Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today, I spoke of how the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources sees his new authority over water licences as one of determining procedural fairness. The implication is that perhaps we don't believe the land and water boards have procedurally fair processes already. Does the Minister believe that the land and water boards have procedurally fair processes for water licences, and what changes would he like to see? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This was an issue that I raised in the review of the public accounts. Somewhere buried in those three or four volumes is a list of all of the students whose loans have been remitted and how much is outstanding, and they actually have the individual names of the students, which I found to be an invasion of their privacy. So I think that's what this is aimed at, trying to find a way to disclose what those amounts are without invading people's privacy. So I do support this and look forward to the other side responding in an appropriate manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations for their work on this report. I am not a member of the committee, but I sat in on the review of the public accounts. That was a very thorough review with the assistance of the staff of the Auditor General's office from Ottawa. I agree with the recommendations that have been brought forward.

I want to thank the committee. This one is a good one as my colleague, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, mentioned. First time going through it, it was difficult to understand a lot of what was there. With the...

My questions are for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. Regarding the co-management boards governing the Mackenzie Valley and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, what steps have been taken to track and publicly report on the status of co-management board appointments and vacancies, and:

What measures have been put in place to forewarn of co-management board vacancies;

What measures have been put in place to avoid the occurrence of co-management board vacancies resulting in the loss of board quorum;

What discussions have taken place with the federal Minister of...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for his response. That's exactly what I'm getting at, rather than put himself in the position of trying to deal with procedural fairness, get the courts to do it. That's where the applicants should go.

Earlier today, I spoke of how land and water boards are required to deal with compensation claims; compliance with water standards, although we don't have any after 45 years; and financial responsibility of applicants.

I thank the Minister for that response; I'm not sure it really deals with the issue. When would the Minister refer matters of procedural fairness to the courts or take it upon himself to make a determination?

Merci, Monsieur le President. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources now has the authority to sign off water licences following devolution. When I raised issues around how this new authority is being exercised, the Minister tabled a response in this House on October 27th. The Minister said "when rendering a decision on a water licence, it is the responsibility of the Minister to ensure the quasi-judicial process administered by the board has been conducted in a fair and transparent manner. To this end, procedural fairness is a primary consideration."

This raises a number of...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to table this document entitled "100 per cent Renewable Energy in the Northwest Territories by 2050" by Alternatives North dated October 2016. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like to reassure the Premier, though, that this is not the first time these changes have been requested. Some of them date back to when I was on city council in 2007. So I'm pleased to hear that we're going to have some more research done; research is great, but I'm looking for action. Changes have been requested to the Property Assessment and Taxation Act. Is that something that's going to happen within the lifetime of this Assembly?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Premier in relation to our mandate commitments to empower local governments. Earlier today I raised the City of Yellowknife letter that requested a number of territorial government acts be changed. The city has been after our government here for almost a decade to make changes to these pieces of legislation. How will our government respond to the city's request for changes to territorial legislation on making what amounts to housekeeping changes that the city urgently requires to better meet the needs of its citizens? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.