Shane Thompson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't want to lie, here, and say tomorrow or the next day. What I will do is I will make a commitment to come back to committee and give an update where we are and how we're moving forward. So I can give you that commitment. I can't give you an exact date, but working with the two departments to present that information to committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. It is a flow-through from the federal government. Thank you, Madam Chair.

First of all, when we spent the million dollars, it's about the whole process. It's not just that, well, we did one or 12 or 14; it's about the whole process. If the Member wants a complete breakdown, we can give him the complete breakdown in writing, or does he want the number here today? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Oh, God, I am going to say these names wrong here, so I am going to turn to the deputy minister here on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to start, and then I am going to turn it to the assistant deputy minister. This is a collaborative approach between the federal government, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and the Tlicho government. It's a collaborative approach to it. For further detail, I am going to ask Mr. Hall to provide further detail, with your permission.

Thank you, Madam Chair. None at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. At this point in time, I would ask the assistant deputy minister to answer that question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is the appeal process, and it is all there. It is about trying to get the best person, the best candidate for the position. The honourable Member for the Deh Cho is an advocate for his community about people. I want people to understand he is doing his job. He is working hard to get his residents work and employment. Presently, right now, the RRO3 position went through an open competition, and the best candidate was given that position based on that. There is an appeal process through the mechanism. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The honourable Member for Deh Cho has been talking to me about this in December, January, and February. We have had good conversations. We have had communication. I have shared as much information as I can share without getting into privacy and about process. At no point in time as a Minister should you be directing staff who to hire. It is about following fair process. Sorry. I won't be jumping on the bandwagon yet, but no, I won't re-look at the process. We followed the process, and the best candidate was given the RRO III position. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is my understanding anti-SLAPP legislation is outside the scope of the work performed for the Environmental Rights Act and most likely would not be the responsibility of Environment and Natural Resources. However, in getting a heads-up with this question and understanding and looking at that one part of the report, I have reached out to my honourable colleague, the Minister of Justice, and we are more than willing to have conversations and with the Member, as well.