Michael Miltenberger

Thebacha

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you. It’s going to be close to the generation site in Inuvik. They’re currently looking at clarifying and finalizing the details on the tankage and vaporization equipment that is going to be required, but it, of course, will be as close as we can actually get it to where it’s going to be used. Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the term is five years with a clause in there that would allow us to renegotiate, should a source become available that’s closer to us than is currently the case. Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

The protected area process has eight steps to it. Most of the candidate areas in the Member’s constituency, I believe, are around step five. In my time in government, it has been a process that is… The wheels grind very slow and fine in terms of advancing nominations through the system. We’re committed to that system. We’re going to adjust for devolution, but we’re still fully committed to that. We’re committed to the land use plan in the Deh Cho. We’re committed to concluding our Land Use and Sustainability Framework as a territorial government, so that that broad framing policy gives us the...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has been fully involved in the Protected Areas Strategy. We have considerable resources invested in that process. We are intent on carrying on with the intent of that process.

There’s going to be a change in relationships here. The federal government is going to be stepping to the side and we are going to be playing a leadership role. We know in the Deh Cho that we are going to conclude Edehzhie and the other candidate areas. We are going to continue to work with the communities and the other stakeholders. We’ve had discussions...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

As Minister I have the authority to act on conservation issues, on emergency issues. Other than that, I am bound and obligated and intend and have to follow the work that’s done through the process involving the various boards, the work that they do that are public boards. They make recommendations and we’re involved in those with our staff as well, but the recommendations come back up through the system. It’s a system that has served us well. We need to make sure that we continue to use that system. We’re going to do that.

These discussions take time. These are very complex areas. They are...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve committed a significant amount of money to continue to do baseline work on an ongoing basis on the various herds. There are the major surveys, then there’s the intermediate work that’s done to check the health of the herd. We’ve done that over the summer, as I indicated, over last year and concluding some this year that I laid out in my Member’s statement yesterday. They’ve given us some comfort – more than comfort – some certainty about the herd numbers, to the point where we’re looking at going back to the co-management boards and the consultation processes that...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you. It means, very simply, that there is a federal process and they have put some money aside for candidate areas, that devolution is being negotiated, that we as a territory have tools that we’ve talked about but not used very well and there may be other tools we need to in fact develop as we manage the land and resources.

I have had discussions with the federal Minister about the federal money that is there. This process, this protected area process was in place I believe before I became a Member 18 years ago and it works, the wheels turn very slow and fine. We’re at step five for all...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you. As I indicated in previous questions, there have been meetings recently with the grand chief and some of the leadership from the Dehcho. There was an agreement to bilateral process to make sure we are fully engaged at the land claims and land use table, which would allow us to resolve some of these outstanding issues. We are committed to concluding Edehzhie and, as I indicated as well, I met, when we were down in Ottawa for the Northwest Territories Days, with Minister Kent and raised the issue of the funds that are currently identified for the candidate areas and the need for us to...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you. In Inuvik we’ll have full diesel redundancy. So the storage requirements are going to be, at this point, 90 days and we’ll rely on being able to manage the supply in bringing the replenishment within that 90 days. The reason we say that we can manage with the 90-day supply is that we do have full diesel redundancy so that should there be a weather closure or something else untoward happen, then we would be able to still have no break in service. Thank you.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 24)

Thank you. As I indicated in my Minister’s statement today, what we’re aiming for is to be as fully functional as we can by this fall as it pertains to being able to use liquid natural gas and generation of electricity. Thank you.