Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. One thing I haven't really heard, I guess, in the news or from the department is the involvement of the Indigenous governments in the territories who you know, who have comprehensive agreements signed. And in those agreements, you know, they have some, you know, water rights and, you know, the right to, you know, quantity and quality of water as well. So what discussions have been taking place with Indigenous governments within the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And the minister in I think in the media there had indicated that they would be using a dispute mechanism. And I'm just wondering, you know, how or if that mechanism has been used and how it will be used in this instance with the Kearl spill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, although I understand the intent of this bill, as a politician for me it's never been about the money. It's about doing what's right for the people. And also, you know, we have to understand that, you know or to understand what people are going through, we almost have to live that as well. And there's a lot of people out there that I know that are struggling that I you know, I provided money to and I provided other supports as well. And, you know, I still kind of, you know, make ends meet. So I guess what I'm trying to what I'm going to do is introduce a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And would the Minister consider having her department look at actually building, you know, that right into the new units that are that will be coming on stream or going forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Power outages during the winter months can result in considerable damage to equipment I mean to the house, to the appliances in there as well, and also, you know, it's hard on the people who may have to be stuck in a cold house for an extended period of time. So has the department considered this a potential issue, or has it been a potential issue in the smaller communities further north?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk a bit about the, I guess, water research and monitoring. And, you know, after a couple years of flooding here, how much additional work is going into that to monitor, like, especially for Hay River and the Hay River watershed, are we doing any extra work so that we can, you know, get some idea whether and somewhat predict, I guess, whether we may see flooding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I said I wasn't going to do a statement, but I can't. I just cannot do that. So I have to say something. So, Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate to have an office on main street in Hay River that's accessible to all residents and, Mr. Speaker, today I want to let those persons who stop by my office for coffee, and sometimes they actually ask for advice, I will be home Friday so when you see my truck outside come on in.

Mr. Speaker, a service I do provide to residents in Hay River is the preparation of wills, personal directives, and power of attorneys. I just...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess on the news the premier said of Alberta said it wasn't, you know, their responsibility, and it was up to Imperial to notify the parties that might be you know, that are looking at damages. But the one thing I guess with this dispute mechanism, you know, we're doing extra probably testing hopefully. Is there a cost an extra cost related to this now, and would that dispute mechanism allow for those costs to be picked up by the Alberta government or Imperial? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, you know, I guess the topic of water is very important. You know, the Mackenzie River basin I think counts for about has a drainage area of about 1.8 million square miles, which is about 20 percent of Canada's land mass. And you know, it all comes down, you know, funneling through this area. And, you know, as we see more development in south, the bigger the impact could be. And, you know, with the Kearl spill, for some reason we missed it. Partly because, I guess, we weren't informed by the Alberta government. And secondly, I'm not sure if anybody was...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk a bit about the, I guess, water research and monitoring. And, you know, after a couple years of flooding here, how much additional work is going into that to monitor, like, especially for Hay River and the Hay River watershed, are we doing any extra work so that we can, you know, get some idea whether and somewhat predict, I guess, whether we may see flooding? Thank you.