Kevin O'Reilly

I would like to chat with the Minister afterwards. You have an opportunity to make a personal explanation to correct the record, but that's a procedural thing. This is still very confusing, Mr. Speaker. What happens when a Canadian citizen arrives into the NWT and they do not meet any of the current exemptions? Will they be turned back, or are they allowed to stay somewhere, even if it's at the border? Are they allowed to stay for 14 days and self-isolate and then apply for an exemption? How does this work?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I have been pushing him on that for some time, so I look forward to getting the information.

The scheduled calving ground survey for the Bathurst caribou herd is not going to proceed this summer as a result of the pandemic. Can the Minister tell us what the management implications are for the herd now that this key population assessment tool is not going to take place? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that. It was good to see the Minister working with Indigenous leaders to condemn the illegal killing of caribou and meat wastage in March of this year. Can the Minister tell us what enforcement actions resulted from this hunting and what preventative measures this government is taking?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Premier again. I think this is a very significant step forward. Part of my concern here is that the Dehcho Land Use Plan has been in development for 19, count them, 19 years, and at first, the obstacle was the federal government because they owned the land, and the GNWT was at the table, but now the obstacle is our government. We own the land, and our government is the obstacle. I have heard this from people involved in the process. The concern is too much land being protected and so on. You have to give the communities the right to decide what...

Thanks, very much to the Premier for that. According to the Government of Canada webpage, it says that Edehzhie will be established as a national park area under the Canada Wildlife Act in 2020. That's this year. I think the permanent withdrawal is helpful, but what we really need is the transfer of the lands back to the federal government, or perhaps some other arrangement to prevent this from being undone in the future. Can the Premier tell us whether we're still on schedule for the establishment as Edehzhie as a National Wildlife Area, and what role this government intends to play?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to provide an update on the state of the Bathurst caribou herd since we last sat in March. March 13, 2020, the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board decided that the proposed 2020 wolf cull could proceed as a pilot project. The board will conduct a more rigorous review of the remaining four years of the proposed program beginning in August of this year. This revised proposal should also include "lesson learned" from the implementation of the 2020 management actions. The board said that "it is clear that communication in advance of the submission of...

I'm still a little confused here. Presumably, then, somebody coming in, even if they're a Canadian citizen, non-Canadian citizen, can camp out at the airport for 14 days, and then they've cleared self-isolation, and then they can travel anywhere in the Northwest Territories. Is that how this could work, Mr. Speaker? Thanks.

Merci, Monsieur le President. There is still some confusion about what happens when people from outside arrive into the Northwest Territories. There was a CBC report yesterday on their website, and I just want to quote one sentence here. It says, "If they don't meet one of the essential services exemptions, they will be told they need to apply for an exemption and self-isolate for 14 days."

I have some questions for the Minister of health on this, and I have talked to her about this and raised some of these concerns. I would like to know, Mr. Speaker, if non-Canadian citizens arrive into the...

I want to thank the Minister for that detailed response. I do commend his leadership in working with the Indigenous leaders on that issue.

As the Minister obviously knows, exploration and development in the range of the Bathurst caribou herd is probably at an all-time low, partly due to the pandemic. Now would seem to be a really good time to implement mobile caribou conservation measures that would provide temporary habitat protection. This work was called for in the Cabinet-approved Bathurst range plan. Can the Minister tell us about the status of the promised mobile caribou conservation...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I'm asking a few questions that I actually know the answers to, just so that the public might have a better understanding of where we're going, and why we are doing this. How long would the authority to make these temporary variations or extensions, how long would that stay in place? Thanks, Madam Chair.