Bob McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, I will move that Bill 15, Oil and Gas Operations Act; Bill 16, Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resources Management Act; and Bill 17, Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Agreement on Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement Act, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Great Slave, that Bill 13, Devolution Measures Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, building strong working relationships with Aboriginal governments has been a personal priority of mine and of this Assembly. Our ability to work together in the spirit of respect, recognition and responsibility is what enables us to serve the common interest of all the people of this territory and will be the foundation for the successful implementation of devolution.

I am pleased to advise Members that our governments have taken another step forward in our continuing partnership with the signing of the Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement and...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 14, Waters Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize all the Pages and especially the Pages from Yellowknife South: Benjamin Karstad, Hannah Schauerte, Kristin Chapman, Mackenzie Marriott, and also the Pages who were here last week: Ashley Stride and Kyra Hanninen. I really appreciate all the work that the Pages do here in the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It sounds like the Member would prefer to have the NEB continue to go back to Cabinet of Canada to make the decisions. That’s what he seems to be proposing. What we’re saying is decisions will be made by duly elected government and the Ministers that are involved. We are contracting with NEB. The National Energy Board will continue to be involved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There will be three departments that will be involved with the regulatory process. I will emphasize again, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, the boards there will continue to be in existence and they will be making recommendations to the different Ministers responsible. We will have three different departments involved with three responsible Ministers. In our view, having people of the Northwest Territories make the decisions that were formally done in Ottawa, it’s much better and it’s in all of our interests of people of the Northwest Territories to be responsible for decisions...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to indicate to the Members we have provided all the reports to the committees over the period of time. We have also briefed and been asked for feedback as to the three-year work plan that the PRO has been working on. There were questions on the status of priorities. Aurora College student housing program review is currently underway. The residential care for children program review is delayed because of the Auditor General’s current review of the program. Energy use program review has been deferred due to overlap with other works. There is also a number of...

Our territory probably takes most seriously its duty to consult. We consult and we consult and we consult. We will continue to do so. The Member is making assumptions. We will be coordinated and we will consult and listen to the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member should elevate his thinking to where we are presently. We are taking over devolution and we will be taking a Government of the Northwest Territories approach. The Department of Lands will be the lead department in dealing with environmental assessments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.