Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. On October 4th, the federal Ministers announced that they would begin negotiation of an offshore petroleum resource co-management and resource-sharing agreement with Yukon, the lnuvialuit, and the Northwest Territories. The federal Ministers also announced their intention to "co-develop the scope and governance framework for a science-based, life-cycle impact assessment review every five years that takes into account marine and climate change science" with regard to the moratorium on rights issuances. The Ministers also said that the terms of the existing licences...

I would like to thank the Premier for that information. It would have been helpful to have gotten it ahead of time, of course. He said that he would be pleased to discuss the event with committees, and we should at least have a discussion of it, referring to involvement of Regular MLAs in the symposium.

I don't recall any such discussion, and we only got notice of it less than a week in advance through the weekly ministerial activity media release. Can the Premier explain why Regular MLAs were not involved in the symposium, and why he did not fulfill the commitments he made in March in this...

Merci, Monsieur le President. [English translation not provided.]

My questions are for the Premier, about the recent NWT Economic Symposium. When the Premier answered questions in the House on March 1st, he said that "the purpose of the summit is to seek input into the writing of the NWT chapter of the Arctic Policy Framework."

Can the Premier explain how this event morphed into a discussion of non-renewable resource development projects in infrastructure corridors? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci Monsieur le President. Back in February, the Premier made a statement about the Arctic Policy Framework that included a reference to a northern summit on economic development. When I questioned the Premier on this initiative on March 1st, he said the "purpose of the summit is to seek input into the writing of the NWT chapter of the Arctic Policy Framework" and that it would likely be held within the next couple of months. The Premier further stated that we would be "paying for experts in different economic sectors to participate." The Premier said, "We are realizing that to diversify our...

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Premier for that. The only public information about this symposium is a onepage communique. We have little idea of who was actually there, how much it cost, whether there will be some photo report of this event, and of course, all of this was done with zero input from this side of the House.

Can the Premier table in this House, before the end of the sitting, the cost of the event, a list of participants, and a full report of what transpired to help inform the debate and discussion? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Of course, I'm going to take issue with what the Premier said there. I had intended no disrespect whatsoever to our Indigenous governments. I'm talking about the lack of communications about this event with this side of the House. The Premier promised on March 1st that this meeting would be about economic diversification, the meeting would be inclusive, and that experts from various sectors would be involved.

Can the Premier explain whether the symposium was inclusive, with representation from various economic sectors and experts?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to recognize Ms. Wendy Holmes. She's an awardwinning Canadian agrologist, columnist, author, and speaker. She's here from British Columbia, visiting and helping people in the Northwest Territories, particularly Fort Smith and Fort Resolution, where she visited to better understand the impacts of the Site C dam in British Columbia. Also, I'd like to recognize Lois Little, who is the cochair of the Northwest Territories chapter of the Council of Canadians, who is assisting with her visit. Masi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, monsieur le President. I wish to table the following two documents. The first is a Press Release from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Summary for Policymakers of IPCC, Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 Degrees Celsius Approved by Governments. The second document, Mr. Speaker, is a Summary for Policymakers of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Special Report, dated October 6, 2018. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am all for transparency, as well. Can the Minister then commit to share his decision on this with committee so that we know how he has exercised his discretion, whether he has approved the request by BDIC and, if he hasn't, the reasons why he has turned it down? Can he share that information with committee? I know this is a new thing. In the interest of transparency, can he share that with committee moving forward? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That was almost going to set a record for the shortest answer ever, but it didn't really provide any detail. What kind of criteria or what is the Minister looking for when he is going to be reviewing this use of interest funds? He has total and unfettered discretion here, so what is he going to be looking for in approving use of these funds by BDIC? Thanks, Mr. Chair.