Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you firsthand that the Indigenous governments reach out to me on a constant basis, especially about the tar sands and this issue. And it's been an issue previously. So I've had a number of conversations with them. I've been down to Fort Smith and met with the Indigenous leaderships there. I've had conversations with other leaders in the Northwest Territories about that. So the first and foremost thing is right now with the disaster that had happened in with the seepage and of 5.3 million litres of tailings released into the environment, I can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, he did give those questions and I can tell you I just answered your question one at a time so I still have other answers for the information that you asked.

So the Government of Alberta is currently conducting assessments and scientific studies to fill knowledge gaps provided to decide on whether to develop regulations that would allow the release of treated tailing water. Alberta has agreed to give us significant time to critically review the reports and discuss our concerns with them before they make a decision to develop regulatory guidance.

The GNWT has received...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I totally agree with the Member youth are our future. That's our commitment, though. If you look at recreation funding, which is $825,000, we give that out there. We also give $450,000 to youth and child resiliency. We also give $400,000 for the regional sporting events. We also give youth contributions of $225,000. We also do $500,000 for youth court. So we do put money into that. We also then have the Mackenzie Recreation Association and the BDSRA, when we put money to them, and they provide to the programs there. I'm more than willing to work with the Member. I'm...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do give funding to the BDSRA and then the BDSRA gives that funding to the community. So there is an applicationbased money allocated from the BDSRA for the communities to do that. Again, it doesn't give all the money that they need, but it's similar to the Mackenzie Rec Association that does the same thing in the southern part of the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Jack Lee Mouse was born on May 15th, 1972, in Fort Simpson. He passed away on March 14th, 2023, at the age of 51. He was the son of Cecelia Mouse and Frederick Tonka. When we heard that he passed away, the family, friends and community were very shocked and saddened. Mr. Speaker, death has taken away a genuinely nice individual and, more importantly, a loving nephew, cousin, and brother. While the family and friends mourned the loss, they gathered in Fort Simpson to pay tribute and a celebration a life this past Tuesday. I can advise you that he had left a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Lands is able to offer fee simple title to leaseholders in the areas where land leaseonly policy is implemented or doesn't apply. In other words, where land claims have been concluded. The land leaseonly policy applies where land claims are not settled. The policy restricts the sale of public land in order to ensure the land claims and treaty negotiations are not jeopardized. As the Member is aware, we are wrapping up a review of the land leaseonly policy. This review is intended to address the efficiency or effectiveness of this policy...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first, the NWT does can and does participate in the Alberta environmental assessment and regulatory process. I need to stress that. We do engage. We were part of that process.

In regards to the question the Member is talking about, the Government of Canada continues to work towards a Canada water agency. We have participated in the process and will continue to advocate for the NWT Indigenous governments and organizations to be part of any process that we have or they have. We've been having that's our letter. We've had conversations with Minister Savage...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for the question. The NWT continues and does participate in Alberta public environmental assessments and regulatory processes. The transboundary agreement with Alberta provides a number of ways to address downstream concerns. The agreement commits Alberta to meet water quality, water quantity, and biological objectives at the border. The agreement commits Alberta to share information in a timely way and notify the GNWT prior to development of the activity. Should questions of dispute arise, the agreement contains a dispute resolution process...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we're in the process of the Alberta government and Canada government is working to develop an arrangement where the bilateral they'll have the engagement. We've reached out to both the federal government and the Alberta government and said we need to be engaged; we need to be part of this process. I've sent a letter to Minister Savage and Minister Guilbeault, and I just recently sent another one there, again stressing the importance of us to be part of anything that's moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, several meetings have been taking place with the Government of Alberta and senior representatives at Imperial Oil to receive the most updated information about the monitoring. I have also met with Minister Savage, the Alberta minister of environment and protected areas on this issue.

We have been informed that the water quality results have been stable and show no impact to downstream waterways or drinking water. Environment and Climate Change Canada's Fisheries Act direction was issued to prevent potential impact to fish not because impacts were detected...