Bob Bromley

Mr. Speaker, I have serious concerns about this agreement, and I know I speak for many Northerners as I describe these concerns to you. But before I do, I want to acknowledge and thank the Premier and his staff who have worked so hard, and in many cases joyfully, to develop this agreement.

This deal provides too little money to take over a regime that is already inadequate and underfunded. The annual funding transfer to run these programs falls $20 million short, even of the estimates that we developed in looking at devolution a decade ago. We walked away from that deal in part because the...

There were additional facts that the Minister put forward, and I’m quoting verbatim from the unedited Hansard here. The Minister also said that there was a big distinction between the MGM application and ConocoPhillips. The Minister said, “The ConocoPhillips application is very comprehensive. It covers a whole host of areas, which is one of the reasons there was a different decision made by the Sahtu Land and Water Board when they looked at the MGM proposal. It didn’t have the same depth and level of comprehensiveness as the ConocoPhillips one does.”

Well, in fact, there were others interested...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of ENR, the Minister of Environment. I’d like to follow up on questions I had the other day about fracking.

In the unedited Hansard of June 3rd, on page 24, Minister Miltenberger said we are of the opinion that if, in fact, ConocoPhillips complies with everything that they’ve promised plus the extensive list of mitigating factors put forward by GNWT, this project could proceed, other than meeting those commitments by ConocoPhillips and addressing the concerns raised that we have supplied to the Sahtu Land and Water Board.

Conoco did...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s time to take the next formal step in the development of our arts industry and culture through the creation of a professional fine arts school. As the Economic Opportunities Strategy report pointed out, people want increased government emphasis on the arts. The sector is broad-based, including literally thousands of producers in the NWT. It gives back huge multipliers in spending and employment, far higher than, for example, the oil and gas industry. People, and especially youth, prosper more fully in all realms of life when they receive arts training. It makes...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to finally get that commitment. These are the Minister’s words, and the record. The vast improvement in the application, as the Minister claimed, doesn’t hold up. The conditions that the Minister suggested would be adopted by ConocoPhillips and the Sahtu Land…(inaudible)…don’t hold up.

What action does the Minister see is needed here in light of these facts to protect the public interest, the clean air, water, and health of the wildlife and their habitat that this Minister is responsible for? I’m looking for accountability here.

I’m not sure if the Minister is saying that this is, in fact, incorrect. I’m sure, in fact, that these are facts. They are contrary to what the Minister has said, and that’s my point.

The Minister also claimed that the Sahtu Land and Water Board would adopt these, and in fact, the Sahtu Land and Water Board also rejected the terms and conditions that the GNWT put forward in these areas, so this is further evidence that there is a need for an environmental review here.

Could I get clarity on what the Minister is saying here? Clearly, his statements were wrong, as per the record, as this is on...

Mr. Speaker, I am still spotting residents of Weledeh here, but one that really caught my eye was, in fact, my wife, Marianne.

---Laughter

It is great to see you in the House. I would also like to recognize Chief Eddie Sangris and past chief Peter Liske, who are in the House today from Weledeh. Also Rick Edjericon has been mentioned. Welcome, Rick. Mike Byrne is here today. I think I saw Greg Loftus up there, Baptiste Foisey, Andrew Robinson and I would like to especially recognize Suzette Montreuil, not from Weledeh, but I know she’s a super worker on behalf of the public interest and welcome...

I very much appreciate the Minister’s commitment there. Part of the problem here is that nature does not run on a fiscal year basis. I’ve talked to the Minister about this. We’re delivering a $6 million agricultural support program on a bureaucratic cycle that won’t consider applications until months after the seed orders should have been placed.

This program has five years of dedicated funds we know are guaranteed. Applicants say they will have their plans for next year by January 1st. They plan ahead. Why can we not adjust this application contribution agreement process with the standard...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI. I’ve spoken critically of ITI’s controlling, non-inclusive and delayed approach, not always intentional, I know, in delivering the Growing Forward Program at the community level, and its failure to germinate citizens’ enthusiasm and capacity to carry projects forward.

Yesterday I learned of one more example. Rather than turn granted money over to a YKDFN community garden for supplies, ITI made the purchases on the basis of the YKDFN supplied list. This stuff arrived and it’s the wrong stuff. Yet again the garden is put back...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, support the improvement of the Non-Government Organizations Stabilization Fund as a vital tool for mobilizing the energies and effectiveness of our partners in civil society.

As I pointed out before, three pillars support the functioning of a healthy society, government and the market represented by business have their role to play, but they must act in partnership with civil society, both individual citizens and their representative groups of non-government organizations.

The NGO Stabilization Fund has made a valuable contribution to assisting a subset of those...