Kevin O'Reilly

Well, it's interesting that we can locate a road based on economic benefits but we can't perhaps change the routing in terms of environmental effects, but we have to wait for environmental assessment, so I'm wondering can the Minister then commit to table a map of this route in the House, and on that map could he also show key caribou habitat?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Minister of Transportation give a statement earlier today about new transportation corridors, and in there he mentions that a route has been identified for the Slave Geological Province. Can the Minister tell this House, is there actually a business case that's been prepared for this road route? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, I can assure the Minister that this site does not have a water license. There's no land use permit for this site. It's privately owned lands. I'd like to know who is actually responsible for cleaning it up and what our general regime is. But two and a half years after devolution, I'm not aware of any specific changes to policy, regulations, or laws to ensure that we have a proper system in place for preventing and managing contaminated sites. When can we expect to have a proper system in place?

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today I spoke of the apparent failure of the Department of Lands to respond to questions around contaminated lands adjacent to the Con Mine, namely lot 33C, group 964, plan 553, otherwise known as the Imperial Oil Tank Farm. Can the Minister of Lands tell this House who is responsible for remediation of that property, and when will it happen? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. The Con headframe has been in the news lately as part of the closure and reclamation plan of that site. I've expressed concerns about the closure plan for the Con Mine for many years as a private citizen living nearby. This was a productive gold mine that made significant contributions to Yellowknife since 1938, but I’m seriously worried about the environmental legacy it will leave behind. Water treatment alone will likely be required for hundreds of years, as will inspections and maintenance of the tailings pond covers and other structures, and a hazardous waste...

Glad to hear that we're going to get a map of the route that he mentions in his statement today, but can he then commit to work with his colleague that sits next to him in terms of getting us a map of key caribou habitat, and the reason why I'm saying this, Mr. Speaker, is the Bathurst caribou herd is a desperate situation, and we know where the post-calving, calving grounds of the herd are. I'm concerned about this road and it's routing, whether it's going to disrupt the caribou herd. So can the Minister commit to work with his colleague to table a map in this House that shows the route of...

In his statement, he says that a route has been identified that will provide the greatest economic benefit to the region in the Northwest Territories. So I'm just wondering can the Minister tell us how were environmental effects considered in the route identification?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response from the Minister, but I continue to make these Member's statements, raise questions around where is our system, and I just keep hearing these same sorts of answers. So I hope I'm not going to be here two years from now, asking the same questions over and over again. I keep giving the other side of the House some hints about some ways to look at how to improve our current system, but there doesn't seem to be much uptake.

In my Member's statement, I mentioned the Institutional Control Program in Saskatchewan, where mining sites are returned to the...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I am disappointed that our colleagues across the floor have indicated they are going to abstain on this motion. There was some reference in the Minister's reply or statement about missing revenues and so on. This is an important motion in terms of making sure that our standing committees have the ability to do the work that is required of them for them to carry out their due diligence roles.

I could go on about years of inertia across the way in terms of not making these changes a lot earlier. As early as possible on this side of the House, when we were made aware of this...

I thank the Minister for his response. I understand that there are a number of departments coordinating their work. That is good. Our understanding of arsenic and its toxicity has changed significantly over the last decade. How has this new knowledge influenced how we approach our assessment of arsenic in the Yellowknife area?