Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I didn't quite get all of those numbers, but it sounded like you spent over 30 or $40 million or something for this system.

Is this something that goes out to tender, or once we are, sort of, locked into a system we are stuck with it? How does this actually work? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Glad to hear that all of our employees are competent. Can he just be a little more specific? Are these being bought for a specific purpose? Are they going to be used in a specific location by certain staff? What kind of staff are going to use these vehicles? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, October the 20, 2016, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, that the following terms of reference for a Mid-Term Review be adopted:

Cabinet and the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning shall each evaluate progress on implementing the mandate and make their reports and table them in the House at the earliest opportunity;

The mandate be reviewed, if necessary, by Cabinet with input from the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, reviewed in Caucus and tabled for...

I appreciate the answer from the Minister, but I hope we don't have to wait for the feds to pony up before we can actually get this important service. We should be doing it ourselves. Back in June the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs committed to look into whether Northwestel could change its current recorded message when someone dials 911 to at least give the right information about what numbers to call. The response tabled by the Minister last week failed to address this commitment. Can the Minister tell this House what, if anything, has been done with Northwestel to change the...

Merci, Mr. Speaker. I have three documents I would like to table. The first one is the "Government of the Northwest Territories Ministerial Directive on Enrolment of Students in French First Language Education Programs (2016)." The second one, Mr. Speaker, is from the Yukon government. It's the French as a first language instruction regulation. Mr. Speaker, the third document I'd like to table is the "Yukon Government Admission to French First Language Schools Policy." Merci, Mr. Speaker.

I'm glad to hear the Minister is prepared to clear up this confusion, but can the Minister tell this House and the public whether there are any specific measures or policies in place to prevent this kind of approach of accepting submissions from water licence applicants after public hearings?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke of a most disturbing decision by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources to not accept a decision by the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board on a water license amendment and to send it back for reconsideration.

I would like to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources whether this has happened before under water legislation for the Northwest Territories, where a Minister has refused to accept a decision and sent the matter back for reconsideration? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Water management in the Mackenzie Valley region of the Northwest Territories is done differently than elsewhere in Canada. We have a public co-management system that is constitutionally entrenched through land rights agreements with Indigenous governments.

Water management in the Northwest Territories underwent a very significant change as of April 1, 2014, when our government was delegated authority over inland waters from the federal government. Devolution over resources had been discussed and negotiated over more than 25 years.

NWT residents wanted more control...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This is the first capital budget for a number of us. There will probably be a little bit of learning as we go through it. I had three issues that I wanted to raise in my opening remarks if I can.

The first issue is with regard to the proposed Department of Infrastructure. At least the way that the capital estimates have been laid out, there is this department of infrastructure, which is the proposed amalgamation of Public Works and Services and the Department of Transportation.

I will confess, Mr. Chair, as I was reading this on the weekend, it was probably too late, but I...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am pleased to work with the Minister to make sure that we can protect the integrity of our co-management systems, but some would say the GNWT has shown its cards by siding with the mining company rather than the protection of the environment and thrown the integrity of the evidencebased co-management system into doubt. We'll also have to convince Ottawa that we are capable of managing our own resources if we hope to get any further jurisdiction or powers under the devolution agreement and process. Mr. Speaker, how does the Minister intend to rebuild public confidence...