Shane Thompson

Man, I hate to do this yes, we're looking at alternative option all options available to us. So and that is one of them that we have discussed this morning. So, man, the MLA for Yellowknife North has got two yeses out of me so I think I'm done. I don't want to talk say yeses anymore, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I gave him his 'yes' last week so he's done for the yeses. So besides the joking aside there. So MACA initiated when were first started, we were looking at three legislations. We brought forward Property Assessment and Taxation, the Fire Prevention Act, and the Senior Citizens Disability and Personal Property Tax Relief Act. Unfortunately, COVID hit, floods hit, flood recovery hit, and so we realistically looked at what can we achieve at this point in time. So what we said is the Senior Citizen and Disability Property Tax Relief will wait until the 20th Assembly. But...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell the Member right now we are working with the Indigenous government. We are working with the Tlicho government to get this road up and operational and making sure we do things properly. We just received a letter from the Tlicho government with some valid concerns, and I'm working with them on that.

Both projects took a cooperative approach by engaging with local governments, local Indigenous organizations, stakeholders, and the territorial and federal government to achieve significant local and regional benefits. Given the difference in geologic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the boreal caribou sustainable harvest assessment report was completed for ENR to identify sustainable harvest levels for boreal caribou in the southern NWT including the Wek'eezhii area. ENR is meeting with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations on the finding of this report. I must really stress we're meeting with Indigenous governments here and our organizations. The report concluded that the area around the road could support some harvest of boreal caribou and so far we have not seen indications that sustainable harvest levels are being...

Yeah, thank you. So the department actually works handinhand with the communities. We have regional staff out there that will work with communities. So when federal funding comes out that fits into  well, sometimes they may not fit in to what we're looking at, but we try to work with the communities to see how we can make it fit in to what they're trying to achieve. So it might be a different project that they may have to do later on instead of what they're trying do. So we will look at it through that way. So we very much have staff that work together from headquarters in regions to work with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. This summer ENR completed surveys to obtain updated population estimates for the five barrenground caribou herds: the Tuk Peninsula herd, Cape Bathurst herd, the BluenoseEast herd, and the BluenoseWest herd, and the Bathurst herd. Calving ground photo surveys were successfully completed in June for the Bathurst and the BluenoseEast herd, and a composition survey was done in October. The 2021 estimates for these two herds will be released shortly to all co-management partners and committee. In December, we are planning to meet...

For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.

Thank you. For that detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. No. The new deal, no. Real simple, no, we're not telling the communities what to do. We're giving them the budget. They're building what they see. In my previous experience in the department, I would tell people not to build a pool. Costs a whole bunch of money to operate a pool, whether it's staffing, water, chemicals, and that. Don't build an arena either. Sometimes the needs are there.

So I can tell you that I have had questions asked on this floor why I've said no in previous years, but now with the new deal, the communities have been  we've given them the opportunity to do their...

For the detail, I'll turn to the deputy minister. Thank you.