Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report consideration of Bill 83, Liquor Act.

Bill 83 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 20th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. Committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Finance on May 29th, 2023. Committee held three public meetings in Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Yellowknife. Committee also received one written submission. On July 28th, 2023, the committee held a clausebyclause review at which time the two departmentdriven motions were moved and approved....

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Thebacha, that Committee Report 7119(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations report on the review of the 20212022 Annual Report of the Ombud, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, this Cabinet repeatedly, in every single capital budget, including those asking for money for Taltson expansion. We spent tens of millions of dollars already, and we will continue to spend it, and yet they refuse to share the business case with us. Additionally, the Minister refuses to tell us how much the project actually is going to cost. The last cost estimate we have is from 2014. It included a transmission line to the diamond mines. I understand we are no longer doing that.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister give us an estimate of how much the Taltson...

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I have a little trouble with this bill because I think it's well, through committee discussions, the department's opposed to it, and it is a discretionary power to the Minister. So even if it was in place, absolutely nothing would have changed to my knowledge. The Minister's not willing to share that information, and just because she may share it as for the bill, it seems pretty clear that they would not actually share it. So I don't know what it accomplishes.

That being said, I guess I just want to we've spent a lot of time trying to understand royalties. There...

Mr. Speaker, Your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on Bill 85, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act, and commends it to the House. Mr. Speaker, I'll read the first three pages of the report and then deem the rest read.

Bill 85, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act (Bill 85) received second reading on March 30, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that answer. And, you know, I appreciate the Minister made the decision, and he stands by it. I guess I'm still a little confused about the jurisdictional question. You know, Hay River has issued multiple evacuations in the last couple years and it's always the town of Hay River. And there is an understanding that's who does it. I don't believe we would ever step in front and evacuate their town without them doing that first, but that's what occurred in Yellowknife. And I'm just wondering, you know, god forbid we ever have an evacuation, whose call is it at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I would like to join in my colleagues and thanking all of our forestry firefighters, all of those who worked at our pilots, our tanker bases, in those logistics, to the hundreds of volunteers in multiple communities, especially here in Yellowknife who stayed behind and built what is truly an impressive fire break in a matter of days as well as all of the municipal staff. And lastly, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all of our constituents who have been through a lot, and it seems like the majority of time in this Assembly has been spent in some sort of state of...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Thebacha, that Committee Report 5519(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of Bill 85: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act, be received by the Assembly and referred to Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 85, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act.

Bill 85 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 30th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. On September 20th, 2023, the committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs on this bill and completed its clausebyclause review.

Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 85, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank my colleague from Frame Lake and the Minister for MACA for answering the questions. And I look forward to an after-action review, and I'm happy to hear that the public's involved. Although I just have a few clarifying questions on why exactly the city of Yellowknife evacuation order was issued by the GNWT and what exactly occurred in that very rapid 24hour period there. So my first question is for the Minister of MACA. Can he explain why all the other communities were community evacuation orders, but the capital region was done by the GNWT, why that...