Shane Thompson

I may not have heard the question correctly, but I think we are talking about: do we have money that ENR helps with getting Indigenous governments involved? We do. We have funding for participants that includes honorariums, travel for the participants to engage in meetings, training sessions, and hands-on training opportunities. ENR involves community members in water monitoring programs as much as possible, including co-development of some programs, for example, the fish monitoring program for the Slave River.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. Does that answer it because it makes everybody happy? Sorry. What benefits? We have a relationship with the Alberta government, and we are able to work with them. We have the ability of first response on these issues. Again, when the quality, quantity, or the biology is an issue, we have to get the information first. We get that information, and we are able to work with the people of the Government of Alberta, to make sure this is it.

We have also been able to have correspondence and work together. I have already reached out to the Government of Alberta and the...

The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan made nine recommendations to manage the range of the Bathurst caribou herd. Habitat conservation is recommended in areas of importance to caribou, such as key water crossings and land corridors. ENR is supporting Indigenous governments to document these key habitats and features. We will then work collaboratively to identify legislative tools to establish conservation areas. The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan recommends managing the total level of development on the range of the herd, including industrial development in communities and roads.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I'd like to thank the two Members from Frame Lake and Kam Lake for attending the meeting. That was greatly appreciated, them attending and listening to the concerns by the Indigenous governments and the Government of Nunavut and the GNWT. To make a short answer, yes, we are going to be having a follow-up meeting, both myself and the Premier/Minister from Nunavut. We made a commitment to do the meeting and have it in Kugluktuk as we work on it. Again, we are working toward that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Right now, they are meeting as a board independent of their roles as deputy ministers. They are taking on the task of trying to govern the NWT Power Corporation as best they can with the information that they have. Again, right now, it's not costing us anything to pay them. We're not paying them to do that job. Right now, they're independent. Yes, they are DMs who were appointed, but they are going as individuals, not as DMs.

In your speaking notes, you talked about the DMs who were removed or replaced. We're fixing that. We're specifically talking about those people to do those positions right...

Thank you, and I thank the Member for telling me exactly where this quote was from. It's 2005 that they talked about best practices in moving forward. I have read the briefing on it. I can't tell you how the previous government made that decision. I can tell you what we are doing.

Right now, I am trying to make a decision based on a whole bunch of information. I have directed the board to come back with the governance model. Whether we stay where it is; do we go independent; do we go half-and-half; right now, we're working at trying to get the answer and get this information to us as best we...

There are regulations. Again, it's up to the owners to make sure that they follow it. If it is part of our infrastructure, we follow regulations that are out there with the Government of Canada and with ENR. There are regulations, and they are available through our wildlife officers, our officers in the community, which you can access.

To the previous question, I'll be willing to sit down with the Minister and the department to look at the thing, there. To answer his question, Environment and Climate Change Canada natural funding has provided $5.8 million over three years for the Thaidene Nene territorial protected areas. In addition, Parks Canada is providing $1 million in funding over the same three-year period. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committing $8.12 million of in-kind funding to the three protected areas identified under the nature fund. This in-kind funding is made up of operation, maintenance...

I am more than willing to meet with the Member and look at this, because we are trying to do what is best for all of the residents of the Northwest Territories. On to his question: the Thaidene Nene territorial protected area was established in 2019 through regulations under the Protected Areas Act. There was not enough time during the 18th Assembly to complete all of the regulations. Work is under way on drafting complete regulations and is expected to be completed by 2021, as agreed in the establishment agreements.

I guess I should make it clear. Whether it's government or private industry, we do have regulations, and we need to follow them. My understanding is that the federal storage tank regulations were developed in 2012, and we follow those moving forward. We do have regulations. We do inspect them, but, if people have concerns, they need to reach out to our inspectors so that we can check on these things.