Cory Vanthuyne

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I think that committee has the purview where this is maybe one of those crossroads where we are going to have a difference with the Minister and the department in general perspective, at least based on the way that some committee Members view this. I think that we genuinely feel that we want to serve the best interests of the public. I think that, if the public knows that royalties shall be paid to this government, the government that represents them, certainly there should be the obligation to report it on a mine-by-mine basis.

If we were to just leave this in...

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I am wondering, when we award P3 contracts, is there any opportunity thereafter where we can expect that the proponent or the operator would have a requirement that they have to put out, say, a public offering or a public tender to local and northern suppliers and contractors so that we are not just letting these operators use their previously southern contacts, and that we're ensuring at least the opportunity for northern companies and suppliers to bid on work that these operators. In the instance of the hospital, I used an example earlier about coffee...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends, to the extent it is possible before the dissolution of the 18th Assembly and for the public record, that the government provide a response to these recommendations, even of a preliminary nature, that committee may publicly disclose. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are for the Minister of Finance. Earlier I spoke about P3 contracts and how these are becoming maybe a bit of a new norm here in the Northwest Territories, but right now they don't necessarily include northern benefit policies, such as BIP, to be applied to them or similar types of aspects of, let's say, negotiated contracts. I would like to ask the Minister: is there anything built into the negotiated process when you are negotiating with a proponent with P3s that brings northern benefit to the NWT in terms of employment or having to use local...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the previously noted implementation plan identify how the regulatory gap related to the matter of removing drill core be resolved. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 33-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 34, Mineral Resources Act, be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Some of this was touched on just in our last motion here. I won't elaborate too much. I think this goes to show that there is still a continued desire for public to understand exactly what contributions mining makes to the Northwest Territories in its various forms. There is this desire for more transparency in that regard. We see here in this recommendation and we are encouraging the government to use best practices. Some of the models that we do see are some of the ones that have been named in this recommendation.

Frankly, these are ones that the mining industry...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize former Member and former Minister and resident of Yellowknife North and understood to be a candidate in the upcoming election, Dave Ramsay. Thank you for being here, and welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Minister direct the Department of Lands to develop a Land Use Sustainability Framework implementation plan that more fully incorporates the principles guiding the department's mandate as set out in the Department of Lands establishment policy; further, this plan should clearly identify actions and associated timelines required to implement the Public Land Act, including the need for further legislative change; furthermore, it should also clearly and publicly articulate how the department's guiding principles and those in the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Like many of us in here, I regret that we are even in this position right now and that we even have to give consideration to this kind of a tax on Northerners. I am very aware, every time I speak in this House, that folks from Ottawa are listening closely. Sometimes I am open to sending messages to them just as much as I am sending messages to colleagues here in our chamber.

It is troubling that here we are, at the eleventh hour, and it is still unclear, and that we have to undertake this debate as it relates to even the coming-into-force date. Everyone knows that I don...