Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that subclause 42(5) of Bill 34 be amended:

(a) in that portion preceding paragraph (a), by adding "or, if applicable, to a municipality" after "Indigenous government or organization"; and

(b) in paragraph (a), by adding "or is within or overlaps with the land of that municipality" after "Indigenous governments or organization."

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I rise today to acknowledge Frame Lake constituent Lyda Fuller, who received the Order of the Northwest Territories for the huge, positive impact she has had on the lives of NWT girls, women, and families. Over two decades, Lyda Fuller has led the YWCA NWT in its delivery of transitional housing; the introduction of the first Housing First Program; in programming to address intimate partner violence through research and treatment programs; the creation of a territory-wide network of women's shelters; and through the GirlSpace program. She is a leader, mentor...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I have a question I'd like to start with, and I want to commend the department, again. This took a lot of work. The annual report requirements are new. This was something that committee worked hard on with the department, and it's definitely an improvement.

So 17.1(1)(q) says the total amount of royalties paid the Government of the Northwest Territories. I understand that, right now, this actually doesn't happen, the public reporting of total royalties. We do get public accounts where there are combined figures for oil and gas and mining royalties, so can someone with...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that the witness proved my point. There could be two sets of terms and conditions that relate to claims: one for the zone and one of general application, which I think is going to create confusion -- it is creating confusion in my own mind, obviously -- about having two sets of rules for anyone applying for an instrument.

Can someone from the department clarify whether anybody has actually requested this ability to have what I interpret as two sets of rules for someone securing an instrument? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 34 be amended by adding the following after subclause 111(4):

(4.1) The Minister may establish one or more agreements with Indigenous governments or organizations in the Northwest Territories as to how the Commissioner in Executive Council will engage with those parties in exercising the regulation-making powers under this section.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That's not the kind of reassurance I was hoping for and that I think the public deserves, so I'll continue to pursue that. The regulation-making process is not set out in the legislation. We had one Indigenous government, Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, actually bring to our attention that there was some preliminary work being done on developing a memorandum of understanding or some sort of an agreement on what level of engagement they would have moving forward in the regulations. Can the Minister clearly state on the record what that process is going to look like, beyond...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Before I go on to something else, I would like to ask the Minister a question about: is there anything in this section that gives municipal governments, community governments the ability to request temporary protection of areas within their boundaries that might be covered by key municipal infrastructure? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I move that subclause 28(5) of Bill 34 be amended:

(a) in that portion, preceding paragraph by adding: or if applicable to a municipality, after Indigenous government or organization; and

(b) in paragraph (a) by adding, or is within or overlaps within the land of that municipality after Indigenous government or organization.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't have anything to add other than I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Great, so the Minister can do this as well. Can I just get an explanation from the department of what the purpose of subclause (13) in this section is? Thank you, Mr. Chair.