Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although last year's fire season was a significant break from years past, we know that each fire season brings its own unique challenges.

Over the winter, most of the territory experienced below-average precipitation, and the few weeks of record-breaking warm temperatures we saw earlier this spring caused snow to disappear weeks earlier than usual in some areas.

Although parts of the Northwest Territories received snow earlier this month, much of the NWT remains very dry, especially in the South Slave and Dehcho regions. Weather predictions for the summer indicate hotter...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Thursday, May 30, 2019, I will move that Bill 54, Special Interest Rate Statute Amendment Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The report as required under measure 6 investigates options for long-term funding. Discussions on this issue will continue with stakeholders. The northern abandoned mine reclamation program announced their budget in 2019, which will cover the full implementation costs for the project for the next 15 years.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As per measure 6 of the report on the environmental assessment, the Giant Mine Remediation Project team is exploring long-term funding options for the project. The GNWT is a co-proponent on the Giant Mine Remediation Project, and has assisted the project team in exploring options for long-term funding.

The Giant Mine Remediation Project, they meet regularly with the NWT Historical Society and the Great Slave Sailing Club and discuss issues concerning impacts on both subleases by the Giant Mine Remediation Project. The Giant Mine Remediation Project will continue to work with both the NWT Historical Society and the Great Slave Sailing Club to accommodate access to their operations wherever feasible throughout the remediation project.

First of all, a lot of times this winter in the news reports we saw pictures and stories being filed of alcohol that is being seized going into some of the communities. I commend the RCMP for the work that they're doing. I commend those who have reported that. I don't recall seeing a winter where there has been so many pictures and stories posted of alcohol being seized. That is a start. We are late in this Assembly, but it's never too late to start the discussion on what we can do going forward. I will have a conversation with the department on maybe coming up with ways that we can work on...

I cannot commit the next government to anything, but I will have a conversation with the officials, see if there is an opportunity where we could do a bit of a questionnaire or some consultation on how far the people in the Northwest Territories want to take this. I commend communities across the Northwest Territories who have voted to become dry communities because they, too, recognize the effects of alcohol in their community and they are trying to do what they can to combat that. I think we should provide some type of support to those individuals who want to fight the amount of alcohol that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We disagreed with this. We found that this would be very disrespectful to the Indigenous governments. The Bureau of Statistics works closely with our Aboriginal government partners throughout the Northwest Territories, and this is a bit of a sensitive issue with for Indigenous governments.

Our view was that these issues are best solved through cooperation rather than the heavy hand of legislation. Having said that, we have a very good working relationship with Indigenous governments. We have worked with them on a number of occasions. Cabinet will not be supporting this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories made a mandate commitment to develop a territorial climate change strategy that takes into account northern energy demands and the cost of living, while reflecting international and national commitments to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Last year on May 1st, the Government of the Northwest Territories released the 2030 Northwest Territories Climate Change Strategic Framework. This is our government's coordinated, comprehensive response to mitigating and adapting to climate change, outlined in the following three goals:

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Very deeply, Mr. Chair.