Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. And we need to be mindful that, you know, as an Indigenous of the Northwest Territories, this is our land and our people that we are talking about. So, Mr. Speaker, a question for -- to the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Can the Minister explain why Yellowknife students were given priority access to blood lead level testing when elevated lead results were first identified but that same access has not continued for students in small communities where positive results have since been confirmed? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what was done in -- when the first school was identified to have lead, health and social services within the city, within Yellowknife because that's where it was, made the public announcement if there were family or staff or parents of children who wanted to have their children assessed that they could contact the health care provider. Yes, in the capital, there was an email I believe, or a site where you could contact. However, in small communities, any small community that has tested positive is to contact your health centre. Many of the health centres are aware of this and so if they do the assessment and the assessment does call for needing a blood test, whereas even in Yellowknife when it said that they need an assessment, not necessarily did they all need a blood test. So it's based on the recommendation of the practitioner. And so that still stands for any of those health centres in small communities, that they just need to access their health care provider. Thank you.
Okay, Mr. Speaker, it's kind of disappointing. It would be nice if, you know, the Minister would be, you know, if the Minister was working well with the other health centre, so. But anyway since the public briefing, additional test results from NWT communities have shown lead levels far higher than what was known at that time. Can the Minister explain why that department has not provided updated public information on the potential health impacts for students in those communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, information that I have received from the chief public health officer is overall lead exposure has dropped dramatically in Canada and the NWT over time, and children's blood levels are at historic lows across the territory. Remaining sources of lead are well understood and manageable. GNWT has an effective testing and mitigation process in place for schools. Parents can feel confident that right now in schools drinking water is safe. And if people are concerned about their health and lead exposure, they can speak to their health care provider for more information and a health assessment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Mr. Speaker, my next question is not to health and social services but it's to the infrastructure. Can I -- or I go back on the list then?
Then I will wait because it's for the infrastructure, McKay.
Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions continue to be for the Minister of ECC, digging a bit more into detail on specifics now.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please detail for the House what his department is doing in response to the revelation that the Ekati mine site may be undersecured? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Member is referring to some numbers and information that was included in their CCAA filing. That information has not been shared with the Government of the Northwest Territories or the land and water boards so we're unable to assess that information at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am a little bit confused, I must admit. It seems like the information is on the public record. How could the department not simply access it and assess it to determine if any action needs to be taken? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we work through the assessment and the establishment of securities processed with the land and water boards, that information is generated through a process that we work collaboratively with the boards. We do an evaluation through our process. This information was not given to us directly. We don't have that information available to do that assessment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to have to reflect on that a little bit and come up with some additional questions. I am going to move on to another one.
Mr. Speaker, I note that Diavik is already proceeding with closure and De Beers has indicated closure of their site is likely to commence soon. Has the Minister considered the risk that the longer the Ekati site is in a limbo state we could end up in a situation where GNWT takes responsibility for the site and would then have to operate the winter road alone potentially increasing the reclamation costs even further? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently the team is looking at all the potential outcomes from the potential that the one or three diamond mines potentially no longer exist in the Northwest Territories, and part of that is being calculated in the plan as we move forward with the reclamation planning process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had a constituent reach out to me yesterday about the Wonder Valley AI data centre. It's backed by a celebrity investor, and it's to be built near Grand Prairie, which is in the Mackenzie Basin watershed. It's expected to be 65 square kilometres in size and estimated to use up to 24 million cubic metres of clean water annually. To put that in perspective, 24 million cubic metres is lifetime consumption of 460,000 people, Mr. Speaker. Alberta has decided there's no environmental assessment needed, just permits. So my question for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change is how will the GNWT assess impacts on water quantity or quality and intervene if required? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has indicated, the Wonder Valley AI data centre project is a large project. It certainly is a large water consumer and currently there are no regulatory submissions within the province of Alberta so therefore at this time there is no project to do an evaluation on. We will continue to monitor the situation and evaluate -- participate when the opportunity arises. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, without an environmental assessment I don't know at what point the Minister could intervene. Could he clarify? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, without the ability to intervene in a non-existent environmental assessment, we will certainly use the tools that we currently have through our transboundary water agreements to monitor, continue to collect the data, look at the flow rates that are flowing into the Northwest Territories, and use that as an assessment tool as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recognizing that 24 million cubic metres a year might be removed from the water system, can the Minister commit to crunching the numbers and letting us know in the House what that might look like for the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, water certainly is an area that's top of mind to me. I recently had a number of conversations with the Minister in Alberta and certainly, you know, we will continue to monitor the situation, monitor the flow of water into the Northwest Territories, and continue to report that data in our regular reporting process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I have questions for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on a different subject, on the topic of waste management and particularly the extended producer responsibility program. So that means trying to get producers of things like tires and electronics to take responsibility for those things when they go kaput, when they become waste, instead of dumping that responsibility and cost on our community government landfills.
So when I last asked the Minister about this exactly two years ago, we were told regulation updates would be complete in 2026. So can the Minister tell us what is the status of the work to update regulations that would bring the new Waste Reduction and Resource Recovery Act into force? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, back in 2026, when I committed to that work, you know, since then we've refocused our priorities from the Legislative Assembly, and so we continue to work on this from a policy perspective. The work is not yet complete, and we are -- it likely won't be complete until the next Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So that is disappointing to hear. I wonder if the Minister can update us on anything the department has learned from the past several years of ongoing research into, for example, what mechanisms for extended producer responsibility could be feasible or enforceable in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Certainly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've really looked at the Yukon experience. That's where the focus of the work has been, a jurisdiction very much like ours. And part of the experience that they've had in the Yukon is because of the economy of scale in small territories, it's really hard to implement a program that is specific to one territory. So a big part of what we've learned there is that, you know, we need to probably partner up with a southern jurisdiction to ensure that we have that economy of scale to be able to better deliver that type of a program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So given that community governments are currently managing waste and landfills in our communities, does the Minister yet have any clear idea what would be the role or expectations of community governments in the rollout of extended producer responsibility? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think as we work on developing this program and what it potentially looks like, part of that framework of the final delivery of the program would include the role of different community governments and what that would look like in the way of collecting or delivering the program. I don't have that specific level of detail here with me today, but I am happy to get it for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pursuant to Rule 7.2(7), I have received follow-up information for the following oral questions from the first session of the 20th Legislative Assembly: Oral Question 1087 and Oral Question 1194. These follow-ups will be printed in full in today's Hansard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Colleagues, our time is up for oral questions. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 9 on the orders, oral questions.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. The Member from Range Lake is seeking unanimous consent to return to oral questions. Are there any nays?
Nay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 41, An Act to Amend the Real Estate Agents Licensing Act.
Bill 41 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on February 11th, 2026, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. The committee completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs on May 27th, 2026. No amendments were proposed.
Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 41, An Act to Amend the Real Estate Agents Licensing Act, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
