Bob Bromley

Thank you. I have seen a lot of documentation here provided by the community. The departmental correspondence indicates that beyond standard leasing conditions, the terms and conditions of the lease are confidential under the ATIPP legislation. Without being able to see the lease, this probably means that the conditions fall under the category for proprietary business information, but a development proposal is hardly confidential business information. It’s essential public knowledge for review of a proposed land use. If there is no development proposal and the land is just being held for...

I guess I don’t buy that, Mr. Chair. I think the department’s been doing a good job and I think they’ve got lots of good programs going with a lot of Aboriginal people and I think that’s only going to enhance their already obvious capability of consulting with Aboriginal people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My comments today are in regard to the recent Norman Wells block land transfer lease decision. This action is wrong every way you look at it. Negotiations leading up to the 144 square kilometre lease or sale were confidential, not just ignoring but excluding the interests of the Town of Norman Wells. The department allowed the corporation 10 months to get their application right and the municipality 72 hours to respond, without even providing the necessary documentation on which to base their response. Our municipal partners were treated with contempt. Even the terms...

Has anything happened on the ground? Do we have a wind generator in Tuk, on the way to Tuk, on order? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to just reiterate some of my colleagues’ concerns and I suppose it’s really just a comment. I’d be happy to have any remarks from the Minister, but I disagree with this Aboriginal consultation unit. My goodness grief, I mean, we have been dealing with Aboriginal people, we are Aboriginal people, our society is Aboriginal. I think we have to start drawing a limit here. There are so many competing demands, as we’ve heard repeatedly today, for these dollars and for this department, which already has the legal expertise to start creating positions like this and using...

I guess I’ll assume that’s a yes, unless I get corrected. That’s all I had. Thank you.

Okay, committee. I think we’re all set to roll. Is committee agreed that we can proceed with the Department of Justice?

This is quite an increase. Does this mean that the rates have gone up for the government?

Mr. Chairman, if I could ask for a detailed breakdown of the contract services, $12.724 million, that would be very useful. I would appreciate that this afternoon. Thank you.

That’s fair. I appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I will commit to checking with this organization and see if they’d like to communicate with you on their perspectives on that.