Kieron Testart

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.

Are there any concerns arising from the regulatory side related to the spill? Has it been well contained by the city? Are there any lasting environmental hazards to my constituents, and in particular, property owners in Kam Lake?

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?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs well knows the issue of the outstanding amendments to the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, earlier in the day in my Member's statement quoted one of her officials from a business plan review for 2016-2017. I would like to ask the Minister today: what progress has been done since that review on updating the Cities, Towns and Villages Act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Tough act to follow.

A lot of these new initiatives that the department is speaking to are good things: additional resources for land rights agreements; $250,000 to the friendship centres; $100,000 for the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation; the Western Premiers Conference; campaign schools. I mean, these are all good things, but around what the standing committee deemed as extraordinary funding requests from the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation and the council of friendship centres, these are both issues that have been raised with Members of the Legislative Assembly as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, support the mining industry. I don't think my question was insulting. I think what's troubling is that the Minister won't present those significant contributions to our government's revenues and our economy in a transparent annual mining report. Will the Minister commit to putting those facts on the table in an annual report so we can stop having this debate and properly acknowledge the contributions of the mining sector to our economy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.