Kevin O'Reilly

I am glad that the witness mentioned the hydrometric network. I know that there is quite a bit of discussion behind the scenes to help improve the network. I am just wondering if the Minister would be able to speak to the ability of the department to continue to expand that network over the next couple of years. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I didn’t want to dump on my colleague, but I did hear a couple remarks here that just started to set off some alarm bells for me. I think I heard the deputy minister say that they’re going to reopen negotiations. I’m hoping that we’re not looking at the whole arrangement unraveling at this point though the territorial government wanting to make a bunch of significant changes. I know that some of the other parties to these negotiations have had significant amounts of time invested and energy, and commitments from third parties that are time-dependent. I just get worried...

Not on this page. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There’s a whole variety of changes here between 2015-16 and 2016-17 for a number of these programs. I don’t want to drag us through them all, but I noticed that in the Health and Social Services budget, they actually had a helpful line at the end of similar sort of programs where they said this was the end of a funding arrangement or here was the date that this arrangement ended. That I think would probably pre-empt a guy like me from asking all sorts of questions. I’m trying to be helpful here. I even got a thumbs up from the Minister of Finance. I don’t think that’s...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Will we continue to work with Wilfrid Laurier in any way, given that this was a ten-year partnership with them? Thanks Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have one other question. For the Electronics Recycling Program, people pay a fee when they purchase an item, and the fee is basically used to try to pay for the recycling of that item when it’s finished. With beverage containers, there’s a part of the deposit you pay that’s a fee to help cover the recycling cost, but there’s also a deposit that you get back that’s sort of an incentive then for people that bring their beverage containers into a depot and get the refund for it. A colleague asked me to ask about the potential of having a deposit on electronics, so that when...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. On June 1st, budget day, I asked the Minister of Finance if we could get a table that would lay out the job changes that were being proposed in the budget, things like whether the positions were vacant or not; whether these changes were a result of reductions, sunsets, or new initiatives full-time, part-time, and I’m still waiting for that information. I raised it again with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment a couple of days ago and he committed to work with his Cabinet colleagues on this. Mr. Speaker, we’ve now finished four of the departments and this is...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. No. I do want to commend the department for bringing forward that position. I think it’s really important for residents here that continue to rely on caribou that we have a very strong, consistent position on that. I really encourage the department to continue to bring that forward, and thank them for their work to date. Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.

I guess I do agree with the Minister in that the North Slave Resiliency Study did recommend against investing in solar, wind, and biomass. Hydro, yes, we can probably spend a lot more money on that too perhaps, but we’ve already made a significant investment in Arctic Energy Alliance as the delivery agent for a variety of very successful energy conservation and retrofit programs over many years now. What impact will the recommendations from the North Slave Resiliency Study have on this investment that we’ve already started through the Arctic Energy Alliance and its programs?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just wanting to go back to the Minister’s introductory remarks for the department, and there was a line in here that ENR “will continue to collaborate with Aboriginal governments, comanagement boards and neighbouring jurisdictions to protect and conserve our barren-ground and boreal caribou populations and their habitat, as well as other wildlife species.” There has been some public concern expressed about resource development in calving grounds for barren-ground caribou herds, and those calving grounds are found in Nunavut. What is the position of the GNWT with regard to...