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.
