Yellowknife South

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What the government announced is that there would be no economic adjustments for excluded employees and this was publicly announced by the Finance Minister in February. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 15)

I believe that by participating on the four federal climate change working groups we will have the opportunity to provide for input. We certainly benefit from the interaction with other provinces and territories where we learn what their thoughts on carbon pricing are. Some provinces are looking at not developing an acrosstheboard carbon pricing mechanism. Maybe that's something that would be suited for the Northwest Territories, where you develop criteria where there's no development, where communities have no business opportunities, perhaps you would not introduce carbon pricing but you...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 15)

At the Vancouver meetings, the Prime Minister did indicate he was going to work very closely with the 166 communities in the North that are solely dependent on diesel for electrical production. We’re not sure what format that will take. I expect that will be developed during the meetings of the four federal working groups that have been set up to report in October. Certainly, we are very prepared and we are putting into action an approach to develop a new Northwest Territories climate change strategic framework for consideration by the 18th Assembly. As part of that process, we're going to go...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 15)

In the 17th Assembly the standing committee on economic development after touring several fracking regions did release a report with quite a number or recommendations. We expect that what we would do is through the review of the Oil and Gas Operations Act and the Petroleum Resources Act we would deal with the issues and we expect the public to raise their concerns with regards to hydraulic fracking.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 15)

In response to priorities laid out by the 18th Legislative Assembly the Government of the Northwest Territories has committed to advancing a review of the Petroleum Resources Act and the Oil and Gas Operations Act and the regulations associated with it. We recognize that people want more time to think about how our resources are best managed and developed. This engagement also ties in with the work we are doing to develop a Northwest Territories Oil and Gas Strategy which will not only help us to unlock the petroleum potential of the Northwest Territories but to do so in a way that is...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 15)

Thank you for clarifying the position. If the business case shows that there's opportunities for increased effectiveness and efficiencies, that's where the difference comes in, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 15)

No decisions have been made as of yet. Possibly there could be changes. It depends on the outcomes of zero-base reviews. If there is a business case to support any amalgamations, those proposals will be reflected in the 2017-18 business plans and we'll reviewed with committees this fall, and I hope the committee will support changes that would be proposed, if any, at that time.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 14)

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier this week, the successful conclusion of modern treaties and selfgovernment agreements can be seen as the ultimate expression of free prior and informed consent among partners. The Government of Canada's recent adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is an encouraging and tangible demonstration of the federal government's renewed commitment to Canada's Aboriginal people.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 14)

I will try to cover that in a few short sentences. The signing of the Inuvialuit SelfGovernment Agreement-in-Principle marks an important step on the road towards Aboriginal selfgovernment for the Inuvialuit. The agreement-in-principle serves as the foundation for the negotiation of a final Inuvialuit selfgovernment agreement. The agreement-in-principle deals with various matters such as culture and language, health, social services, education, economic development, justice, and taxation. It also describes the Inuvialuit Government and its roles and responsibilities, the structures of the...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 14)

As a government, we participate in federal, provincial, and territorial meetings in a number of different areas. The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment participates, FPTs and small business, so I always say that by participating, we gain a lot more than we contribute in these FPT meetings because we get access to best practices in every jurisdiction in Canada. Just recently, British Columbia has outlined what they're doing with small business. They have a round table for small business in BC that they feel every province and territory can benefit from doing something similar, so...