Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As this does fall under the Petroleum Resource Act, I guess when we take that out on the road and have a look at it this will be the opportunity for the Member to have his input on how he sees that we need to change things to fit the way he thinks it should be run; but presently this is the way the act is written and the way the board has determined their research priorities moving forward. I guess the other thing I could add to it is they do publish an annual report, and it is also online for everyone to see. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, there are two contractors on that section. The last 30 kilometres in the Inuvik section is a different contractor. Once the contract is done, at the remainder of this winter road, we will have a look at economies of scale. It probably makes more sense to have one contractor for that whole section of road versus two, but I will have to have a look at it when the time comes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. ITI has begun its work on research and review legislation from other jurisdictions on this exact policy coming forward. Then we have to process the approach we will be taking, so that is what we are going to do. We are going to look at other jurisdictions before we proceed, and then we are going to develop policy intention papers and have discussions around those papers with Aboriginal governments, regulators, industry representatives, and other stakeholders. The papers are anticipated to facilitate feedback on the GNWT policy intentions with respect to legislation review...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The latest one we worked on with Aboriginal governments was in the Deh Cho, which was, from my understanding a great success on moving it forward and getting an interest on how they want to move their mineral strategy forward. How it's tied to the Government of the Northwest Territories is probably going to depend greatly on regions, as we have settled claims in many of the regions in the Northwest Territories and it's a shared responsibility on a number of initiatives on how we move some of these things forward.

As for the unsettled claims, I think it brings a lot of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like I said, the two departments are having a look at it moving forward. The long-term plan is to have a pull-out every 50 kilometres along the highway system and a major rest stop every 50 kilometres. We will continue to look at this initiative and see what we can do before the end of the 18th Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member is well aware, we have had some cuts in this department already in this fiscal budget. We continue to work, like I said, on legislation and stuff moving forward, plus we can't forget about the possibility of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline and the possibility of that still moving forward with the extension of their licence. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would have to get the details of the numbers, but that is probably for boardroom rentals and things of that nature. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This position, as I said, is to assist the operators and regulators. As I've said in the House earlier this week, we have some safety initiatives that new licensees have to follow up on to make sure they're compliant, so we want operators that are safe and operating the environment to ensure a very safe but compliant operator so we can ensure the safety of all the tourists in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I've said, it's the role of the board to determine its research priorities for this fund and set the budget, establish the policies and practices for the future of what they want to look at. It's not the government's role to do that. In this particular case, this is the way the board is set up and the way the Petroleum Resource Act is referred to in this, and that's how it works. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We're waiting to have the completion of that road. We are having a hard look at how we are going to tender this process out for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. It is no different than any other contract, and it will have to follow our procurement steps as laid out by the Government of the Northwest Territories.