Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 7-19(1), Bison Management Plan." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Alberta-NWT bilateral water management agreement was signed in March 2015. This agreement makes a clear commitment that Alberta will maintain the health of the aquatic ecological system of our shared waters, which include water quality, quantity and biology of the Slave River. Upstream monitoring by Alberta and the federal government provides the GNWT with an early warning of changes and an opportunity to mitigate effects before they are realized at the border. The GNWT monitors water quality and the biological indicators at the Alberta territorial border and has developed a system of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The environmental assessment for Teck Frontier began in January 2012. The government did not make a submission to the Environmental Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. At the time of the environmental assessment, the GNWT was actively negotiating with the Government of Alberta towards a bilateral water management agreement. The Alberta-NWT bilateral water management agreement addresses concerns related to upstream development and was signed in March 2015. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the time of year for celebration. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to honour the passing of Lindsay James St. Ledger Waugh. He was the first-born son of James St. Ledger Waugh and Ella May Taylor. He was born in Palmerston, South New Zealand, on October 7, 1946. He was followed by six siblings and spent most of his time in Waiati, a village outside of Dunedin.

His stories of childhood and adolescence involve working hard, taking the steam train to school, working on cars and motorcycles, smoking and drinking beer, and having the best time with his...

Lands has not been in any discussion presently. There may be some conversations at a regional level. Right now, we haven't seen anything at headquarters.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has met several times to discuss with the city initiative, including two meetings with the city to date. Work has been focusing on ensuring clarity on what Lands initiative will include, ensure clarity on the process to carry out the initiative, and identification of milestones accomplished throughout the initiative and who is responsible for each. The department is focused on ensuring the initiative is carried out in a timely manner that ensures the transfer is done right. A meeting with the city is scheduled for next week to continue working with this...

The letters that come from the department are letters that support legal contracts such as lease agreements. They need to be clear. They are not meant to carry a specific tone, but to ensure that there is no misunderstanding of the points that need to be communicated. If a lease fee remains unpaid and there is no intent to continue use of the parcel of land, it is the responsibility of the department to ensure that the land be left in an acceptable condition. This often means a condition that is as close as possible to the original state. I agree with the principle when addressing public lands...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will have opportunities to revisit the mechanisms used to set the rent and fees, and it will be part of bringing our Public Lands Act into force. We are starting to work on it. It's part of a process. It's not going to be fixed overnight; it's going to take some time. We are in the process and there are mechanisms in there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The "Guidelines for Closure and Reclamation of Advanced Mineral Exploration and Mine Sites in the Northwest Territories" were developed jointly by the land and water boards of the Mackenzie Valley and the Government of Canada, now CIRNAC. These guidelines outline the requirement for closure and reclamation plans and stress that closure objectives and criteria be established for the site. Although these guidelines are designed to cover mineral explorations and mine closure, the concept of guidelines apply to all development projects in the NWT. These guidelines were used to guide development of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Strategic Oil and Gas was, at the time of devolution, transferred an operations site which has gone through an environmental screening and regulatory process and met the criteria for a release site. The site has an owner that is responsible for clean-up and environmental liabilities. Canada transferred the securities associated with all operating sites on April 1st, 2014. Adequacy of security is the subject of continual review and revision as part of the modern regulatory process in the NWT.

At the moment, Strategic Oil and Gas, although it is in creditor protection as...