Louis Sebert

As I understand it, the staff at the centre will be working with ECE and Aurora College on the development of a geomatics curriculum through kindergarten to grade 12 programming, and exploring opportunities to create post-secondary geomatics program development. So, yes, we are interested. We do see this as a potential area for growth in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I understand that, of course, there are ongoing concerns about Prairie Creek and possible noncompliance. Perhaps I can give some detail as to what the department has been doing. Since the summer of 2017, there have been six inspections by our inspectors from the Department of Lands and also by the Department of Natural Resources. There were six inspections, as I say, the most recent being October 28, 2017. The next inspection will take place in the spring of 2018, once the snow clears. The site is closed, shut down, for the season. Now, there were some compliance issues related to...

Having a formal lobbyist registry would require costs to enact new legislation, and we are a small jurisdiction. I have looked at other jurisdictions, and the other jurisdictions in the North do not have a lobbyist registry, nor does the province of Prince Edward Island. I think a formal registry would be overly cumbersome and unnecessary in our jurisdiction.

One of the questions that does occur to me about a lobbyist registry or a reporting registry that we already have, I have been looking at other jurisdictions and wondering why the Regular Members do not report. Thank you.

I just wanted to add that I understand the initial training will be done in Fort Smith, and also, this additional cost is not reflected in the mains. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Apparently, Canadian Zinc has met all of its current securities requirements under the permits, licences, and authorizations that are currently in place. I understand that our government is holding $2,075,000 in securities for the mine site and winter road, which includes water licence leases and land use permits. Perhaps, at this stage, I could it turn it over to my deputy minister for a full explanation. Thank you.

What I can say is that we are very happy that this is finally going ahead and reversing the phase 2 reduction. I think we do understand that the centre is a position to support the knowledge economy, which is very important. So, yes, we will be proceeding with this, of course, in a financial sense. We are hoping that it will lead to further development with ITI or Infrastructure, so yes. We will be working also with Aurora College so that the students will find this to be an area of interest in their studies and also, of course, with the federal government, so yes, we are excited about this...

Yes, perhaps the Premier could assist in clarifying this point. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes. Prior to this afternoon, I did look through the registry, and I did notice that earlier on sometimes just individuals were listed or sometimes just organizations. I did notice of late that individuals and organizations were listed, and I think that is quite appropriate and proper.

Thank you. As I mentioned previously, there has been some back and forth to resolve this issue, and I think that there was agreement that there would be five positions involved. Thank you.

Yes, this is a complicated situation, as the Member well knows, and it has been difficult for us. I think I will let my deputy minister get into some of the details about what is going on. Thank you, Mr. Chair.