Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our department officials will be assessing the options available to the GNWT under the Project Management Agreement to ensure that the work gets completed. This will include working with Northern Lights and the communities to ensure construction can be completed early in 2017 and the line commissioned shortly thereafter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The cost of fuel is one that this government has taken immediate action on to lower the cost of living in the communities served by the Petroleum Products Division. The Minister of Public Works and Services announced on Tuesday that, effective February 5th, the price of home heating oil was reduced by $0.09 a litre in Paulatuk, $0.07 a litre in Sachs Harbour, and $0.08 a litre in Ulukhaktok. With this reduction, heating oil prices in these communities have been reduced by approximately 20 per cent over the last year. We recognize that the cost of heating fuel and gasoline in our smaller...

I am willing to have discussions in how we can move forward with this. We have to take a number of things into consideration. We would have to look at the legislation to see if we are able to even entertain that idea, so as I commented before, I will have a discussion with the appropriate parties and see if there is an opportunity for us to move this forward. I take the Member's point, again, about the rent-to-own, but because it's an unsettled area, it kind of slows the process down a bit. But we will have those discussions. We will see how we can move the issue forward.

We recognize the value of having our NWT residents participate in a lot of these processes, and I will commit to the Member that I will continue to raise the issue with our federal counterpart. We are fairly new in devolution. The responsibilities we're taking over are fairly new. I will take up the cause and continue to raise that issue with Ottawa so people in the Northwest Territories are able to be funded to participate in some of the hearings.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the national scale participant funding is part of the overall federal environmental assessment regime in Canada, which also applies to the Inuvialuit Settlement region. The absence of participant funding in the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act is a long-standing issue. The GNWT takes the view that the Government of Canada is responsible for participant funding based on the fact that the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act remains federal legislation and Canada has retained key authorities, such as policy direction and appointment to boards...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 4, Interim Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2016-2017 be read for the second time. This bill authorizes the Government of Northwest Territories to make interim appropriations for operation expenditures for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

We would ask for updates from the proponents, and we have our own people monitoring these, and if we feel that there's a need for additional information we will seek that, but I can assure all Members that for the projects we enter into, we will have oversight, because these are public dollars that we are speaking about.

There should be no impact, but I will follow up with their proponent and confirm that.

I am committed not only to the development of our athletes across the Northwest Territories, which I think has been clearly demonstrated in my time as the Minister responsible for sport in the Northwest Territories, and I remain committed to that. I would like to see not only to the athletes, but to the health and wellbeing and the physical activity of all our children across the Northwest Territories, all of our athletes across the Northwest Territories, and I will continue to do what I can on my part to see that level of commitment carried on. Again, as I said before, no decisions have been...

We were quite disappointed that the 2023 Canada Winter Games were not bid on by the capital city. I think it would have been a fantastic opportunity for not only the athletes in the Northwest Territories, but all the people involved in sport across the Northwest Territories, so we were quite disappointed. The $25 million that the Member spoke of, that was a commitment that was made to help facilitate the games and provide an athletes' village, and then be used for some much-needed housing afterwards. We have a very strong, robust support system for our athletes and our youth across the...