Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. So how do we actually improve access to justice for these people? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Sorry, Mr. Chair, it was 303. We have finished that, so it is okay.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate and thank the deputy minister for his response. I didn't really hear what the relationship is between the Centre for Geomatics, the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link, and then this Northern Canadian Centre for Excellence for Remote Sensing.

I recall seeing the business case for the NWT Centre for Geomatics. It looked very compelling. I thought it was a good business case where we could start to generate some revenues as well and sell some technology and so on. If we have the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link being finished this year, hopefully, and offering high speed access...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So I thought the Minister was actually going to agree to the first part of my question there as well. So maybe he can just tell us a little bit more about why we have to close the Legal Aid clinic in the Beaufort Delta and how that contributes towards improving access to justice? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I feel much more confident now about this, and I have known Mr. Hagen for years. I used to work at the Dene-Metis Negotiations Secretariat when I first came up here in 1985. The agreement that came out of that was to set up an integrated resource management system, the MVRMA is the implementation part of that, and I agree fully that that's what we should be pursuing. So I'm much more confident now than I was before I arrived in the Chamber today. Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's all I've got on this section. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I sort of expected to hear that. I guess, even before I became an MLA, this was a concern that I raised with devolution, that there needed to be a time, you know, maybe after five years or even three years or something, to start to look at the implementation of devolution and how it has actually worked out.

This Department of Lands is a creature of devolution, quite frankly. A piece was taken from MACA and a few other little bits thrown together, but I think we need to start to think about evaluating how devolution has actually gone. Certainly, it was a concern that I...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I believe this is the section where we would find the closure of the Beaufort Delta Legal Aid Clinic. Is that correct? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. In general comments and I think even in the Minister's opening remarks he talked about how there is some sort of land use planning process that is being developed for the Crown lands in the Wekweeti Management Area, and he talks about a terms of reference being developed. Can he, number one, answer whether this land use plan is going to be legally binding? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will start with some general remarks, if I can, following on my colleague from Yellowknife North. This department actually is going to take some of the biggest cuts in this budget of any of the government agencies, over $2 million out of its operating budget; six positions are going to be lost; the operating budget is going to be cut by 7.4 per cent.

There are a number of issues with some of these cuts, as well, but we still do not have a plan and a schedule to bring together the lands that are administered by this department under the Commissioner's Lands Act and the...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am glad to hear that there has been a facetoface meeting. Can the Minister make a commitment to share that kind of information with the standing committee so that we know what is going on? Thank you, Mr. Chair.