Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance and I apologize. I didn’t give him a heads up before getting in here but I’ve had concerns raised to me by constituents about liquor licensing here in Yellowknife. I believe I heard the Minister say earlier in this sitting that he was going to be conducting a review of liquor licensing. I think that that would also include some public engagements. Can the Minister just talk to us a little bit about the scope of that review of liquor licensing? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I look forward to that process of building confidence and trust as we move forward, but one of the biggest obstacles to ensure public confidence in our resource development decisions and to ensure timely and informed decisions is a lack of any participant or intervener funding programs. Canadians south of 60 degrees north have a right to participant funding in federal environmental assessments while we do not. Why is participant funding not part of the REDI campaign?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry who is leading the Resource and Energy Development and Information campaign or REDI. Can the Minister explain how REDI is supposed to build public confidence in our ability to develop resources in a responsible way? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. All this motion really does is delete the part of the bill that would have had the authority rest with the Minister to make exemptions. We have now changed that already; so this is just a consequential amendment. I do not think I need to say anything further. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to address one item that the Minister raised, and that was about emergency situations. The amendment would preserve the ability for the Minister to make exemptions in emergency situations, and I think that is a good thing. It is still in this amendment, but where an exemption is not based on an emergency situation, the issue is where that authority should rest. Should it rest with the Minister or Cabinet as a whole? I still believe that it should rest with Cabinet as a whole. It is a collective decision and make sure that all the Ministers are involved in that...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 27 be amended by adding the following after clause 3:

3.1. The following is added after section 2.01:

The Commissioner in Executive Council may, in accordance with the regulations, exempt any person or class of persons, equipment or contaminant from all or any provision of this act or the regulations.

If the Commissioner in Executive Council intends to exempt any person or class of persons, equipment or contaminant from all or any provision of this Act or the regulations, the Commissioner in Executive Council shall

(a)

make notice of the proposed exemption...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. We have had quite a bit of discussion around this; so I will try to keep it brief. I think that everybody would agree that we have a common and shared interest in protecting the environment and making sure that we get this very first piece of postdevolution environmental legislation right and that it should really reflect best practises.

I think it is fair to say that the one remaining area where concerns have been expressed is around ministerial authority to grant exemptions from any or all provisions of the act and its regulations. During the public review process of...

I am glad he has done the heavy lifting and he has got his briefing binder on his desk now. I had asked about the scope of the review, and I believe he committed to some public engagements around that. Maybe I could get the Minister to commit to provide more information to this side of the House, and perhaps even to the public about what the scope of this review is going to entail?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am just trying to figure out: what is the rationale for not being able to provide the information to Members until after they have met? Surely, if you are going to put out a news release or something, you can at least provide us with the names in confidence? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to again thank the Minister for his answer in the House, and I guess once we get those enrolment figures we can look at what rolling out universal childcare would actually cost.

My next question: will the Minister prepare a detailed action plan, including deliverables and completion dates, for the introduction of universal affordable childcare in the Northwest Territories, yes or no? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.