Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. On October 11 of last year, I made a Member's statement on the issue of coordination of parental leave benefits with the changes to federal legislation that will improve these benefits.

These changes to the Canada Labour Code will provide a minimum of five weeks' paid leave for each parent. The changes were originally to come into effect on June 1, 2019, but the federal government recently moved up that effective date to March 17 of this year.

Amendments are required of our Employment Standards Act that will require employers to honour extended leave requests from...

Merci, Monsieur le President. This will be my last reply to the budget addressed for the 18th Assembly, and I look forward to thunderous applause from my colleagues across the way. I have organized my reply in the following manner, with some general comments that review the process revenues and departmental highlights. I conclude with some advice to future assemblies.

Cabinet's cuts to programs and services appear to have come to an end except for one department, and that's Environment and Natural Resources, and I will have more to say on that issue a little later. We continue to run up a debt...

Thanks to the Minister for that. Well, if I have anything to do with it, that bill is going to fly straight through here. Wow, I actually got an applause from the other side of the House for a change. One of the easiest ways we can extend and improve federal parental leave benefits to our employees is to mend relative collective agreements. I know that is a sensitive area right now, but can the Minister tell us whether our government has made an offer to the relevant unions to mend collective agreements to allow our employees to take full advantage of the improved parental leave benefits?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. First off, I would like to commend the Minister for fast-tracking public consultation on changes to the Employment Standards Act and to indicate my strong support for including domestic violence leave. The public consultation on this process ended January the 14th. Can the Minister tell us what the next steps are? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank all my colleagues who have gotten up and spoken today. I have tried to choose my words carefully, as I know that a lot of people are listening, watching, or will read what happens in the House here today. I am proud of my Yellowknife colleagues for bringing this motion forward, and I am pleased to support it. Our constituents, and indeed all the residents of the Northwest Territories, deserve to know where we stand on this motion. This is the defining moment and the biggest test we face in the 18th Assembly. I believe in collective bargaining and...

Thanks to the Minister for that. Just to be clear, that power in Alberta is wind power. We are not talking about coal-generated. We are talking wind. I do want to ask the Minister: the Indigenous governments that he seems to indicate are on board for Taltson expansion, does that include Deninu Kue First Nation?

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier in my questions with the Minister of Infrastructure he talked about the 240,000-tonne reductions in greenhouse gas emissions claimed in yesterday's statement about Taltson. Can the Minister provide those calculations publicly and table them in the House for the end of this sitting? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks to the Minister for doing his homework there on his feet. The last estimate that I am aware of for full expansion of Taltson seems to be well over a billion dollars. Does the Minister actually have any preliminary cost estimates for this megaproject, and can he share that information with this side of the House now, full expansion, please?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. The Minister, along with his federal counterpart, recently announced $1.2 million for the expansion of Taltson hydro. This House approved a capital budget for 2019-2020 in the fall. Can the Minister explain whether the funding announced recently is actually new money or what is already in the capital budget for 2019-2020? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. Has the Minister actually spoken to anybody from the Deninu Kue First Nation about Taltson recently?