Shane Thompson

This is Assistant Deputy Minister of Operations Blair Chapman. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I like the way he worded that really nicely. It's part of our evaluation process. In phase 1 of our Public Land Act is agricultural leases, how it is impacted, and how we are going to do it. For further detail, I will actually, with your permission, go to the deputy minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fred Diamond'C was born on February 14, 1946, in Fort Liard to Edward and Laura Diamond'C. Unfortunately, his mom passed away when he was a young boy. His dad later met Pauline Eton, and they got married on August 18, 1954. Edward and Pauline raised Fred and his siblings in Fort Liard in Bovie Lake. This started Fred's love for going out on the land.

One summer, Fred and his siblings were home from residential school. Fred went for a walk to Hay Lake with his little brother John. John said his legs were sore, so Fred put his little brother in his backpack and packed him...

Thank you. Sorry about that, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the interpreters here, who are doing a great job. Yes, I speak fast, and I apologize, but I want to specifically recognize Mary Jane Cazon, a constituent from the Nahendeh region. She has been a strong advocate of Dene Zhatie in the region and in the Northwest Territories, so I would like to welcome her here to the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I wish to provide an update on some of the service improvements, including the financial relief measures the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the pandemic hit, the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission responded quickly to adapt its operations. In line with public health guidelines, all employees in Yellowknife, Inuvik, and Iqaluit were swiftly equipped with the right technology, moved to work from home, and safely transitioned back to offices once appropriate safety measures were put in place. Since...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents: "Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission Northwest Territories and Nunavut Corporate Plan 2021;" and "Workers' Advisor Office of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut 2020 Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Morris Daniel Lafferty was born on September 22, 1934, to James and Marguerite Lafferty. He was the fifth born of five sons and five sisters. He spent his life in Fort Simpson, attending school locally and completing up to grade 8. Morris wed his late wife, Susan, on December 17, 1965. Together, they had two daughters, Zina and Marcie, and their son Skylor, who was lost in early infancy. They raised Gloria as their own from the age of five months old and fostered many other children throughout their lives. Two weeks prior to the arrival of their firstborn, Morris had...

Both the government of Alberta and the federal government monitor the water quality in the oil sands regions, both upstream and downstream of the oil sands. The GNWT also conducts water quality monitoring on the Slave River at Fort Smith and has done so for many years. As confirmed in the recent release of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation report on the Alberta tailings ponds, the Athabasca River shows no evidence of tailings ponds input downstream.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has a transboundary agreement with the Government of Alberta to ensure the ecological integrity of our shared waters is maintained. The Alberta-NWT and BC-NWT bilateral water agreements are the most comprehensive agreements of their kind. The agreements require the Government of Alberta to consult with the GNWT on any projects that could impact waters that enter the Northwest Territories, provide notification of changes to the monitoring sites, conduct ongoing monitoring, review the monitoring data, prepare annual reporting on commitments of the agreement, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Public Land Act received assent on August 21, 2019, at the end of the 18th Legislative Assembly. The new Public Land Act consolidates the existing Northwest Territories Lands Act and the Commissioner's Land Act into one cohesive land management regime. To bring the Act into force, new regulations must be developed.

The Department of Lands is taking a phased approach to regulation development. Phase 1 is focusing on the essential regulations necessary to bring the Public Land Act into force in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022-2023. These regulations will...