Hay River South

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just one more point of clarification then. This temporary ban that is in place on this particular herd in this specific area, how long does the Minister anticipate that will be in place before the Wekeezhii Management Board will then put measures in place to protect this herd? Just so we put that in context as well, not saying that someone else being responsible for the management at this regional level is going to solve all the problems facing the caribou and the impacts that are causing them to decline, but just as far as this government’s role in having to step up...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 19)

I’d like to thank the Minister for putting this into a context and a perspective that it is in terms of the specific herd and the management board responsible for that herd. The Minister also indicates that this is an interim emergency measure, which would indicate that this is temporary. Can the Minister offer any explanation as to why these other management boards have been able to be so involved in the wildlife management and what is the holdup and the delay and the deferring of the Wekeezhii board’s work on the Bathurst caribou issue? Thank you.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to weigh in on the caribou issue here today. It is something that has certainly caught the attention of the many, many people in the North who depend on this valuable resource as a way of life. Although I’m not one of those people, I am observing the situation and I have some comments that I would like to make on it as well.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve had an opportunity, through the Minister of ENR and his staff, to see some of the science around the declining and virtually threatened numbers and the populations of the different caribou herds. Some...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. My questions today are really wanting an update on where this government is at in terms of supporting the activities of a very exciting mining project that has a great potential and could positively impact the South Slave. Communities like Hay River did realize some benefits from the diamond mines, but we were really geographically kind of on the periphery of that. The Avalon rare earth minerals at Thor Lake is something that potentially has a processing or secondary processing opportunity in the...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 18)

Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t ready to make a Member’s statement before until I heard Mr. Hawkins Member’s statement. Now I’m ready to make a Member’s statement.

---Laughter

I’m sure he was deafened by the sound of his own applause there, but…

---Laughter

...Mr. Speaker, he was the only one applauding, because I would like to thank the government for responding to the many requests…

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that we need to take a very similar look at the rare earth minerals as we did with the diamonds. They weren’t mining diamonds in Alberta or Saskatchewan at the time that we got into it here. I don’t think that they will find a deposit such as has been identified here in the Northwest Territories in any other jurisdiction any time soon that I’m aware of. So we have a unique opportunity of something that is located in the Northwest Territories that I would like this Minister to commit to the House that we will place the same emphasis and priority on maximizing...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 18)

Avalon Ventures’ Thor Lake Project environmental assessments, a lot of that work has already been done. It happened very quietly, but much of that work has already been done. I think it’s up to our government to invest the resources. When we see an opportunity, we have to be proactive. We have to create that business case for why we should be supporting this.

Going back to the previous set of questions, the Minister answered that in terms of the excess power generated at the Taltson now, the Minister said something. I want to know who has jurisdiction over it. Is it NTPC? Has it been turned...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Taltson is being expanded and I understand the potential demand of the diamond mines, if that happens. But, Mr. Speaker, we make the legislation. Sure, the act was put in place in the 15th Assembly, but why could there not be an exclusion made as well to supply power for this sizeable customer in the South Slave? Why couldn’t the same principles of business and making a profit apply to some kind of a negotiation for power supply for Avalon Ventures?

I think it’s very important that we have an opportunity before us here to keep this...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 18)

I hope that in looking at what we can offer, we do not put too much emphasis on that federal responsibility and the royalties not accruing to the Government of the Northwest Territories, because we have the diamond mines as a very clear example of where this government went to extreme lengths -- and I applaud this, I’m not criticizing this -- with diamond secretariats and training programs through the college and a lot of financial support, loan guarantees for processing diamonds. There was a whole real spectrum of support for the diamond mines and we didn’t get any royalties from that either...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 18)

...that were put forth by the Members on this side of the House in response to our constituents who told us of their concerns and their problems when this new practice came into place of having ECE manage the housing subsidy. There were problems. They were logistical problems, in some instances, where ECE and the housing authorities were not co-located and information needed to pass back and forth. We caused some great stress to seniors who were living in subsidized accommodation who, all of a sudden, got letters saying what the economic rent was going to be for their unit and they didn’t...