Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Kent Cooper, former executive director of the Associated Press, is often credited with coining the term "right to know." Stated as early as 1945 that the citizen is entitled to have access to news fully and accurately presented. There cannot be political freedom in one country, or in the world, without respect for the right to know. In the years since, the public's right to know has extended to public governments as well.

As noted here in the Northwest Territories, our Information and Privacy Commissioner Andrew Fox stated: Government has to facilitate the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the Minister and I have been able to coordinate to work successfully on this in the past. I'd like to work with him again. When will this review be completed as access to information, the public's right to know, is a fundamental priority of any public government. So when will this new review be completed and we could consider it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my friend, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, was too modest. I think his hardworking staff is actually overworked staff. So I'd like to ask the Premier, in his responsibility as Minister of Justice, how the government is supporting the access to information regime in the Northwest Territories considering the high demand from the public and the low rate of responsiveness from the government as an entire entity? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is that enough given the slow response time and the increase in requests; is two enough? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's been in the news recently that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs was recently ordered by the Information and Privacy Commissioner to provide disclosure to an access request. And I use the term "recently" loosely because they were six months behind their deadline.

Can the Minister respecting the privacy of the parties involved, can the Minister tell us why there was such an egregious delay in getting one of our citizens access to the information they rightfully deserve? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister it sounds like no additional resources are coming, so is the Minister contemplating a bill that can correct some of these timelines so we can ensure we're meeting them and we're not putting additional pressures on our staff that are just ensuring that the system fails? Thank you.

Thank you. Does the Premier believe that filling those vacancies will correct the issue, and we'll see the rates of timeliness improve? Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And obviously foreign affairs or global affairs is a federal responsibility, but it seems that given the interest in these minerals, and all critical minerals, that we ought to consider this issue. So is the Minister looking into how we can assess investment and maybe work with Ottawa behind the scenes on these kind of investments and whether or not they are in the best interests of Northerners. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as my friend from the Sahtu has said, critical minerals are the future of the minerals industry, not just in Northwest Territories but in the entire world. And in that mix, rare earth minerals are vital to the modern digital economy because they're such a necessity for high technology devices, the demand of which increases exponentially every year. Rare earth minerals are particularly key to the transition to renewable energy and decarbonizing our economy. The industry is centered in the AsiaPacific region because the People's Republic of China accounts for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When this Assembly determines its priorities, will the Premier be willing to either change portfolios or create portfolios to better meet those priorities? Thank you.