Rylund Johnson

I did not expect it to be that easy, but I will have a lot more questions for the Minister during our Capital Estimates tabled today. My concern right now is that the way we fund our municipalities lacked any certainty. We agreed to a formula, but we haven't given the money. I believe the right comparative here would be how we fund our education authorities. There're guidelines in the education, there're guidelines in regulations, and then finally, there're guidelines in policy. No one is in doubt that we are not within those parameters. There may be a debate about whether we should give more...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT's economic recovery must be built on strong foundations, and in our case, those foundations are our communities and our municipal governments, Mr. Speaker. Before we want to grow and expand our mandate, we must make sure that our municipalities are taken care of. However, in this case, that foundation is crumbling, quite literally. Our municipal roads, sewers, and basic infrastructure are degrading from the lack of maintenance and unstable footings.

Mr. Speaker, we de-fund our municipalities $9.6 million in operations and maintenance, $6.5 million in...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have no issue with the $110,000 allocated here and the replacement of a chiller. It appears to be necessary infrastructure. However, I have a question about what is not in here. Previously, there were plans for the Legislative Assembly to work with a number of other buildings -- I believe the City of Yellowknife, Joint Task Force North, the museum -- to create a district heating system. I recognize we just replaced the pipes to that area. Was any work done on that, or are there any plans to advance that capital project? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I am now seeking unanimous consent to waive rule 73(2) and have Bill 11: Legislative Assembly Officers Standardization Act moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I believe we are in a massive trust deficit with our Indigenous governments, and as we in Canada negotiate how much land, how much royalties, how much cash they get, this process drags on for decades. Then, little issues such as small parcels come up, and we have no method for resolving those and building the trust, such that we will never settle the claim. We are just stuck in this cycle where we can not build the trust. Mr. Speaker, I think this is also reiterated in the lease-only policy. We administer leases; they are very costly, but we do not reach out to Indigenous governments and say,...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the problem I'm trying to get to. Right now, I am not prepared to support putting a multi-billion-dollar road through Akaitcho territory when half of it is withdrawn, the other half will likely go to Akaitcho, and we have no guarantee what their mineral staking regime will look like. We have not provided investors certainty in this area, and I don't believe it's just EIA. I think it's EIA, ITI, MACA, and Lands, and this huge gap in land administration in the Northwest Territories. My question is: will the Minister of Lands work with EIA to come up with a...

I appreciate that there is a review and work is being done. Will part of this review consult existing lease holders and see whether they can transfer their land to fee simple? I believe a great example is: I think we have six agricultural leases in the Northwest Territories. That's about six famers who would be better off getting mortgages, getting loans, and running their farms if they had their land. Will such work conduct a review of leases we can convert to title?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That answer almost had everything, and then he said, "lease application." What I am looking for is a process guide to transfer land in fee simple. Is the Minister willing to do that? I am sick of leases. I want to transfer and provide some certainty to our Indigenous governments, to our municipalities. Is the Minister willing to create a process document for land in fee simple or Aboriginal title, whatever it may be?

I do believe that is a mandate commitment that is well ahead of schedule, so I congratulate the Minister on that. However, Mr. Speaker, the process guide is really only the first step. It is how and when we will transfer the land that matters, so what I am looking for in order to stop asking this question of the Minister repeatedly is: can I get a firm date when we expect the land transfer to the City of Yellowknife to be completed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Department of Lands is the single most important department in the GNWT. Now, I think many would laugh at that. I think perhaps even the Department of Lands might laugh at that, Mr. Speaker, but whether it be land claims, on-the-land healing, agricultural land, municipal control of land, land tenure so people can get mortgages or insurance, our own residents' spiritual connection to the land, increasing mineral exploration on withdrawn land, or habitat protection for caribou, land lies at the heart of many of our solutions. Yet, the Department of Lands...