Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all want a cleaner, safer, healthier environment. “Why,” you ask. Well, if you were to come out and walk on the Canol Trail with me, you’ll know why, or travel along the Mackenzie River, you’ll know why, or fish on Great Slave Lake or the Great Bear, you’ll know why.

We can strike a balance. We have responsible exploration for energy. We are searching for economic freedom, unshackling the chains of dependency from the federal government. Days are gone of the oil companies that drill them, fill them, spill them and bill them. Responsible exploration for energy has been...

Just for correction, it’s 222 miles. I want to let the Minister know.

The remediation sites that need to be cleaned up, I want to ask the Minister, is this part of the transfer of lands from the federal to the territorial in the context of the territorial government taking over these lands? Is the territorial government in discussion with the feds so that these lands then can be transferred over to the territorial government so the Sahtu Dene and Metis can own, manage, develop and run the Canol Heritage Doi T'oh Canyon Park?

Mr. Speaker, youth can better appreciate what we have today in our land claim and, more importantly, cleaning up the mess left behind. Without our great sponsorship of the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Aboriginal governments, the private businesses, the oil companies, the volunteers, the community councils and the hikers, this hike would have been but a dream. It takes committed people to make that commitment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The standing committee sought the input of key stakeholders and members of the public with respect to Bill 37, through letters and newspaper advertisements inviting input.

One written submission was received from Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts, the Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Northwest Territories. Ms. Keenan Bengts provided the standing committee with her observations on Bill 37, as it regards matters related to access to information and the protection of privacy under the NWT’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act. This submission was...

The contaminated areas, if you look at the report, it’s pretty thick but it’s very, very interesting. Just on the pricing of the fuel, one of the statements in the report says if they were to do the project, in costing out the project, a barrel of oil would cost about $1,000. You know, the expense of doing business in that area.

I want to ask the Minister, given what we know from the remediation assessment and the contamination and work that’s been done on the 222 miles of that stretch and what happened in the 1940s as of today, does the Minister, does his department understand the enormous...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI. I want to ask the Minister on the Canol Heritage proposed Doi T'oh in the Sahtu region. The Minister has been aware that there has been work by the federal government remediation and contamination team. Their assessment report has been dealt with. There are discussions with the land claim organizations. There is a park management committee framework set up.

I want to ask the Minister, what is his department doing in regard to working with the land corporations, the federal government and the remediation team to clean up the mess...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hiking the Canol Trail is no walk in the park. Just ask the 142 people who have hiked the trail since 2006. These are world-class hikers. Not only do we have a world-class hiking trail, we have world-class oilfields, world-class fishing spots, a world-class painted church, world-class hunting areas and several world-class national parks.

In the past 10 years, we have had world-class hikers in the Sahtu that have hiked the Canol Trail, a 222-mile trail from the Mackenzie River to the Yukon border.

A snapshot of the Canol: The Canol was once the biggest construction...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister have an estimated dollar figure as to what the possibilities are the federal government is looking at? I say this because at one time the federal government said, looking at the Canol and funding, it is almost close to what it costs to clean up that we’re still cleaning up the Giant arsenic mine here, and that’s the equivalency of cleaning up the Canol Heritage Trail, and that’s just on a hiking-type of discussion I had with the federal government representative.

Can the Minister tell me if he has any type of numbers?

The Auditor General’s report, again, states that point 41 of the recommendations…the department said they will review the records, and that’s their marching orders. So, I wanted to state clearly that the directive, that the Minister would, through his review, look at the cost of camp operators, camps that pay a daily rate for the inmates. It has to be reasonable. They have to eat, also. You know, they’re up against a facility that also covers… You know, it’s a different operation at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre. So, I want to make sure that the camp operators, if they’re going to go...

Also in the Auditor General’s report, under point 41 it talks about the closure of wilderness camps and it also talks about, at the same time, the expression of interest that Mr. Ramsay has indicated is provided as potential to reopen these camps in the Northwest Territories.

I want to ask the Minister, would he direct his department staff to try harder, with a winning attitude of yes, we will do what we can with our best capabilities to open these camps and look at the areas that need to be expanded to make sure that these camps are a success by providing the resources to these camps, rather...