Kevin O'Reilly

I would like to thank the Minister for that, but it is very clear this report was only made public after I filed an access to information request, and he publicly promised to provide it.

The government publicly launched consultations on the Mineral Resources Act on August 2, 2017, four months after this report was received. The news release announcing the consultations quotes the Minister saying, "It is our duty to maximize the benefits of responsible resource development."

With this stated objective and the requests of public stakeholders and Regular MLAs for this type of information, why was...

Merci, Monsieur le President. Yesterday I tabled a 2017 report contracted by the Industry, Tourism and Investment Department called "Policies for Generating Socioeconomic Benefits from Natural Resource Extraction Projects." This report shows how jurisdictions around the world make sure their citizens get a fair share of benefits from non-renewable resources extraction.

Unfortunately, this report received by the ITI 18 months ago was only recently posted deep on the department's website because I forced this government to make it public through an access to information request. Committee was not...

I guess one last thing. I would like to see the commitment that if there were an interest in pursuing additional exclusions, can the Minister commit that he would consult with interested stakeholders, including the City of Yellowknife and Regular MLAs before expanding that exclusion list by regulation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have a couple of questions I want to ask on clause 7 about the regulation-making authority. I want to know whether it's the intention of the Minister to bring forward any regulations with regard to expanding the exclusions as set out under the Act. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Okay, that sounds like that there were some sort of, at least preliminary calculations done. Does the department have any kind of analysis that, even a rough estimate, of what the cost to GNWT would be without this exclusion? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just have a few thank yous at the beginning. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the thorough review they did on the bill. I sat in on some of the work and appreciated that opportunity.

The City of Yellowknife has done a lot of work on these two issues of the accommodation tax and local improvement charges for energy retrofits. These were live issues when I served on city council from 1997 to 2006. These have been a very, very long time coming.

This will provide some funding for tourism, promotion, and investment, and I just wish that our...

I would like to thank the Minister for that, but he didn't tell me why the report was withheld as part of the public consultations for the development of the act.

One of the major findings of the report is that there "may be potential for a comprehensive NWT strategy for resource-led development" and that "a consultative process could get a consistent approach to tackling the hard questions that might otherwise divide the NWT's various constituents." Does the Minister intend to act on this recommendation, and how will this be included in the development of the Mineral Resources Act?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to recognize a constituent as well, Lisa Seagrave, and congratulations on winning an award earlier today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I would like a little more time to consider this. My concern is that there are rules around what sitting MLAs can spend their money on. We do have rules around our constituency, expense allowances. They are there for good reasons, to allow us to tell people what we are doing as MLAs. Hopefully, it doesn't creep over into electioneering.

I understand what the intent of what the mover of the motion is trying to accomplish. I am not sure this is the best way to do it. There are some rules that we are going to get to in terms of third-party advertising during a campaign that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have two witnesses here with me today. Mr. Mike Reddy, the legislative drafter with the Department of Justice, is on my left, and I have Ms. Alyssa Holland, who is a law clerk, on my right-hand side. Thank you, Mr. Chair.