Wally Schumann

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is following through on our mandate commitment to strengthen connections with our public- and private-sector partners in the transportation infrastructure.

Marine transportation is an essential lifeline for residents and businesses in many small communities of the Northwest Territories. Communities on Great Slave Lake, the Mackenzie River, and the Western Arctic coast rely on tugboats and barges for the resupply of essential goods and fuel.

With this in mind, the Government of the Northwest Territories continues work to develop, maintain...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 36, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Resources Act, be read for the third time, and, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let's make something very clear here. We didn't just go off and do this on our own. We talked to the law clerk about this issue before we went out and did this, and we got consent from the law clerk that we would be able to share this information. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I am going to say about this is these guidance notes will provide guidance when we move forward with this bill, and this will also allow for a public engagement process, so I do not see the need for doing this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's not clear what circumstances under the Oil and Gas Operations Act would require a mandatory public hearing. As a result, we need to maintain some flexibility here. We believe the best approach is to allow the regulator to develop a list of principles that the regulator will apply on a case-by-case basis to decide whether to conduct a public hearing. Should these bills pass, my understanding is that the regulator will be publishing guidelines and interpretation notes to provide additional guidance on the application and administration of its power to conduct public...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to introduce Bill 36, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Resources Act.

Bill 36 seeks to enhance transparency and public accountability, address administrative and technical issues, and manage significant discoveries of petroleum in the Northwest Territories in the best interests of all residents.

To enhance transparency and public accountability, this bill proposes:

requiring greater amounts of information to be disclosed about a number of different licences and activities related to the petroleum in the NWT;

increasing public representation on the Environmental...

Well, we are figuring that out. I have the information here for Members on SDLs. Northwest Territories onshore, we have 90 SDLs, 90, nine-zero, covering 460,077 hectares. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think the BIP policy is more than fair. That is a $500,000 adjustment to a contract over a million dollars. That is a significant amount of money. As the Member is referring to the policy in BC, Infrastructure follows the BIP policy to the letter of the law, and we do that, and that is for NWT-owned and -operated businesses in the Northwest Territories, and that is what the BIP adjustment is for. What he is referring to, what BC is trying to do, I am not even sure if they are doing it. I have to double check it, but we cannot put restrictions on people bidding on contracts in the Northwest...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, we will not. It is consented as a bill already. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

There is no cap for northern contractors bidding on projects. We welcome bids from northern contractors on all projects, but I think what the Member is referring to is the BIP adjustment within the BIP policy, which adds up the contracts to up to $1 million and over $1 million. I will read it all in verbatim, just for the public.

Section 8:

(8) Application of Bid Adjustment

Contracts Less than $25,000

Whenever possible, goods, services and construction valued at less than $25,000 should be purchased directly from BIP Businesses in the Local Community, but no bid adjustment will be applied.

Contract...