility, so it seems that in this case, it could be, you know, the town has some interest in it, the GNWT may have some interest in it and the Government of Canada may have some interest. I think it would be wise for the three organizations to get together and decide a plan to do some remediation if the company goes, I mean, the company is in receivership, so we’ll have to come up with a plan going forward. But I do know on the government side of it though, we do have our committee that would do an assessment on any...

The Member is correct. The company does own a large number of properties in Hay River. As for the actual number of which ones are, if any are GNWT owned, I would have to follow-up and get that more detailed information and how much is owned by the town. I’ll commit to the Member that I’ll try, I’ll work to get a breakdown of exactly where these properties are from, if they’re leased, they’re owned and I will provide that information to the Member.

Mr. Speaker, there’s a number of reasons why business is not as lively across the Northwest Territories as it usually is. Part of it is because of lack of investment, and what we’re trying to do going through the exercise that we’re going through now is to have more money that we can invest into more opportunities for our businesses to take advantage of some of the money that we will make available. Again, it is an issue that needs further discussion, and I have committed to being a part of those discussions with the Members across the floor, and with my Cabinet colleagues as well. Thank you...

Mr. Speaker, I can’t make that commitment here as to what’s going to be in the next budget without going through the budget planning process, and as part of that process is the business planning process in September, which we take part in along with the Regular Members. I’m sure the issue will be raised at the time, and it’s something that we can determine then, if it’s financially viable to include into next year’s budget cycle.

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my opening response, the federal government has accepted responsibility for historical remediation or liabilities. However, on a go-forward basis, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, they monitor the activities of the mineral and development petroleum companies operating in the NWT and including the financial status of the company and the work is delivered through ITI’s financial analysis and royalties administration division. As much as we would like all the companies operating in the NWT to be financially stable, our main concern is to ensure that we...

I would like to repeat the same answer I gave before that significant oversight goes into these contracts. It’s just not one that they woke up this morning and decided they’re going to award a sole-source contract today. There are requirements that need to be met. If they meet the criteria, then sole-source contract could possibly be awarded.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first of all, in the Members’ statement, she makes some very strong comments and used very strong language. I think it’s unfair to those within the government system that administer a lot of these contracts to hear such language. I can assure the Member and all Members that there is oversight and in this day and age, with all the checks and balances in place, that type of, if any of that type of activity went on, it would be detected quite early and it would be unacceptable. There is oversight. The sole-source negotiated contract was the change in the...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Minister’s comment is absolutely correct. The $250,000 that the Member speaks of, the numbers in here, the overall budget for the department won’t change, and the Minister has made a commitment, and I think we made a written commitment to reinstate that $250,000, and they will find the money, as the Minister explained, in some other areas of the department. Thank you, Mr. Chair.