Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today I discussed the Supreme Court of Canada Redwater decision. Can the Minister of Lands, who is responsible for managing financial security that should hopefully prevent further public liabilities, tell us whether his department has looked at the Redwater decision and what it may mean for the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. A much-anticipated decision on environmental liability and bankruptcy was delivered by the Supreme Court of Canada two weeks ago today. The Redwater decision has huge implications for the environment and resource development, even here in the Northwest Territories.

No longer will financial institutions and trustees be able to ignore regulatory requirements during the sale of assets. To quote from the decision: "Bankruptcy is not a licence to ignore rules, and insolvency professionals are bound by and must comply with valid provincial laws during bankruptcy." "It...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to thank the Minister for that. He was able to read the mandate item very well, and I look forward to hearing about the progress that is being made on that. The Redwater decision has helped to clarify responsibilities and liabilities during operation and even afterwards. Devolution was supposed to bring responsible resource development, but our government has, in my view, yet to deliver on that promise. What specific policy, regulatory, and legislative changes is the Minister contemplating as a result of the Redwater decision? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks to the Minister for that response. I hope that he can share some of that analysis with Members on this side of the House at the appropriate time. One of the key factors in the Redwater case was whether a trustee is liable for environmental requirements, as the Minister just said. The Alberta government has included "a trustee" in the definition of "operator" in its relevant legislation. Can the Minister of Lands, who is responsible for managing financial security, tell us whether the definitions in our legislation cover trustees and whether any changes should be made?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have three Pages who are from Mildred Hall School who are working with us during this sitting and who are residents of the Frame Lake riding, Josephine Seagrave, Austin O'Neill, and Amabel Zoe. I want to thank them very much for all the work that they do on our behalf. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. The community of Yellowknife was forced to rely on the Yellowknife River as a safe and clean source of water due to arsenic contamination from local mining operations, particularly the Giant Mine. The federal government confirmed its liability for these expenses when it paid for the 1968-1969 construction of a pumphouse and a submarine water line from the Yellowknife River to another pumphouse south of Yellowknife. The Yellowknife River pumphouse also serves the Yellowknives Dene First Nations community of Detah.

The submarine water line is in need of replacement...

The Minister is just full of good news today, and I sincerely thank him for all of this. I'll keep pushing him a little bit harder. Our government, we're always bragging about how many federal infrastructure programs are out there, all the applications we've got in, and so on, and thanks to the Minister for his assistance with the application that the city has submitted, but can the Minister tell me: are there other federal infrastructure programs available to the city and/or our government to help assist with the cost of this water line replacement?

Merci, Monsieur le President. Now that we have the Minister in such a helpful mood, I might as well go ahead with my questions. In my Member's statement, I raised the issue of GNWT's support and assistance with the replacement of Yellowknife's potable water line. I'm sure the Minister has received the January 10th letter from the mayor of Yellowknife. Can the Minister of Infrastructure say whether he or his staff have had any discussions or meetings with the City of Yellowknife, and describe the outcomes? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister again for that. To help refresh his memory, it's $33 million for the water line. As almost half of the population of the Northwest Territories is served by the Yellowknife River water system, can the Minister commit to continue to work with the City of Yellowknife and maybe even submit its proposal for a new water line as part of our infrastructure submissions to the federal government? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Well, while we're on a roll, the municipal funding review conducted in 2014 shows that the City of Yellowknife is underfunded by the GNWT to the tune of about a million dollars a year, based on its needs and size. This is apart from the proposal for the replacement of the existing Yellowknife River water stores pipeline. Has the Minister of Infrastructure had any discussions with his colleague, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, about Yellowknife's potable water needs, and if so, what was the outcome of those discussions?