Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I give notice that, on Friday, August 23, 2019, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Friday, August 23, 2019, it shall be adjourned until Thursday, October 24, 2019;

And further, that any time prior to October 24, 2019, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have always said in this House that I support mining as long as it contributes towards sustainability and provides benefits to Northerners. Our job, despite some heckles, is to ensure that our government sets clear rules around sustainability and benefits. The Mineral Resources Act is not about promoting mining. It's about setting up a system for mineral rights management. A lot was promised, not all of it delivered.

The bill is really about trying to balance a complex set of rights and interests. The bill was developed by the Minister of Industry, Tourism and...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the Draft Rules of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, dated August 2019. Mr. Speaker, this document reflects the comprehensive review of the rules undertaken by the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures to modernize our rules and to better reflect our current practices and procedures. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I understand that this is going to be dealt with by regulation, what a notice of intended work is going to look like, but we are talking about a requirement that it actually be disclosed on a public registry after the Minister negotiates some kind of an arrangement through a regulation to protect business interests. This is about encouraging good working relationships, good neighbours, and avoiding land use conflicts. I am trying to understand what the problem is in saying that that should be part of the public registry now. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would request a recorded vote, and I will be better at it next time when I ask for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am still confused. Can I ask the law clerk who determines whether this other arrangement is satisfactory and what happens if there is a dispute? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I support this motion. I have made statements in the House already about Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and how I believe our government should adopt this as a number of other governments around the world have. I have made statements in the House about how some of the mining companies that operate here have already accepted this initiative and the kind of reporting that would be required.

The federal government already has in place something called the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act. The problem with that act is that it is based on self-reporting...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This is going to be a long evening. Sorry for that. I haven't heard a commitment out of the Minister to actually make this fiscal regime review that he has talked about actually open to the public. He talks about how he is willing to make sure that the regulations that are developed in the future are going to be open to the public but not the fiscal regime review.

I have also heard some arguments that this somehow is ridiculous that this kind of disclosure might be required and that payments to Indigenous governments might have to get disclosed or something. Actually, the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that is a mouthful. The drafting of this motion is to say that there are two sets of rules that apply, one inside a zone and one outside of a zone. The way this had been drafted, it looked like, to me, that there was the potential for two sets of rules to apply within a zone: the special rules established by the regulation setting up the zone and then the general regulations established under this act. That is what the purpose of this is. One set of rules, whether you are inside or outside of a zone. When you are inside, you live with the rules that are established...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Well, we are going to deal with this issue. It is contained in the bill. In fact, the Minister has the ability to exclude information, is required to exclude information that could be detrimental to business interests that even go above and beyond what's in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Minister has extensive powers there that go above and beyond what we've already legislated. The Minister has the ability to prescribe what this notice of intended work is going to look like. In fact, good companies already do this. TerraX already does it here...