Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister responsible for the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link. In my statement, I recounted how this was justified to this House as a means of connecting our communities to faster Internet services. All of the references portray the project as delivering high-speed fibre optic services in the communities. Can the Minister explain why the promised improvements to Internet service in the communities on the fibre link have not happened? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So all of this is being done in a very compressed time frame, of course, and I want to recognize that the regulator, OROGO, as it's called, the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations, does produce an annual report. That's a good thing. This bill does contain a clause that would require the regulator, not just "may", the regulator "shall" within four months after the end of each fiscal year submit to the Minister a report on its activities, essentially.

What the purpose of this motion is, is to spell out what the content of that report might start to look like; and...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move -- or shall we wait until the motion is on the floor? I want to move this motion. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, and I am very mindful of the Minister's opening remarks here about clarifying authority and ensuring Northerners are able to make decisions that support sustainable development. All of these things are good things that he said, but setting a floor for or at least requiring that there is a floor for when public hearings should be held, this clause doesn't do that. It just says it's up to the discretion of the regulator on a case-by-case basis, perhaps. I am not sure how this actually creates any certainty or clarity moving forward as to when a public hearing might...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This clause would give the regulator the ability to hold public hearings, and the proposed change to section 19.1 of the act says, "The Regulator may conduct a public hearing in respect of the exercise of any of its powers," and so on. In committee, we had a discussion about this, and a motion was moved to not just say that the regulator "may conduct" a hearing but actually in addition to require the regulator to conduct a hearing based on whatever set of criteria that they may develop. Why was this drafted in a way that does not set the floor for when a public hearing...

Once again, the Premier didn't answer my question about whether he actually consulted with his Cabinet colleagues about this letter before it was signed and sent.

I explained in my statement earlier today that these pieces of federal legislation that the Minister cited have very little, if any, application in the Northwest Territories. Of course, the Premier knows very well that the Mackenzie Gas Project was assessed under three different regimes, and of course, it was done through an agreed-upon arrangement under those three different regimes. I suspect any transboundary project would be done...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I thought it was a relatively straightforward question, but it is nice to see the agreement at the table. I think that this is a complicated piece of legislation. I get it. What I would like to do, then, is get a commitment out of the Minister to provide Regular MLAs and maybe even the public a bit of an implementation plan for how this is going to roll out, but I would like to get that information before the end of this Assembly. I think that the public deserves to know, and industry deserves to know, how these changes are going to roll out. If it involves developing some...

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today I raised concerns about a letter that the Premier signed with five provincial Premiers that threaten national unity. Can the Premier confirm that the document I tabled in the House yesterday is indeed the text of the letter that he signed on June 10, 2019, to the Prime Minister of Canada, and can he table that letter in this House? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So can the Minister or his staff confirm, then, that definition of "hydraulic fracturing fluid" that we changed in the bill, does that require federal concurrence, and, if so, has it already been secured? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. On June 10th, our Premier co-signed a letter, along with premiers of Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, to the Prime Minister of Canada. That letter warned that national unity would be threatened if the federal government did not accept numerous changes to federal Bills C-69 and C-48 as dictated by the oil and gas industry.

This action came as a total surprise to this MLA and many residents of the Northwest Territories. I will be the first to defend the Premier in expressing any personal views he may have on such matters, but he signed...