Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, we take our responsibility for the water licences direction very seriously, and, if there's an issue that's brought before us, we like to ensure that all parties have a say in the issues that are brought before us. If we feel that some procedural fairness was not met, then we may refer that back to the water board.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents entitled "Interim Financial Statements of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the Year Ended March 31, 2016," "Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 for the Period April 1 to June 30, 2016," "Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 for the Period April 1 to September 30, 2016," and "Follow-up Letter to Oral Question 383-18(2): Remediation of Arsenic Contamination Near Giant Mine Site." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I always have an opinion. We will continue to work with these groups to see if there's resources that might be made available to them. ENR staff actually attended the National Indigenous Guardianship Program in Ottawa in early October and the purpose of the gathering was to highlight the knowledge of the Indigenous Guardian Approach to the protection and management of lands and waters and as with most of our trips to Ottawa, there was some discussion on funding. I'm not sure the nature of those discussions or the outcome of those discussions yet, but as we continue to move on with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of these programs and we're actually proud of the fact that in the Northwest Territories we do have a couple of Indigenous Guardianship Programs. The Ni Hat'ni Dene or Watchers of Land and the Deh Cho KOD which means taking care of Dehcho, and we've seen how these programs actually benefit the community, they generate some good-paying jobs, they prepare young people to be our next generation leaders, but the guardianship program, my understanding, do even more because they are guardians of the land monitoring wildlife, tracking changes to...

Mr. Speaker, I'm not a lawyer, but I do understand a bit how this works and I'm starting to understand it a bit more. My understanding is that if any of the parties feel that procedural fairness was not met, they could possibly go through the court system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the land and water board has their process, and they review items brought before them, and then they are brought over to ENR for a decision by the Minister. So, whatever process they use, if they believe it's a fair process then they operate under that process as we operate under ours. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Procurement Shared Services was established in part to ensure that our government gets value for money, and departments continue to be involved with all aspects of the contracting, including reviewing tenders and the RFP processes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the procurement of shared services was established which improved the consistency of the approach, and the procurement of shared services ensures that all steps required for RFP or tender are followed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Mr. Charlie Furlong from Aklavik, president of the NWT Association of Communities; Clarence Wood, councillor from Inuvik and a member of Inuvik Twin Lakes. I would also like to recognize Mayor Mark Heyck, a man that I've had the opportunity in the past to do a lot of work with; and the rest of the NWT Association of Communities. Although I'm not the Minister responsible anymore, I still support 33 Strong. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South that Bill 14, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2017-2018 be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I request a recorded vote.