Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The report that came out in the National Post today reporting that the federal government has decided not to proceed with its investment with the MGP really changes nothing in regards to the need for a comprehensive reply to the Joint Review Panel report. The federal government could reverse its decision at any time or economics could improve for unexpected reasons. The independent analysis and even the comments of the members of the Joint Review Panel indicate that GNWT negotiated a bad socio-economic benefits agreement for our public with the proponents. We even may need to consider renegotiating this agreement, but we can’t do that if the Ministers dash off a blind endorsement of the project. Will the Ministers commit to seeking input and review of Regular Members on the response to the JRP report and recommendations before they announce any firm positions on it? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a couple of Ministers or, actually, a number of Ministers working on this file between the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and the Minister of ITI. The response will be a joint one put together. The Ministers will be collaborating as well as seeking input from Members on our response.
Just for the record, the article that the Member has raised in National Post is one where it is an article from a reporter. There is no confirmation, in fact, that the federal government has said anything regarding the pipeline itself and where that project is. There are a lot of stories floating about right now. We are trying to confirm just where things are. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate comments of the Premier on the news report and, like I say, I think, regardless of that, that could change any time. So we need to do this work. I will ask again, will the Premier, with the coordinated response of the split personalities of ENR and ITI apparently coordinating a review, as I understand it -- the Minister of ENR for the Joint Review Panel report, the Minister of ITI for dealing with the NEB documents and eventual decision -- will Members be assured of input to our responses? Will the Premier commit to ensuring our input to those responses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have stated earlier a number of departments involved in this. There will be a government position. We will coordinate that and we will be working with Members as to what gets done. Thank you.
Again, a typically opaque response from the Premier. I will take it, though, as a yes. I would also like to know, will the Minister commit to referral of both the JRP report and the NEB decision for review by Regular Members, commit to forwarding those reports to us for our direct input into the process? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I believe I made a commitment to the Members of this Assembly, through that earlier response, that we will work with Members. It is a coordinated effort from the Government of the Northwest Territories. We will contact Members through standing committees as to the process we will adopt going forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Premier Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Mr. Speaker, the reason I seek these assurances is because we did such a lousy job in the previous review of the submissions to the JRP panel. I really would like to hear the reiterative responses there. Recognizing that there is always demand on the staff and the expertise and to have a comprehensive and coordinated response, we need to have our staff ready to be able to reply within the time frames available. Will the Premier commit, and what preparations have been made to ensuring that our in-house expertise is clearing their desks and will be able to give a really meaningful piece of analysis and response to those reports? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the Member is entitled to his own opinion no matter where it goes or comes from.
As the Government of the Northwest Territories, the appropriate departments have been involved. We were the best organized, I think many would say, when it came to the hearings. We are involved in the negotiations of the socio-economic agreement. There are a number of fronts we are involved with from Municipal and Community Affairs, ITI and ENR.
Again, the Member is entitled to his own opinion on that. We will coordinate, we will respond and we will engage in Members through that response as we go forward.
I must remind the Member, when we put our budgets together, we propose to put a number of dollars in place to keep us, the machinery, moving, so that the desks are cleared so we have people ready, and at times Members recommend we redo stuff in a very particular area. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
