Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Look, I don't want to debate the benefits that the mining industry provides to the Northwest Territories. I've acknowledged them openly in this House. They pay property taxes, they pay taxes, their employees pay taxes. That's all great, but what is the problem with disclosing to the public the amount of royalties paid? That's just a calculation. This is not the entire picture, but I'm trying to understand what the rationale is to prevent disclosure of the royalties that are paid. I just haven't heard a good reason why that amount can't be disclosed.

The other benefits, that's...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I recognize that this is getting late. Committee tried to work with the Minister to propose a number of changes to this concept of zones to put in some checks, and I think that it is fair to say that most of those were incorporated other than what this motion proposes, which is to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the creation of zones. That opportunity could actually include even industry, of course, because they are part of the public as well. Whether it is an Indigenous government or the Minister does this on his or her own accord, this would provide an...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, this is just going in circles, so I think I will stop it there. It's not clear to the public, it's not clear to me, what prospecting necessarily is as authorized under this act. Somebody has to get a licence to do it. It's not clear what it is, where it can be done, whether you have to have a mineral claim to do it or not. I think this is part of the problem here. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I can certainly assure the Minister that it was raised with committee. It is in the committee report. Committee tried to work with the Minister and his staff to reach some kind of resolution, compromise on this, and we were unable to. That is why it is here again before us.

I understand that this section actually deals with written reasons for why restricted areas would be declined and this would insert municipal governments into that process. It is probably not the best place where this fits. The point is that municipal governments just were not accorded the kind of...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So the trigger is going to be set by regulation. I get that. That's the way this has been drafted. The benefits are going to be set by regulation, so there is nothing stopping a future Minister from requiring benefits right back to prospecting through the entire mining cycle. Those benefits could include requiring local hiring, spending, the sorts of things that we do now. They could actually involve setting penalties. You know, this is just far too broad, Mr. Chair. There is no certainty created by this.

What it looks like is the department, the Minister wants to obtain...

I want to thank the Minister for that. That is exactly what I said in the House earlier today. Unfortunately, it comes a little bit late, as the company is now in creditor protection. This happened again under our watch. Can the Minister tell us, though, whether there is any way we can turn the liabilities from Cameron Hills field back to the federal government under the Devolution Agreement?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Ah, now we're getting somewhere. I raised these issues right at the beginning in some of my remarks on the bill, that it is a self-reporting mechanism, and there are different reporting periods, and there are different reporting entities. Are there any reasons why we couldn't disclose the royalties paid by each mine to the public? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Remain in force until amended or repealed to the regulations. That's the case. The old system for zones which were again a tool of government to promote exploration. They all remain in perpetuity, but any zone requested by an Indigenous government will expire after 15 years. That seems inconsistent with how this clause works. In actual effect of an Indigenous government requested zone, it will operate for no longer than 15 years, and then can be renewed, but the ones that the government has created and is carrying over from the old regime, will last forever. That seems to...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I know that it has been a long day, but I need to go on the record for my constituents so that they can see, in the future, what happened here tonight. I supported carbon tax as part of a comprehensive strategy for taking action on climate change. However, I don't support Cabinet's plan.

That plan is made up of three parts: the carbon tax bill that is before us this evening, Bill 42, which imposes, basically, a surcharge, a tax on some fuels. The other two parts of Cabinet's approach on this include the Energy Strategy, and I have spoken at length about the Energy...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I was in the process of trying to get some clarification about why there is no definition of "prospecting" in the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.