Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member talks about 1997 and all the backlog of the way things developed. In other departments, I've got 40 and 50 years of backlog so I am working on that there.

So MACA, like what most other departments, does have a policy unit. Unfortunately, some of these positions haven't been filled to date. We have been having some recruitment challenges. However, I can advise the Member and this House here that we're looking at other alternatives and other ways of dealing with it. And like I said, I just had a meeting with the deputy minister and ADM on this exact issue, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Never a backlog; we've always got work to do. So MACA is responsible for 21 statutes and their associated regulations. And some of it needs to be examined to see if changes are required. MACA will be selecting one taking on and prioritizing legislative initiatives. The department needs to balance the age of legislation, its complexity, the nature, and an extent of changes required, whether or not or stakeholders are experiencing issues with its administration. MACA must also consider the capacity of stakeholders to support the legislative development, the NWTAC and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Tlicho government and the federal Department of Fisheries and Ocean established a fisheries management working group to ensure any concerns with fisheries are brought forward and addressed.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Infrastructure developed a fish and fish habitat protection plan with the Tlicho AllSeason Road which considers measures and commitments made during the environmental assessment and incorporate input from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. And we've reached out to the federal government, and we've had these conversations from our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all the wildliferelated measures for the opening of the road have been completed. ENR has been working with the co-management partners to meet the measures from all or the Tlicho AllSeason Road environmental assessment that needed to be fulfilled prior to the road opening to the public.

In July, ENR provided input into Infrastructure's final habitat offset plan with boreal caribou which was submitted to the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resource Board.

In August, ENR submitted an interim Wek'eezhii boreal caribou range plan to the WRRB. Work on the full Wek'eezhii...

Man, I hate to do this yes, we're looking at alternative option all options available to us. So and that is one of them that we have discussed this morning. So, man, the MLA for Yellowknife North has got two yeses out of me so I think I'm done. I don't want to talk say yeses anymore, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I gave him his 'yes' last week so he's done for the yeses. So besides the joking aside there. So MACA initiated when were first started, we were looking at three legislations. We brought forward Property Assessment and Taxation, the Fire Prevention Act, and the Senior Citizens Disability and Personal Property Tax Relief Act. Unfortunately, COVID hit, floods hit, flood recovery hit, and so we realistically looked at what can we achieve at this point in time. So what we said is the Senior Citizen and Disability Property Tax Relief will wait until the 20th Assembly. But...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell the Member right now we are working with the Indigenous government. We are working with the Tlicho government to get this road up and operational and making sure we do things properly. We just received a letter from the Tlicho government with some valid concerns, and I'm working with them on that.

Both projects took a cooperative approach by engaging with local governments, local Indigenous organizations, stakeholders, and the territorial and federal government to achieve significant local and regional benefits. Given the difference in geologic...

I can tell you that the GNWT is talking to our Indigenous governments, to the Nunavut government and the federal government, in order to understand relevant views and interests about the GNWT's or the government's request, the Tlicho's governments request. Any GNWT position will take in account the views of all parties and stakeholders, including MLAs. The GNWT has encouraged the federal government to consider federal funding opportunities recognizing there should be a regional study moved forward with significant federal finance support would be required, including participants funding. And...

Yeah, thank you. So the department actually works handinhand with the communities. We have regional staff out there that will work with communities. So when federal funding comes out that fits into  well, sometimes they may not fit in to what we're looking at, but we try to work with the communities to see how we can make it fit in to what they're trying to achieve. So it might be a different project that they may have to do later on instead of what they're trying do. So we will look at it through that way. So we very much have staff that work together from headquarters in regions to work with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. This summer ENR completed surveys to obtain updated population estimates for the five barrenground caribou herds: the Tuk Peninsula herd, Cape Bathurst herd, the BluenoseEast herd, and the BluenoseWest herd, and the Bathurst herd. Calving ground photo surveys were successfully completed in June for the Bathurst and the BluenoseEast herd, and a composition survey was done in October. The 2021 estimates for these two herds will be released shortly to all co-management partners and committee. In December, we are planning to meet...