Robert C. McLeod

[Microphone turned off] ... get a chance to before. I do want to acknowledge the work that went on between committee and the department. We had 34 amendments that were proposed by committee. We accepted 30 of them. There were four we did not accept. Again, they were defeated, and they were brought down to the floor of the Assembly to have further debate on it, which is the right of this Assembly, and I respect that.

The act as written already ensures that the Minister will make transparent and accountable decisions on whether a nominated area can be considered by Executive Council for approval...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to introduce Bill 38, Protected Areas Act. The bill sets out the processes for establishing a protected area in the Northwest Territories. The bill lays out the process to nominate the candidate area, how establishment agreements with Indigenous governments or organizations will be entered into for management of a protected area, regulation-making authorities, and prohibited and acceptable activities in a protected area.

Environment and Natural Resources has developed the bill through a partnership process with a technical working group that is comprised of...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 59, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 2, 2019-2020, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 59, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 2, 2019-2020, be read for the second time. Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 59, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 2, 2019-2020, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This delay was unintended and in no way should be considered as a lowering of the government's commitment to implementing the NWT Carbon Tax. Carbon pricing will be introduced in the NWT either utilizing our own approach or having the federal backstop imposed upon us. We believe our approach has significant advantages for our businesses and residents, including in the way we have approached rebating the carbon tax on heating fuel, protecting electricity rates, and providing the cost-of-living offset benefit to all residents of the NWT.

We have reached out to the Government of Canada, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thirty-five years ago today, the Committee for Original People's Entitlement, or COPE, signed the Inuvialuit Final Agreement with the Government of Canada on behalf of the Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic. The Inuvialuit Final Agreement was the first comprehensive land claim agreement north of the 60th parallel, and only the second of its kind in Canada. In many ways, this agreement led the way for the future negotiation of land, resources, and self-government agreements in this territory, and perhaps in Canada.

The IFA was negotiated to help preserve Inuvialuit cultural...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I said before, I made some comments before, but one of the things I want to point out, one point I wanted to make, is we are trying to pass an amendment here to give us direction to do something that we are already doing. We have a respectful arrangement and collaboration with our Aboriginal partners. We have bilateral meetings with them. Whether they signed on to the intergovernmental council or not, whether they signed on to devolution or not, we have respectful dialogue with them. We do not always agree with each other, but that makes the partnership a lot stronger...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We appreciate the input from all of the Members, first and foremost.

ENR is committed to making timely decisions under this act. We have concurred to the motion, and I think that the Member from Yellowknife North spoke to it, adding subclause 10(1). This requires a decision to be made without delay.

Further, the proposed amendment implies that the Minister makes the final decision to accept a nomination. This is not in alignment with section 11(1) of the bill. This section makes the Executive Council the final decision-maker on a nomination on the recommendation of a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have with me, to my left, Mr. Robert Jenkins, who is the assistant deputy minister of Environment and Climate Change. To my right, I have Ms. Kelly McLaughlin, who is legislative counsel with the Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.