Bob Bromley

Thank you, Madam Chair. I could bring this up I suppose under Human Resource Strategy and Policy, but really I’m talking about direction here when I’m talking about the safety practices of the government and the barrier that I referred to in my general comments. I think the department is doing what it can, largely in response to the safety issues and the fines, but really what’s happening is this department provides policy to the other departments and then it’s a matter of trusting them to implement it. That’s not happening. That’s been pointed out by this Minister. He has no control over...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Thursday, February 14, 2013, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Government of the Northwest Territories inform the federal government of our dissatisfaction both with the dismantling of the federal environmental protection regime and with the federal government’s failure to consult and inform this government on changes directly affecting our interests, the ensured integrity of our environment and the content of devolution negotiations that are currently underway;

And...

The Premier and I are on the same page with his last statement there. The previous bit, though, is only partially correct. The board said they had shadow people for this project that’s coming up but not for the rest of the work. There’s also the federal duty to consult and accommodate to meet federal fiduciary in Section 35 responsibilities. These may be federal but they are the constitutional rights held by more than half of our NWT citizens. When the federal government reneges on them, I believe we have a duty to lend support to NWT citizens under assault.

Was this government even informed in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement today and ask questions directed to the Premier. The federal government is the resource manager and the co-signatory of the land claim agreements. Two Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada environmental audits say under-resourcing of the boards is a barrier to speedy and thorough completion of reviews.

Does the Premier agree that it is, at least currently, the responsibility of the federal government to adequately resource the boards to carry out this work?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal government’s latest rampage against environmental protection and this government’s silence in areas of critical public interest demand comment.

Thursday, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board was informed of budget cuts. It will reduce its staffing by half, crippling its ability to carry out full consultative reviews. Because of the independent status of the board, the federal government can’t tamper with board decision-making, so repressive control is exerted through funding cuts, reducing and restricting the board’s ability to operate...

Thanks for that information. I assume that has to be done, sort of, this fiscal year. I don’t know where we’re at in terms of getting all the entities up and running of the number that we have, but I’d appreciate that information. So any more details before I ask my last one here. Thanks.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Is this the activity within which the WSCC is controlled? Would workplace safety with WSCC be considered in this activity?

I appreciate the Minister’s comments there. I don’t have anything specific here, but I imagine the Minister knows what I’m talking about and could try and get his finger on the pulse when he’s in communities, or his staff are in communities and so on. So it might be interesting to develop a bit of a sense there and see if there’s an opportunity for helping out in that front and letting us know what his impressions are. Thank you.

Thanks for the comments from the Minister. It sounds like he is acting on this. I’m glad to hear that. I hope it works. When there’s a wishy-washy line of authority, you often get a wishy-washy result. It sounds like there’s some firming up happening if it’s actually explicitly stated in revue standards for deputy ministers and so on. I appreciate that. It sounds like a reasonable compromise to try out.

I’d ask that the Minister keep us apprised on that and maybe the Premier to report if that has to be implemented, if there is – I forget the Minister’s term for pay and benefits – action that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A few quick comments here. I want to start off by adding my voice to the congratulations to the Minister and all his staff for the Canada’s Top 100 Employers Award. That’s really great.

So, briefly, I have similar concerns to what the Minister has heard on whistleblower, and I’m looking forward to that legislation being brought forward. Succession planning, I’m very interested in that. I’m finding myself sort of in that category here. What’s been done to date we’ve been talking about since the 16th Assembly. How do we change the statistics would be good to know.

We’ve...