Wendy Bisaro

Thanks to the Minister. I guess I would say, considering the situation that North American Tungsten is in, it’s imperative that we check what kind of security we have and probably ensure that we have security that is going to assist us in reclamation if they go under.

To the Minister: I’d like to know, we hold $11.6 million in whatever form of security, but how much is the reclamation going to cost for this particular development, this particular mine? Can the Minister advise us what the estimate of the reclamation is and what kind of liability we would estimate we have for this particular...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the last conversation, I have to say kudos to the RCMP for the job they’re doing. They’re doing a great job lately.

My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Lands. I want to follow up on some questions that I asked to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources last week. The Minister of ENR, in answering questions to me about the Cantung Mine, indicated that there is about $11.6 million held in financial security for the Cantung Mine.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Lands what form that security is in. We have several different kinds of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The history on this particular issue bears repeating, so there may be some things which are said twice here.

Fourteen years ago the Premier of the day recognized the importance of providing services for persons with disabilities in the NWT. There was an acknowledgement that there were gaps and that something needed to be done to close those gaps. By 2004 a framework had been developed and some 100 needs identified, and those needs were placed into the five building blocks of the framework, as mentioned by my colleague: education, housing, employment, income, and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, would like to comment on this extraordinary expense and I have to say that in hearing that we were spending up to $29 million for a low water surcharge, I wasn’t surprised. I can’t argue with this particular expenditure, I can’t argue with the dollar amount, but I can argue the process. As was stated by Mr. Dolynny, Members really didn’t have any opportunity to consider this expenditure before it was complete. Sure, there was a letter from the Premier dated August 31st. I think Cabinet was well aware and the Premier should have been well aware that Members were...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a question on this page, as well, with regard to the forest management item and the fire suppression. Before I get there, I do want to make a comment about the impact the total amount of these supplementary estimates, the operations expenditures, are having on our budgeting, so to speak, the impact on our finances.

Prior to this supplementary estimate, this request for $29.8 million, we had a supplementary reserve. We set one up every year. We had about $23 million in our supplementary reserve. So you take the cost of this particular supplementary expenditure and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. We’d like to continue with Tabled Document 325-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2015-2016. If we complete that, Tabled Document 324-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2015-2016. If we are really efficient, we will move on to Bill 56, Bill 59, Bill 62, Bill 63, Bill 64 and Bill 69.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. To the Minister: I’m a little surprised that we haven’t yet done an assessment. I would have thought that once we took over the ownership of a property, and apparently we now have responsibility for the Cantung Mine, that an assessment would be done so that we’d know what kind of liability we’re looking at.

So, in terms of this assessment, if it has not been done, when will it be done, and if there is a variation in the amount of liability required by the assessment and the amount of liability we hold, will the Minister aggressively renegotiate the agreement that we have...

Thanks to the Minister. I’ll take that commitment. My information is that out of the $11.6 million that about $5 million is in promissory notes. I think promissory notes as an accepted form of security for the liability and reclamation of a mine are not worth very much. Next to worthless is my understanding.

I’d like to ask the Minister, if some of this security is promissory notes, would he consider asking the company to change them to an irrevocable letter of credit, which does have great value, as opposed to a promissory note which has very little value?

The government mindset from the previous decade seems to still exist where the issue of services for disabled persons is concerned. The issue is still in that black hole. But it must be removed from that black hole. The decade of inaction has to be replaced with a commitment to action. We have 5,000 to 6,000 persons with disabilities in the NWT and about 50 percent of them are seniors. We have a half-finished action plan. We have residents who need better programs and services so they can lead a better life.

It’s not too late to act. This Assembly can send a message to the 18th Assembly. We can...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried