Kevin O'Reilly

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. First off, I just need to get it clearly on the record I'm not raising any of this to delay or derail this bill in any way. I want this bill to pass, and I want it to pass in this sitting. I support the Legislative Development Protocol. I support the process convention. These are minor tweaks to the bill to improve transparency and accountability. This is about the public aspects of this bill. This is not about anything else. And I think it's a debate that we can and should have on the floor of this House. That's always been my objective as an MLA throughout my year...

Thanks, I'm just waiting for the light to go on. Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess what the process convention does set out some timelines and, you know, steps for committee to work with departmental staff, with the technical working group. And those are good things. But it's really silent on how public any of that can or should be. And we did exchange a number of written communications with as committee with the Minister. And I think it would be helpful for people, for the public, to know how that process went back and forth and what the outcomes were in some cases. And I think as much as...

Thanks. Can someone, then, point me to which specific section of the bill provides that authority? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Okay, thanks. So we don't get an annual report now from the forest superintendent. I got a commitment that it'll probably occur in future reports; that's great. I just would like to have it in the bill itself. So, Madam Chair, I'd like to move a motion to amend 15.1 if I could.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I move that that clause 4 of Bill 92 be amended by deleting proposed subsection 20.2(2) and substituting the following:

(2) The Minister shall, not later than eight months after the end of a fiscal year, prepare an annual report with respect to the collection and administration of carbon tax under this Act during that year.

Mahsi, Madam Chair.

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, in my opening remarks, I mentioned how I think it would have been helpful for committee if we had been able to receive more information about what kind of policy options and decisions had been made around different options before, if that could have been shared with committee before we just got the bill, and that the department didn't really share any of that information with us. So we got the bill, and we had a whole bunch of questions and issues around it that I think probably we could have avoided, or at least had a more productive review of it had more...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I move that paragraph 127(z.01) of Bill 74 be deleted and the following substituted:

(z.01) respecting requirements for wildlife prevention and preparedness plans under subsection 45(2) and the amendment of such plans.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yeah, I hear that and that's sometimes those things are found in business plans that are public, but they're kind of buried in the detail of it. And I would have thought that we'd want to make that kind of information a little more public. And why, you know, wouldn't it be contained in the annual report from the forest superintendent who's actually largely responsible for doing inspection and enforcement. Why can't it be found in the annual report? Or at least be prescribed as one of the thingS that should appear in the annual report? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. I think we're just getting ahead a bit of ourselves on this one. So I don't think the bill actually contains a deadline for annual reporting other than it has to happen. And that's good. When we get to the clausebyclause review, I'll be making a specific motion that I understand the Minister's prepared to support, and Cabinet's prepared to support, just to have a deadline for that reporting. But I'll move that at the appropriate time in the clausebyclause review. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. So while we were reviewing the bill, we had an opportunity to go to Fort Simpson. I want to thank the Environment and Climate Change staff that we met in Fort Simpson. We went to their office and we sat in a boardroom, and there was this great huge screen where they were able to flash up all kinds of information about fires. I'd never seen this stuff before. It was amazing. They had, like, real live time data and information there. They could tell you where planes were located, where they were going to be fire bombing and all kinds of stuff. It was amazing the amount...