Jay Macdonald

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently, project finance for permanence is being worked on at the partners' level. There are a number of items that needed to be completed to meet the requirements of the treasury board. And currently the $300 million that will be provided by Canada needs to go to the House of Parliament in a supply bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, we do not have $300 million to contribute to this great initiative which is going to benefit the Indigenous governments and communities all across the North, as much as I would love to be able to stand up here and make such a commitment. We will continue to do the work, the advocacy work that we've been doing with the federal government. If there's -- as the election process unfolds, we will continue still to do our advocacy work to ensure, to the best of our ability, that those funds flow to the Indigenous governments within the Northwest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated in the earlier question regarding the same issue, we continue to have regular engagement with Minister's office at ECCC in Ottawa. We have been working closely with the partners' table to ensure that all of the work that is required to advance, to be prepared to receive the money when it gets to the parliamentary appropriation that is required continues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of challenges with the proposed bulk block land transfer. It is under the -- there's a couple of pieces of legislation that govern that type of transaction, one being federal, one being territorial, and there's a requirement under that legislation for a complete survey which has a significant cost. This has been one of the barriers. But as I stated in my earlier answer, the department is continuing conversations with the city. Our deputy minister met with the city representative last week, and I believe they're meeting again this week and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a topic that's close to my heart, ensuring that we are engaging with our youth across the NWT. I have grandchildren that are going to be coming along here into this environment soon and, you know, I'm encouraged by the participation that we had, and we had the NWT Climate Change Youth Council participate in a forum in October, Ecology North facilitated discussions, with a total of 190 students here in Yellowknife. MLA Morgan and myself are planning an engagement with high school students later in the month here in Yellowknife to discuss the issue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you very much to the Member for the question. As she said, there was a tremendous amount of engagement on this topic, and we extended the timeframe and continued to accept long-form submissions well into January. You know, throughout the process, we had 128 participants at a climate change advisory group gathering. We engaged with Indigenous governments, organizations, community governments, youth, researchers, land users, industries, other partners. We had 44 residents engaged through a public engagement on the website, and two Indigenous governments and six...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the importance of plain language was the theme of the what we heard engagement throughout. And, you know, this is very important feedback for us in that we're considering the changes and improvements to the planned climate actions. We take this responsibility to communicate with the public in a clear, concise manner that everyone can understand very seriously. And to that end, already through the engagement process we have taken some opportunities to change how we were doing things. And the department worked closely with the local graphic artists to create...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand today to highlight one of the most significant achievements of 2024: The finalization of the Our Land for the Future Agreement, formerly called the NWT Project Finance for Permanence Agreement.

This landmark initiative is a monumental achievement for Indigenous peoples in the Northwest Territories, fostering Indigenous-led conservation, stewardship, and economic development. The GNWT had the honour of supporting this transformative initiative in partnership with 23 Indigenous governments, the Government of Canada, and private donors. Through the...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Environment and Climate Change is also responsible for coordinating the 24-hour NWT/Nunavut Spill Line, and this is certainly a vehicle or an opportunity for communities or the general public to identify potential spills. And, you know, if you look at the definition of what is an environmental contamination, within the definition, it says that it's an unplanned release of a potential product that could harm the environment. So if there are these specific locations out on the landscape or in lakes or on our countryside, they can be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you much to the Member for the question. You know, as we talk about environmental liabilities -- and this certainly, from the description, sounds like an environmental liability of such in the North -- you know, there are many instances where these types of things have happened in the past that haven't been addressed and as we look forward to ways to address these, you know, it's certainly important that we work with all of our counterparts, including the federal government.

As to this specific instance, the Department of Environment and Climate Change has...