Frieda Martselos

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of NTPC commit to have bilateral meetings with the First Nation who has reserve lands right beside the Taltson dam and come to an agreement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I support the bill because I think the majority of the people of the Northwest Territories are of Indigenous. I just I want to talk about a couple things.

The IGC is with three governments. Okay, I mean, with the federal and territorial government and the government that signs on. And it's not necessarily that I want to make this very clear because I think clarity is very important.

When you sign on, that means you have a say in land and resources now that we're actually doing some of the work with especially with the process convention. You have to realize the...

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide any update on her engagements with the federal government regarding the Taltson expansion? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, despite opposition or doubts from some about the viability of the Taltson Hydro Expansion, can the Minister confirm that this project is still a priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to speak once again about a major infrastructure project that our government has been pursuing for years and has committed to construct at some point in the future. The project I'm talking about is the Taltson hydro expansion.

Mr. Speaker, I know that there are some Members from past and present in this House who are strongly against the expansion of the Taltson dam, and each Members' reasons are varied. I, however, wanted to stand up here today and state once again, as I have on numerous occasions, that I am somebody who is strongly in favour...

I too feel very you know, government to government is very important with this whole bill, okay. Government to government is the governments that the Indigenous all have their own governments. They make decisions in one day. They don't wait ten years. And so, you know, I always say that, and government to government relationship is really important. I think we have a role a different role. If something went wrong or someone said something that just wasn't quite right, I mean, you're already called on to the carpet to advocate on behalf of that First Nation as an MLA. I think we have roles...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, October the 6th, 2023, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, second by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that this Legislative Assembly request the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories to dissolve the 19th Assembly of Northwest Territories on October 15th, 2023 to permit polling day for a general election to be held on November 14th, 2023.

And further, that the Speaker transmit this resolution to the Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, take my job very seriously. You know, I've been I work very, very hard for the constituents of Thebacha. And I also ensure and I'm sure every one of my colleagues do too. We take our jobs very seriously. When you put your name forward on a ballot, you take things seriously. And you do everything in the best interests of your constituents and the people of the Northwest Territories. I do not take things seriously when we have to start putting things in the bill to start telling people how they have to do the operations of a bill, okay. That's a no no. If I...

I don't have any comments on it.

Just a short comment. Since this is our first process convention and it's with Bill 74 with both our government and Indigenous groups, I too want to thank all those that participated. I think it's a first step in ensuring that we hear from the people that are keepers of the land.

I also want to know I also want to say that we all know that this was a bad forest fire season, a terrible one. I mean, I was some of us were away five weeks for evacuation. We know that there's going to be a What We Heard report, hopefully. I just want to ensure that when we do that, there is public consultation...