Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a mandate commitment to support the Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program, or NWT CIMP. This program is a research and monitoring program to help understand environmental trends and the cumulative impacts of both human and natural changes.

Today I am pleased to announce this program is providing $660,000 this year to initiate 11 new research and monitoring projects. These projects address key cumulative impact monitoring priorities for caribou, water, and fish. Funding recipients include...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my right, I have Mr. David Stewart, who is the deputy minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 26, Statistics Act, be read for the second time.

This bill establishes a framework to allow the Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics to collect, analyze, disseminate, and share information. The information is to be used for making informed decisions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my statement, crews that were not out fighting fires or being exported were doing some work around the communities. In Fort Liard, my understanding is there are three crews in Fort Liard, one in Sambaa K'e, and three in Simpson. Again, the information that I have is that one crew from each community was exported this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My understanding is $2 million came back to the Northwest Territories. Broken down, I am not sure what that is as far as salaries go for the employees, but through our Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement we recovered $2 million.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can't support this motion, and I won't support any further motions within this to start looking at a party politics-type system.

I believe in consensus government. It has its pros, and it has some cons, but I think that the big question here, and a couple of Members have raised it, is that for an institution that prides itself on hearing the people, which it says right in our code of conduct, I believe, I don't think we heard them on this one, because there has not been a groundswell of support for this, and I think the approach that we are taking is the wrong...

Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, October 31, 2018, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that the Government of the Northwest Territories should agree to receive revenues from an excise duty in respect of the Northwest Territories as imposed as part of the federally legislated cannabis excise duty. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my understanding, and I am sure that was the Member's question, was how much we spent exporting our crews and resources outside the Northwest Territories, my understanding is that, if we spent $2 million, then we would recover $2 million.

Mr. Speaker, through the Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement, we were able to recover $2 million from this summer.