Statements in Debates
Thanks, Madam Chair. It's not as if anybody is going to get a pension increase, then. This is, as I remember, a defined benefit pension. It's just that we have more members that are eligible to draw down now. That's what's happened here. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I think this is the line item where our water inspectors would go and do inspections, and I just want to know what's happening with the diamond mines right now, whether our inspectors are allowed to go to the site and whether they are able to perform their job. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm not interested in waiting 15 years to reopen the significant discovery licence. The Minister has the ability now to include terms and conditions that will benefit Northerners. She doesn't seem to be prepared to exercise that discretion. My question to the Minister is: in whose interest is she acting in issuing this significant discovery licence, the company's or the public's? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks, Madam Chair. It has been a long day, and I am just not getting it. I look forward, though, to this side of the House, the public, actually having a better understanding of what GNWT is trying to do to get control of the MVRMA. I just don't get it, and it's not been made clear; it's not been made public. I am really worried about that. I am going to leave it at that. Thanks, Madam Chair. Nothing further on this section.
I want to thank the Minister for that excellent reading of Section 30.3. Does this mean, then, that an applicant for a significant discovery licence has a veto over terms and conditions?
Thanks, Madam Chair. I think I ask this almost every budget: the Inuvialuit Water Board. This is, I know, some kind of artefact of devolution. They do good work; they've got good staff. Why are they kind of on our payroll? I know we get money from the federal government for this, but these folks should be independent of GNWT, like the other land and water boards. I just don't understand why this is here. They should be getting their own money outside of the budget. This is just kind of like the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. It's another one of these instances where this was...
I am not going to say anything on that one, but I appreciate the commitment to share that information with us. Let's just go back to: my colleague from Yellowknife North was asking some questions about the legislative work of the department. I was in the last Assembly. We actually saw draft Air Regulations, the wording of it. They were shared with committee. There was a lot of work done on that, and then it just kind of disappeared. I know that there was a lot of work that was done on changes to the Water Resources Act. I talked to some colleagues with Indigenous governments and the NGO...
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for that. In the existing exploration licence for Husky Energy, there already is an annual fee per hectare the company has to pay. Now, is the Minister prepared to keep that kind of annual fee in the significant discovery licence, or is she just going to give everything away? I want to know from the Minister: she has discretion to do the right thing and secure benefits for the North. Is she going to do that, or is she going to give this away, not even include an annual fee, as there is in the current exploration licence? Will she impose a fee...
Thanks, Madam Chair, and thanks to the Minister for that. I had understood that there were some meetings that were to take place in the fall, or maybe it was in January, with the Tlicho and some other Indigenous governments and communities to start to identify specific areas for habitat protection, critical habitat. Look, there is nothing else we can do on the harvest side, quite frankly. I do appreciate the work of the Minister and what he did in the media today, so maybe we can do some more enforcement stuff there. There's not much we can do with the harvesters to deal with that anymore. We...
Thanks, Madam Chair. I recognize there's a pandemic going on, but I asked these questions a year ago because we wanted to try to increase the CHAP funding at that point. Has this review been delayed? When is the Minister going to be in a position where he can share a copy of the evaluation with standing committee? Thanks, Madam Chair.