Wendy Bisaro

Thanks. Great news – being very sarcastic. Okay, so does the Minister have any suggestions for these businesses that are scraping by at the moment trying to hang on? I mean, should they just fold up their business and totally go on to something else, or is there some hope in the next two, three, four years that maybe they will get some caribou tags? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. I’m glad to hear that something’s going to be done by the end of March. I think he said the end of ’13-14, so that’s in about three weeks’ time. I’m very glad to hear that. I didn’t hear an answer to my question of who is doing the review.

Has the department hired a contractor or are they doing the review internally?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The third line down, Alternative Energy Program, goes from $1.175 million in ’13-14 to $300,000 in ’14-15, yet towards the bottom we have one, two, three new programs: Business Support, Solar Energy and environmental baseline studies. So why the drop in Alternative Energy Program?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on my Member’s statement and I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I mentioned in my statement I’m looking at an inclusive schooling review that has been mentioned by the Minister a number of times and I think the latest statement by the Minister was that the Education Renewal and Innovation Initiative was going to involve a review of inclusive schooling. So the ERI work that either has taken place already or that is taking place now, I’d like to know whether or not the department has undertaken or will...

Thanks to the Minister. I understand. I know that we’re both coming from the same place and I accept his reassurance, but I would like to know from the Minister if that reassurance is written in a policy. Is there a policy somewhere that you can point me to? Or will there be a policy either before April 1st or as soon as possible after April 1st which will lay out just what the Minister said so that we are not left, as a government and as a territory, looking after liabilities that we didn’t create? Thank you.

So, I think the Minister is telling me to kind of wait and see, but I’m still not really hearing that, as a government, we know how we’re going to force companies to put up the security if they don’t for whatever reason. I guess I need to know from the Minister and maybe it’s not firm yet, but are we thinking about taking people to court? Are we thinking about pulling licences? What sorts of things do we have to enforce the securities that have been determined for a particular project? Thank you.

Okay. One last question. Then I’m applying for a development. Before I’m granted my permit, I have to put up the security that has been assessed to me. Is that correct?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to Ms. Magrum. So in the assessment that the Department of ENR does, is one of the parts of the assessment that they’re doing to assess the cost of remediation of a contaminated site either when it’s a working site or after it’s a working site? What I’m getting at is in terms of securities. If the department assesses a site as being contaminated, will they also advise Finance, I presume, that the costs to remediate that site is let’s say $1 million, then presumably the responsibility lies with Finance to go and get that money either from a company or from GNWT...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 22-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2014-2015, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 22-17(5) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the Minister. Yes, I understand that. I was looking to get a cost per year, so we’ve got a good, healthy balance and I’m really pleased to hear that we are expanding recycling and that we’re expanding into e-waste, because I think that is one area where there’s a good potential for us to divert a great deal from the landfill and basically help our environment.

The other question I wanted to ask here has to do with contaminated sites and remediation. I’m trying to understand, and I know my colleagues asked a number of questions yesterday when we were talking about lands and sites and...