Brendan Bell

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to provide Members with an update on the Mackenzie gas project and our ongoing preparations for this exciting development project.

As the Premier stated in his sessional statement at the opening of the session, the Mackenzie gas project is a key to the long-term strategic interests of the Northwest Territories and the socioeconomic future of our territory. The Government of the Northwest Territories remains committed to this project, to the joint panel process established to review it and to ensuring that northerners...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me first say, Mr. Speaker, that it was a very unfortunate incident that happened recently at the Colomac mine site, and very unfortunate that two people were injured. Although it’s not the first time this has ever happened, I would say injuries of this nature and these encounters are still relatively rare. Not to say that they don’t happen, and many times when they do happen it’s a very bad outcome.

The Member, in his statement, pointed out that we are involved and responsible for the protection of wildlife, but I would say that the department is very active in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They are onside with that principle. As the Member knows, they made a number of commitments in this regard through the environmental process. I can assure the Member that those commitments are going to be lived up to and the CEAA will speak to that and does speak to that. The other point I would make is that I don’t believe the De Beers board has made a final construction decision on the Snap Lake mine yet. We hope that’s to come in the coming months and I think that will be a very significant event when and if we have that behind us. I assume that we will; I’m looking...

Mr. Speaker, thank you. Obviously, we think this is an industry with a lot of promise. It’s come a long way. I think it’s important to remember that this industry in Canada, never mind the Northwest Territories and North America, is truly in its infancy. It’s not many years now since the production began at the Ekati mine. Diavik followed. So we knew that there would be bumps in the road here. We think we have a sustainable industry. We think the factories that are operating now are doing a very good job. We do acknowledge that it is very competitive. We are dealing with labour, and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll certainly report back the next time we sit and I can give the Member a progress update. Unfortunately, we won’t be sitting in a month’s time, but after Christmas I can certainly provide that update. Mr. Speaker, it’s important for us to recognize that when we talk about the uranium transportation route, there are other sites where uranium product was transferred. Those sites are also a concern to us. We’re concerned about the soils near Sawmill Bay, Bennett Landing and Tulita; we’ve mentioned that. Also at Fort Smith. So there are a number of sites that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell the Member that I share his frustration and I think many northerners do as well. It’s obviously a difficult legacy that we have from past industrial use, military use and other uses across the North, and across the entire country in fact, that we have a number of contaminated sites and these sites need to be cleaned up. The Member is right that there has been a lot of discussion between federal departments over the last 10 years. There was an acknowledgement and recognition in the early '90s that contaminated soil had to be dealt with in the Tulita area...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 16, Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll certainly find out what information and materials we have available to us and what materials we use in the regions. I haven’t seen the videos. I’ll take it that they exist and the Member has seen them. I assume that they aren’t available in some of the aboriginal languages and we can look at that too, especially regionally. Obviously it’s not relevant for all regions, but we can talk about where it is relevant. I think there’s also some merit in looking at other materials and making sure that people in communities understand these. Obviously that’s the idea behind...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; the development of the Wildlife Act and the Species at Risk Act is underway. It has been underway for a number of years and obviously it’s a very slow process. We are required to consult with land claim organizations and with wildlife management groups. We want to make sure we consult with the entire public across the territory and all of the aboriginal organizations. It has been unwieldy. We have to make sure that we comply with the spirit and intent of all the land claim agreements, and we are aiming to do that. So, yes, I’ve run down a number of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll try to keep the responses as short as I can and save going into the history of how this came about from the Council of the Federation and just indicate that we’ve agreed on a number of thrusts in the National Diamond Strategy. There are several priorities that I think will greatly benefit the North. We know that it isn’t the intention of the NDS to speak to the creation or the development of a multi-stakeholder body that will assist in coordinating and implementing the strategy. The issues in the strategy that are of critical importance to us, I think, are the...