Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think this is where the court registries is found. As I understand it, I think it was last year that the court system went to a different way of doing court reporting. I wonder if the Minister can give us an update on how that has worked out. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Now we get that it's restricted because of wording in the Lands Act, so I look forward to that being changed. Canada is a supporter of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and has provided funding to a variety of countries, such as Peru, Indonesia, Tanzania, and even Mongolia to fix up how they report revenues. This country has adopted the standard through the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act, so can the Minister tell us when our government will get on board and begin to report royalties paid by commodity type, or even by individual...

Thanks to the Minister for that. So that explains some of the reasons, that the federal government combines it, and so on, but last week I tabled extracts from a privately published book by a former deputy minister and devolution negotiator that clearly showed the resource royalties paid to the federal government from 1980 to 2009. Can the Minister explain how such information was published, and yet he could not provide it in response to a written question from a Member of this House?

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to my colleagues. The corporate sector also supports the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and those supporters including Anglo American and Rio Tinto, which are owners and operators of two of the three NWT diamond mines. Private multinationals seem more committed to transparency than our Cabinet.

What democratic government doesn't support openness and transparency in public reporting of resource royalties? I will have questions later today for the Minister of Finance. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Well, I am glad that the Minister is going to have a conversation with the staff and that they are going to talk to the people that administer the fund. Can the Minister then make a commitment to get back to us and provide an explanation as to why the surplus has been growing over time? Is it there are not enough applications? Is it that there maybe hasn't been enough promotion? Can the Minister make a commitment to get back to standing committee with the reasons why the surplus is growing and what the plan is going forward to make sure that the money is disbursed? Thanks...

Thanks. I don't have any further questions for the Minister on this issue, but I just want to reiterate my concern. If you don't have any formal way of evaluating whether this is improving services or affecting access to justice, and it is a pilot, how do you decide whether you are going to expand this or not? I don't think that is a good way to proceed, but I will leave it at that. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I think I heard the deputy minister say that there is not going to be a formal written evaluation. If there is no formal written evaluation, how do you decide whether you are going to continue to expand or not? I would like to ask that question. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. With the five minutes I have left, I guess I would like to know how this change is affecting access to justice. I guess my concern is that, if defence counsel has to pay for the generation of transcripts, I wonder whether those are acceptable to the court or not. How is this affecting access to justice? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following five documents entitled "Yukon Quartz Mining Land Use Approval LQ00253b for Mactung Property dated February 4, 2016"; "Application for Class 4 Quartz Mining Land Use Approval by GNWT for Mactung Advanced Exploration dated December 20, 2018"; "Mactung Advanced Exploration – Project Proposal, by Terra Tech Canada Inc. dated December 2018"; "Responses to Information Requests dated February 6 and February 13, 2019"; and lastly, a CBC News story, "Federal and N.W.T. governments team up to sell Cantung Mine and Mactung Deposit, CBC News...

Thanks to the Minister for that. I spoke earlier today of the world-wide movement toward more transparent and open public reporting of government revenues from non-renewable resources. Even most of the diamond mining companies operating in the NWT support the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Can the Minister of Finance tell us whether he and his staff have studied the standard developed by the initiative, and when we can expect it to be adopted or implemented by this government?