Kevin O'Reilly

I want to thank the Minister for that update. In the joint letter that I saw on a pan-territorial approach, the issue of an accelerated contaminated sites program was buried on page 3, and it was really dressed up as support for the mining industry. I am worried that GNWT will simply see this federal support as a way to lessen the public liability we failed to prevent from a bankruptcy of Strategic Oil and Gas, Cameron Hills, and similar boondoggles. What assurance can the Premier give me that there is a real vision and concrete proposal for an accelerated northern contaminated sites...

Merci, Monsieur le President. On April 17, 2020, the federal government announced $1.72 billion in financial assistance for the remediation of orphan and inactive oil and gas wells in western Canada as part of Canada's Economic Response Plan for COVID-19. On May 28, I made a statement in this House about the potential for the NWT to access similar funding, working in partnership with Yukon and Nunavut. The Premier provided some assurances that "remediation from mine sites has always been a priority." The Premier also said that a joint letter was in preparation to federal Ministers from the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I give notice that, on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Tabled Document 165-19(2): Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 1-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT; Tabled Document 166-19(2): Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 2-19(2): Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery - Recommendations to the GNWT; and Tabled Document 167-19(2): Government of the...

I want to thank the Minister for that. It leads very nicely into my next question. In my statement, I referenced that literally billions of dollars are going to be spent on remediation at sites like Giant Mine, Norman Wells, and across the Northwest Territories, and I think that there are some enormous opportunities here to build a remediation economy that includes training, apprenticeships, research, and more. All of that, of course, should be linked to the polytechnic university. Can the Premier tell us whether our government has made that link between federal investment in an accelerated...

Merci, monsieur le President. I wish to table the following two documents: the first is an email from Our Time Yellowknife about Just Recovery for the Northwest Territories. The second document, Mr. Speaker, is an opinion piece in The Hill Times dated June 20, 2020, by Premier Cochrane, entitled, "COVID-19 has made the North's quest for equality a steeper climb." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that, and I will acknowledge that, pretty quickly after some time she finds out about these things, she does share it with us. I want to give her credit for that. However, it seems to be changing almost daily or monthly, and I am just wondering what kind of lines of communication our government keeps with some of the creditors, Union of Northern Workers who represents some of the workers at the site, even the insurance companies that have the surety bonds, Dominion itself, if the Minister can speak in broad terms about the lines of...

I want to thank the Minister for that. I just hope that part of our messaging is that we have workers at the site. They do have rights, and we want to make sure that they are protected, because, if pensions aren't paid to these workers, guess what? They are going to come back, and they may end up on Income Assistance. It's going to cost our government something, as well.

I guess this really gets to the broader question of communications around what we're doing. I don't want to get into the specifics of the court proceeding, but the only place I can find any information about this is in the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, we all want to see the mine reopen, but I just don't want our government to get short-changed or the environment to get short-changed in the process. For the first time I can recall, GNWT accepted surety bonds as financial securities for this particular mine. Insurance companies don't stay in business by paying out. Can the Minister tell us whether it is Cabinet's position that these surety bonds should be converted to or replaced by the more reliable and irrevocable letters of credit issued by a Canadian chartered...

I want to thank the Minister for confirming that. If the insurance companies would not agree to the sale of the Ekati Mine to the new entity, it raises questions of what our Cabinet's position is. Regular MLAs were not consulted in any way on this sale. Can the Minister tell us what Cabinet's position was or is on the sale to the new entity and who else it was conveyed to and when?

Merci, Monsieur le President. On June 3rd, I made a statement in this House about the uncertainty and lack of Cabinet communications surrounding the creditor protection proceeding for Dominion Diamond affiliates. The latest news is that the proposed sale of Ekati Mine has fallen through because the insurance companies that issued surety bonds covering the reclamation liabilities would not agree to the deal. The surety bonds cover about $280 million of the $295 million financial security for work that is supposed to be done in place under various licences and permits.

The GNWT now has total...