Kieron Testart

When will a decision be rendered on moving forward, on how these regulations are going to move forward?

Thank you. I would appreciate if the Minister could answer my question. Is it the position of the government that the Minister has adequate ability to protect the confidential business interests of industry from being posted in the public registry? Thank you.

Could this section be used to enable regulations that creates a penalty regime if companies aren't able to meet their benefits governed by this section? Yes or no. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I move that Bill 34 be amended by adding the following after subclause 111(4):

(4.1) A copy of each regulation that the Commissioner in Executive Council proposes to make under this act shall be published in the Northwest Territories Gazette, and a reasonable opportunity shall be afforded to interested persons to make representations to the Minister in respect of the proposed regulations.

(4.2) No proposed regulation need be published more than once under subsection (4.1), whether or not it is altered or amended after such publication as a result of representations made by interested...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the witnesses explain how this provision of the act applies to prospecting permits? I hope I've got that right, but I'll just express the concern. The correspondence committee heard from industry that this was broadly supportive of the zones because they have been told, and they see it as an extension of prospecting permits which are under the old mining regulations. Could we have an explanation of how zones apply to that? Thank you.

Will that engagement follow a technical working group model or some other model that the committee has familiarized itself with over the course of our review of this legislation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree wholeheartedly with the Minister that this is one of the most significant, if not the most significant, pieces of legislations that has come forward that has been driven by this government's priorities and not in response to the priorities of other governments.

However, I think that we have a long way to go until it is world-class. That is because so much of this legislation is dependent on the regulations, which will come after the bill has passed, should it be passed, and those regulations are crucial on how this is going to operate. If the intention here is to...

Thank you. I think that system works very well. Yet, we have this clause. What is the intention of this clause? Is the intention of this clause to change best efforts? Sorry. What is the policy direction? Will this clause be used to change the state of play away from best efforts and towards prescribed benefits for the public? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Again, the Minister has said that this will be a decision of the 19th Assembly. Will these regulations also be subject to direction from the 19th Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Over the course of questioning, we have learned that the Minister does not have a plan to deal with this situation. I think that the Member's motion is a good way to deal with this situation. Clearly it is in order. Clear it is within the capacity of the bill and the legislation to deal with this. I see no reason why it can't be done.

Again, this is a gap. We don't know how to deal with this. We have no plan to deal with this. This seems like a good plan, and I applaud the Member for bringing it forward. If there is any good reason why this shouldn't be supported, I do not...