Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to speak briefly about this change. What it really does is ensure that our residents are not just informed but they actually have meaningful opportunities to participate in assessing the risks and benefits of resource development. It's important to note that we did include the words “hydraulic fracturing” in here. This is not to say that Members are necessarily in favour or against it. It's ensuring that our citizens have an opportunity to express their views and participate in assessments of that sort of activity if and when it is to take place. The other...

I give notice that on Thursday, February 25, 2016 I will move the following motion: Now therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that this Assembly refer the issue of standing committee public engagement and transparency to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures to recommend a process that may be adopted by all standing committees of the 18th Legislative Assembly. And further, that the research and analysis include consultation with the public and a jurisdictional review. And furthermore, that the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures report back to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to again thank the Minister for his response. If he took the impression that I don’t believe the division's actually doing anything, I do understand that there is a lot of work that's underway, but we just had a $4.5 million special warrant that was necessary to deal with the closure and reclamation of the Cantung Mine, There's some unreconciled liabilities associated with the Prairie Creek property and other sites, so I just want to get some further assurances from the Minister of Lands that our financial security systems are working. I wonder whether there...

Mr. Chair, I do want to recognize the efforts of the new Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and I know that he has spoken in the House about how the new government is working more collaboratively with the francophone community in terms of the ministerial directive. I know that it's been raised in the House here about the importance of working with local education authorities collaboratively as well. This is an important motion, I know, for myself and my riding as Ecole Allain St-Cyr is in my riding, and I know that they are working with the new Minister to address francophone...

One of the purposes of the liabilities and financial assurance division within the Department of Lands was “lead and coordinate short and longer term policy development concerning the government's management of securities.” Can the Minister of Lands indicate whether any policies and/or guidelines have been completed since the division was created last year, and table such documents in this House?

It is not just this MLA that is concerned about the state of the Bathurst caribou herd. The Mackenzie Valley Review Board said this in its February 1, 2016, report on the Jay Project, “The lack of a management plan for the Bathurst caribou herd during a period of very low numbers and a declining population is unacceptable to the Review Board. There is no evidence the GNWT is developing a herd recovery strategy. The Review Board notes that the GNWT was required by Section 12.11.2 of the Tlicho Agreement to prepare a comprehensive proposal for the management of the Bathurst caribou herd...

I had a very close look at the mandate over the weekend and tried to follow its development from the first draft to the third draft, and have a number of observations I'd like to offer today. I recognize this is a new process for everyone and that it was really intended to improve consensus government and build stronger accountability. I think it may be a bit scary to some to develop specific measurable commitments and deliverables for which you would be held accountable, but I guess that's what I had expected to see in the document. I want to start with some positive comments and thoughts...

Merci, [English translation not available]. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today, I talked about the catastrophic decline in the Bathurst caribou herd, and I would like to ask a question of the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. It appears that the burden of the management responses to the decline of the Bathurst caribou herd have fallen on the resource harvesters. Can the Minister tell us what concrete actions have been taken in terms of habitat protection for the Bathurst caribou herd? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Bathurst caribou herd has suffered a catastrophic decline over the last 30 years from 472,000 to as low as 16,000 animals today. The response from this government to date has largely been centred on restricting the harvest by non-Aboriginal people and more recently, on Aboriginal peoples who have agreed to not take any caribou from this herd. The causes of the decline are not clear but we do know that the herd is less resilient when numbers are low and any further cumulative impacts may push the herd beyond the point of no return. A recently released study by the Tlicho Research and...

When we first started to discuss the mandate, I had proposed some changes to this section to try to make it a little more balanced. I will give some examples of those. The focus, really, in the fourth paragraph: “GNWT has a fiscal problem that will require expenditure management.” There is nothing in this section that talks about efficiencies or new revenues. I would look for a much more balanced approach. There are a couple of other parts of this that I find objectionable. Another sentence here that says, “We should not take any actions that will decrease investment or increase the cost of...