Michael Miltenberger

The Wildlife Act is a unique piece of legislation that has, in fact, been drafted in partnership with the Aboriginal governments. We’ve had the working group members comprised of members from Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Sahtu, Tlicho, Metis, as well as seats at the table for the Akaitcho and representatives from the Dehcho First Nation, should they choose to attend and when they choose to attend. It has been that collective that has worked to draft the Wildlife Act, a unique process in this country of Canada, a unique bill that has no equal in this country. We have made tremendous efforts to involve...

The consultation feedback has gone well. The bill has been reviewed and the bill was substantially the same as what was before the House in the last Assembly. The issues that have come up, there have been some technical issues, there have been some issues of processes for ongoing feedback. For example, for groups like the SWAAG. But overall, we’ve concluded all the reviews. The one contentious issue that is really out there is the structure of the conference, and as well, we want to give a full and comprehensive response to the concerns put forward and recommendations put forward by the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank my colleague for going back to this number. As well, I’d like to recognize, actually, Mr. Willard Hagen, chair of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, as well as Richard Edjericon, chair of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. Thank you for coming and spending time in the Assembly.

I would suggest that the budget that we bring before the House and its component pieces with the various departments and the $1.5 billion we do have captures what money we have available to deal with the pressures. We have identified, for example, in terms of infrastructure, we have about a $3 billion infrastructure debt that we build up for various reasons. A lot of that is going to be to deal with some of the issues that are tied directly to climate change.

There’s a clear line relationship. We have $1.5 billion in the government to manage. We know that there are things that we could easily...

Yes, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not aware of that specific circumstance so I will have to talk to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and I will take that question as notice.

As I indicated, this particular waste site, Giant, is separate and not included in the devolution agreement. It is going to stay within the responsibility of the federal government to maintain and clean up and do all the things necessary to bring it back to proper use.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a federal waste site that they’re remediating. We are in partnership with them. We’ve booked about $27 million, the federal government in the neighbourhood of $300 million, as initial figures. Clearly, it is one of the biggest waste site remediations in the country, so it is fundamentally a federal responsibility.

Thank you, Madam Chair. As I’ve indicated, that particular program and arrangement is up for review and that type of discussion will be taking place with communities and the Association of Communities.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The funding that goes to communities is a base-plus formula. So as the base is tied to, everybody gets the same basic amount and then the rest is on a per capita basis. So as the new population numbers come through, they are factored in. I’ll ask Mr. Williams if he wants to speak any further about how often we adjust those population figures. Thank you.