Denny Rodgers

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in June 2023, the Member from Inuvik Twin Lakes provided a Member's statement which was following up on a motion she brought forward to the House in relation to Indigenous peoples having cabins for rights-based purposes and how they should be exempt from lease payments for those rates-based camps and cabins, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in the NWT Lands Act in section 19(d), it states: To set apart and appropriate such areas or territorial lands as may be necessary to enable the GNWT to fulfill its obligations under land claim agreements in the Northwest...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move the chair rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this may be a bit of a stretch. I'm not sure if this is the proper department -- in the House in my Member's statement around the new -- a new buildings standards code for the Northwest Territories or a -- not a new one, a one, because we don't have one. And I thought that I guess it is kind of a -- is delivering capital, Mr. Chair. So I don't know if the Minister or not if she has her A-Team here with her would like to maybe elaborate a little more on the -- on where we are with that and anticipating getting that work done, funded and done. Thank you, Mr...

That's disappointing, Mr. Speaker. We had hoped given that, you know, this has been ongoing for quite some time that we had understood that all invoicing would be paused until such time as this work can be completed. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to when they're going to finally get this issue put to rest, a timeline on when we can see this proposed change put into place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, previous Member statements, myself as well as other colleagues, have expressed concerns about cabin leases. Specifically for me, Mr. Speaker, cabin leases on Crown lands in the Inuvialuit settlement region. It's my understanding that in the Inuvialuit final agreements that permits are required on Crown lands that will be provided at no cost. Can the Minister of ECC please give us an update on what's happened with those. I understand, Mr. Speaker, that people are still being invoiced for those cabins. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that; that is excellent news. Can the Minister tell me in the meantime, I guess any guidance that is offered if you do have a developer certainly in one of the regions that are reaching out, looking for that kind of information, is there anything currently set up in place that can offer some guidance to contractors or even individuals looking to build. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And happy Monday, happy Monday to my colleagues. I look forward to another exciting week of budget review.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to speak to building codes, or rather lack of building codes in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. All GNWT buildings, as I understand, do adopt or abide by the National Standards Building Code. That building code includes the electrical code, the plumbing code, the fire code, the energy code, as well of course as the building standards code, Mr. Speaker. However, all other developments, there is no code, and, Mr. Speaker, we're the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate we can't unfortunately see into the future. As I say, hope and pray. I opt for the pray rather than the hope so let's -- hopefully we'll pray we get there.

Just one final one on the Inuvik-Tuk Highway. And I know that there were some issues there around some of the low areas on that highway. I know it did cause some grief, and it wasn't the only reason, but certainly some grief with the additional snow that we had had up there. And I know that the Ministers were working with the contractors up there. There is a contract in place to ensure. So are we, again...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's okay, we're very similar, close, a lot of the same issues.

Any estimate -- estimation, Mr. Chair, on what kind of financial resources this would need as well as maybe what kind of staffing requirements; how big a department this would be. I guess not a department itself but how big this would be. Thank you.