Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the answer from the deputy minister. What is the reserve going to be for O and M for 2018-2019, and how does that compare with the reserve for 2017-2018? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to follow up on a motion that we passed unanimously in this House on October 20th of last year. It was with regard to an apology and compensation for damages from the Giant Mine. I would like to know whether the Premier has had a chance to write the letter to the Prime Minister as contemplated in the motion and whether he can table that letter in the House before the end of this sitting. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I, too, share the frustration of my colleague from Yellowknife Centre because I have sat in on some of the Standing Committee on Social Development meetings where childcare has been discussed. This agreement, the Minister has continually said, I can't share details with you, and then all of a sudden the first year funding pops up in a supplementary appropriation on the floor of the House. We are all big people in this room. You should be able to share confidential information with us. This is not a way to do business, so I don't appreciate the way that this has come up.

I do...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that the Deputy Minister talked about this. That $10 million is related to a special warrant for the barges for the Marine Transportation Services. So when does that amount start to get transferred back into the revolving fund that was set up for expenses related to the marine transportation services? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have switched this up a little bit. I did give the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources a heads-up. Earlier today I spoke about the poor efforts by the federal government to incorporate specific northern benefits targets into the contracting for the Giant Mine remediation. So I would like to know from the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources: what is he prepared to do to ensure that NWT, Ndilo, Detah, and Yellowknife residents and businesses benefit from the more than $1 billion Giant Mine remediation? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to thank the Minister again for that response, but, you know, this remediation project is clearly the beginning of a lot more work that is going to happen here. Clearly, there is an emerging remediation economy that, given the requirements of the devolution agreement and new accounting practice where containment sites are entered into public accounts as liabilities until they are remediated, I am wondering what our government is doing in terms of things like possibly reorienting the Mine Training Society towards remediation. What are we doing in terms...

I would like to thank the Minister for that response. The federal government, though, just does not seem to have any policies or ability to require northern and Indigenous benefits targets in the contracts for the Giant Mine remediation, so can the Minister tell us whether there has been any consideration given to flowing the work and/or funding through GNWT to better incorporate such benefits targets?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know if I can top that. So, I attended a public meeting on the Giant Mine remediation project last week. This will be the largest-ever project for Yellowknife, at over $1 billion, with up to 250 to 300 jobs for at least 10 years, then jobs in perpetual care. The federal government awarded the main construction management contract to US-based Parsons Corporation, a US company. The $600 million contract will begin as early as 2020 and may run as long as 22 years.

While our community continues to deal with the terrible legacies of the Giant Mine, the remediation...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to table the following document. It's from the Giant Mine Oversight Body. It's a letter dated February 23, 2018, regarding social economic issues, and it's to the Deputy Director, Giant Mine Remediation Project. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the Minister for that. I am just worried, though, that, with the $600 million contract already out there, that this is starting to slip away from us. So, later today, I am going to table a letter from the Giant Mine Oversight Board that is quite critical of the current approach on socio-economic benefits by the federal government: there is no overall plan; engagement is encouraged instead of real targets; non-Indigenous Northerners have not been included in the approach to date; no economic impacts are predicted; and so on, but, perhaps most importantly, a collaborative...