Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. While we are on a roll and we are getting all these yeses, I think it's a good time to go back to the liability caps in the Oil and Gas Spills and Debris Liability Regulations that I raised with the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment a couple of days ago. I would like to know when the Minister is going to complete that review of the liability caps. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Do we actually have an agreement in place for the funds to come from the federal government for this expenditure? Thanks, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the Minister for that. I think that was a yes, again, that she will send out a reminder to GNWT supervisors about that. That's great. I am wondering if the Minister could commit to using the domestic leave provisions in the Employment Standards Act as a baseline when it comes to renegotiating the collective agreements. I am sure UNW would support more generous provisions. As I understand it, that's what they had pushed for at the bargaining table but couldn't achieve it. Again, will the Minister use the Employment Standards Act as the baseline moving forward in the negotiations...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Lands at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Has the Minister actually had any communications whatsoever with any of the Indigenous governments over the need for this board to continue? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, monsieur le President. I want to ask some questions of the Minister of Finance, who also has responsibility for human resources. Most Canadian jurisdictions ensure that employees are provided with domestic violence leave, effective January 1, 2020. Our Employment Standards Act provides up to five days of paid family violence leave, another five days of unpaid leave, and maybe even 15 weeks of unpaid leave with proper notice. I supported these changes, but our main collective agreement with UNW only provides for three days of paid domestic violence leave. Is the Minister of aware of this...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I thought I was going to get excited with the last set of questions. You know, I don't know what the problem is, here. The feds were able to accept these kinds of security estimates, and they took the securities, they held them, and now our government doesn't want to do that? This is putting our taxpayers at risk. We raised with the previous Minister of Lands in the context of the Public Land Act. We tried to build in provisions to try to deal with this, allowing for that Minister to make agreements with other Ministers; the Minister's twin, ENR. The Minister wouldn't go...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I disagree with the Minister. There were already dispute resolution processes in arbitration process in each of the land rights agreements. This was sort of pushed onto us by the federal government. It was their creation, and we adopted this as a result of the devolution agreement. I want to urge the Minister and his department to review the need for this body. I don't think there is a need for it, and I personally disagree with the way that surface rights holders are treated. They are only entitled to compensation under the legislation. If a mining company comes...

I want to thank the Minister for that. It was not quite a "yes," but, look, I am talking about the most disadvantaged people in our society. We need take care of them, as we can and should do. I mentioned in my earlier statement the problems when Income Assistance recipients find themselves in situations where they lose jobs or they maybe lose their housing. It's a vicious cycle. I would like to know if there is any consideration that is being given to repayment plans, like rental arrears plans, to reduce hardships of drastic benefit reductions?

Thanks, Madam Chair. I believe in land use planning. It's what got me up here in 1985; I was the land use planning coordinator for the Dene Nation. Why are we spending our money to do land use planning in the Wek'eezhii Management Area? Clearly, this is a federal land rights agreement implementation issue. The feds should be paying for this. Why are we paying for this and not the feds? This is not the first time I've raised this. Thanks, Madam Chair.