Louis Sebert

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, the government is responsible for the management, habitat conservation, and sustainable use of barren ground caribou and collaborates with Aboriginal governments and organizations, co-management boards, and communities. The GNWT carefully reviews the details of each project proposal with respect to its caribou responsibilities and provides evidence and recommendations for the consideration of all parties and the assessing body.

The GNWT is continuing to work collaboratively with Nunavut stakeholders and other affected parties on the Bathurst caribou range plan...

Yes, as the lease agreements mature or come to an end, Lands is placing them in an overholding status until the issues are addressed. Now what that means practically is that the lease continues under the original lease clauses with an overholding status. We will not be entering into any new equity leases; those are a thing of the past, but we believe that this will not prejudice the current holders.

Mr. Speaker, when I first took over this file I had thought that there would not be many equity leases out there, but unfortunately there are a great number. I can advise that there are actually 243 equity leases spread throughout all five regions of the Northwest Territories; they are all on Commissioner's land.

In the coming weeks my department will be bringing forward options for me to consider. I will bring those to Cabinet for consideration and then to the Members for further discussion as appropriate. We certainly do recognize this is a very important issue for many leaseholders...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 28, Interpretation Act be read for the second time. This bill sets out fundamental concepts governing the rest of the Northwest Territories' legislation. It:

sets out key principles of statutory interpretation;

identifies the elements in a legislative text that are to be considered part of the text;

provides standard definitions of commonly-used words and expressions;

provides standard sets of provisions regulating aspects of the operation of all enactments, such as the effective time of commencement, the effect...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize all our guests in the gallery, in particular Steven Cooper, a colleague of mine for many years. I would also like to recognize and thank two of the Pages from Fort Smith: Hannah Porter and Bronwyn Rutherford-Simon. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 29, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017, be read for the second time. This bill corrects inconsistencies and errors in the statutes of the Northwest Territories. The bill also deals with other matters of a minor, non-controversial and uncomplicated nature in the statutes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "GNWT Response to CR 8-18(2): Report on the Review of the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 Annual Reports of the NWT Information and Privacy Commissioner." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We continue to work with Aboriginal governments, community groups, and other partners. We seek advice and direction from them so that we can deal with this very serious issue.

Mr. Speaker, this government committed in its mandate to complete a framework for managing recreational leasing and completing a recreation management plan for the Yellowknife periphery area. In March, we fulfilled the first part of that commitment by releasing the Recreational Leasing Management framework, which will guide land management decisions for years to come. This framework outlines our vision, goals, and short-term and long-term priorities for improving the way we plan and manage recreational leases and other recreational uses. By working towards the goals in the framework, we aim to...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 28, Interpretation Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.