Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been working with the communities to update their firebreak plans. The Member pointed out before, quite correctly, that the last one, I believe, was done in 2012. They are working with the communities now to update their fire protection plans. I know for a fact they are going to be up in the Member's community this summer working with them to evaluate the fuelbreaks that are there and see if they can take ways to mitigate them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member talks about resources. My comment before was actually our forest full of money trees that went up in smoke in 2014 to the tune of over $50 million, so we have been fairly challenged. We recognize the importance of fuelbreaks. That is why we are going into communities, working with the communities to update all their fire protection plans and evaluate what condition their fuelbreaks are in, and if there are opportunities, identify some resources to put towards that.

I think if there is some need within the community, I believe, through the money that we provide to the communities there are opportunities there. ENR is working to identify funding that might be made available to communities with their fuelbreak. We were growing a forest full of trees but they went up in the great fire of 2014.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 15, An Act to Amend the Tobacco Tax Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Tobacco Tax Act to permit the introduction of a territorial stamp that will facilitate the verification that a tax has been paid on tobacco sold in the Northwest Territories. The act is further amended to require collection of the tax at the time tobacco is acquired by wholesale dealers for the purposes of resale. As a result of this change, retail dealers will no longer be required to be deputy...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "NWT Species 2016-2020: General Status Ranks of all Wild Species in the Northwest Territories." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 15, An Act to Amend the Tobacco Tax Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on the progress made on the development of a range plan for the Bathurst caribou herd. As Members may be aware, cumulative impact concerns were raised during environmental assessments of the Gahcho Kue, Fortune Minerals NICO project, and the Jay Pipe project expansion. Each environmental assessment recommended that the Government of the Northwest Territories develop approaches for cumulative effects monitoring.

In response to these concerns and measures, the Government of the Northwest Territories...

This year, ENR, we are actually going through the numerous applications that we have right now from several schools across the Northwest Territories to try and access some of the funding that we have available. One of the ways that we continue to support ontheland programming through the youth is through the budget and having the line item in it every year so that there is a defined pot of money that the schools can apply for. That has been going on for a while. Again, we recognize the importance of these programs to youth out there, so that will continue to be a line item in the budget.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, caribou herds across northern Canada have been declining. Many are at or near historic low numbers.

These declines prompted the Committee on Status of Endangered Species in Canada to assess barren-ground caribou across Canada, including herds in the Northwest Territories, as a threatened species in November 2016.

Decisions on this listing and a resulting recovery strategy will be made by the Government of Canada in consultation with the Government of the Northwest Territories and our comanagement partners. Canada’s consultation on the legal listing of barren...