Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. Let's start with some easy stuff. Our government spent millions to develop some sort of a tracking system for financial security. That's good, but none of that information's been made public in an easily accessible form. Can the Minister tell us whether and when this government will actually post that information in a publicly accessible format, like a financial security data base, on a GNWT website? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. My questions are for the Minister of Lands. The department seems to have placed top priority in our request from the mining industry to use surety bonds as an acceptable form of financial security. Ernst & Young has apparently been contracted to tell the government that surety bonds are good financial security. So can the Minister tell us how much this contract with Ernst & Young is going to cost and when a report is going to be finished? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks for that. I just find this a really curious practice that why wouldn't that just be spelled out in section 31 of the bill? So it's just left to the discretion of the Speaker and/or the Commissioner as to which parts are brought into force? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Yeah, thanks, Mr. Chair. So I believe I heard the sponsor of the bill say that there are parts of this bill that are going to come into force right away. And what's the mechanism for doing that? Because it just says here that it's going to be fixed by order of the Commissioner. So what's the mechanism by which parts of this bill are going to come into force right now or maybe on a sense later this week when the Commissioner's in the Chamber. How is that done, because it's not really in the bill itself anywhere. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Mr. Chair. Committee wishes to deal with Bill 58 and Bill 59.

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. Now look, you don't need the regulations to start reporting financial security now. You don't need the regulations; just start doing it. So I know that our government has a protocol with some Indigenous governments around codevelopment of lands and resources legislation and regulations, and I support that process. However, our government seems to have forgotten that it must ensure that the public has a say in the development of legislation and regulations. More than eight years after devolution, there's been very little, if...

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I'm still trying to pick up my jaw because I couldn't find the contract anywhere in the OpenNWT contract website. But Madam Speaker, I think the fix is our government seems to be poised to accept surety bonds without a real plan to prevent further public liabilities like Cameron Hills and Mactung. So can the Minister tell us why his department has identified surety bonds as the top priority when it comes to financial security in preventing further public liabilities? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. On October 21st, I volunteered for an interview with staff from Ernst & Young and the Department of Lands concerning a contract to consider whether GNWT should accept surety bonds as a form of financial security for environmental disturbances caused by industrial and commercial operations. I have raised concerns in this House in the past about this form of financial security and whether it is truly unconditional, irrevocable, and immediate.

Members may recall that for the first time in 2014, the GNWT accepted surety bonds backed by insurance companies for the Ekati...

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Premier for that, and I can confirm there is a signed version on the ledge website but nowhere else on any GNWT website. And, of course, our website is not the GNWT website.

There is a requirement in the Environmental Rights Act for an annual report to be tabled in the House, although we've slipped on that in the past. I tried to include a requirement for some type of reporting and implementation of the statement of environmental values to the bill, but Cabinet opposed that. So can the Premier tell us whether there's going to be any sort of...