Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On January 15th of last month, the City of Yellowknife reported a sewage spill in my constituency of Kam Lake. An estimated 1 million to 2 million litres of sewage was spilled, entering Kam Lake at two different locations, migrating from Kam Lake Road through drainage infrastructure and into the lots of several property owners, while the rest flowed downstream near the City Garage.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the City of Yellowknife for their prompt action to clean up this sewage spill, quickly collecting liquid sewage from the ditches and transporting it out of Kam...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister committed that the legislation is going to come sometime this year. Which sitting of this House will he table the bill for ombudsman? Thank you.

I'm very eager to see this legislation, but I notice the budget doesn't have an ombudsman office listed, so how are we paying for the ombudsman role once the legislation is passed?

I'd like to thank the Minister for his answer and for the action the department has taken. Tonight, there is a public town hall. Will personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources be on hand to answer any questions members of the public might have as it relates to the spill?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member's statement earlier today, normally I like to share good news stories about my riding, but unfortunately, we had a rather large sewage spill, so I'd like to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources what role the department has played in assisting the City of Yellowknife in cleaning up this awful mess. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I mean, it's clear that Northerners need a onestop-shop for concerns around access to government services, and we need to make sure we understand what the costs are going to be on this government to provide that service and support the ombudsman. So will the Minister commit to getting those facts and figures together and presenting them to either the Standing Committee on Government Operations or to Members of the House, so we can understand the fiscal implications of this office on this government?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is about the time of year the Standing Committee on Government Operations conducts public hearings with statutory officers who serve an ombudsmanlike role over the government. So I'd like to take the opportunity, today, to speak to the Minister of Justice, who is charged with developing ombudsman legislation: where is this proposal? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the 33 communities of the Northwest Territories are governed by a suite of territorial legislation made up of the Hamlets Act, the Charter Communities Act, and the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, all of which were enacted in 2003. Together, these statutes provide the legal authority for municipal operations in all of our communities.

The Cities, Towns and Villages Act, also referred to as the CTV Act, governs the larger communities in the Northwest Territories, including the City of Yellowknife. It provides the essential legal framework establishing a municipality and authorizing...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Over the course of this budget review, I want to be able to speak to some of the work standing committees did during the business planning process. We touch on this often in our sittings to benefit our constituents that MLAs are hard at work for the fall of every year, reviewing the departments' annual business plans. This takes a lot of time from the Ministers' offices, the standing committees, and from the departments and departments' staff. It is a significant amount of work, and it should not be understated how important this is in the functioning of consensus...

I'm just going to remind the Minister that the GNWT is in a revenue crisis right now, a massive shortfall that is unpredicted at this time around. It seems like now is the time to do it. Will the Minister reconsider that in light of a significant shortfall in revenues?