Kieron Testart

Thank you. If there are multiple Indigenous land rights holders or rights holders who are all subject to an area where there is a production project, do they all need to have benefit agreements in place before a licence will be issued? Thank you.

Thank you. Well, the issue is that the mineral tenure rights that are governed by this act are impacting on municipal interests, so it is very much this piece of legislation and this department's responsibility. It might, perhaps, be other departments' responsibility, as well, but mineral tenure conflicts aren't governed by the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, the Hamlets Act, or any other statute governing municipalities.

Again, this is an issue that was raised by committee, taken very seriously by the committee. The amendments proposed by committee are not acceptable to government, so what is...

Will there be additional requirements put onto those agreements if they are brought forward to the Minister, above and beyond what are contained in the land rights agreements? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would to recognize some Kam Lake constituents today, Mr. Leo Konge, Kelso Neils Konge, and Caitlin Cleveland(ph). Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This clause governs benefits prescribed in respect to measures to provide benefits to people of the Northwest Territories. What is the practical instrument force that is contemplated by this clause? Is it a socio-economic agreement? Can the Minister confirm that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's what I wanted to here. If there is a dispute, how soon can, do we have an idea of when this clause is triggered? Sorry, I'll rephrase. Can a production licence be issued if a dispute is in progress, or does a dispute prevent the issuance of a production licence? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, I think this is a very important section or important change because we have heard this concern from municipalities. For whatever reason, that might have not been the case with the government's early discussions with the public engagement around this, but it is certainly something the committee found. I think it is important that we respond to this in a meaningful way. If we are unable to, if the government can't support this amendment for whatever reason, we still need to find a solution.

I am not going to reflect on the outcome of previous matters, but a number of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In terms of existing land rights agreements that have conditions for benefits, will those satisfy this section? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak on the Team NWT's recent participation in the Western Canada Summer Games.

First off, I would like to congratulate all members of Team NWT for their performance. Our athletes were excellent ambassadors of our northern spirit and territory, but I want to specifically celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of Leo Konge, one of my constituents. He pushed hard and brought home gold in 50 metre butterfly, as well as two bronze medals in the 100 meter and 200 meter butterfly, at this year's games in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Leo's dedication...

Thank you. We're in 2019, we have a very unique circumstances for governance in the Northwest Territories, and we have to continue on the path of reconciliation and respect Indigenous partners. That they have an inherent right to self-government and many of those self-governments have come forward.

In regards to Indigenous governments being involved in the creation of zones, I think that that is important, but at the end of the day, it is the Minister who approves the zone. The Minister is a representative of the public Government of the Northwest Territories for all of the people of the...