Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That almost answered my last question here. Mr. Speaker, we sometimes see climate change only in the spring and the summer months, during the melt and the thaw, and sometimes when the water levels rise along the Mackenzie River or the Arctic Ocean or other lakes across the territory, but we need to think about the winter, as well, and the large storms that are coming.
I will ask this question anyways, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister consider Nunakput communities that face extreme winds during the winter months to access disaster mitigation funding to protect housing infrastructure and also the municipal infrastructure that is in effect during the winter months?
Currently, the Government of the Northwest Territories does have some applications in place here for the disaster mitigation funding, which are being looked at. We are hoping to get a positive answer on that. I have also, most previously at our federal-provincial-territorial meetings, brought up the concern that we need to continue looking at other sources of funding that will impact our northern communities. I will continue to work with the leadership, our federal leadership, to make sure that they know what kind of funds they can access and work on developing those applications and ensuring that we do have support from our other jurisdictions to support this type of funding moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, based on the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment's public comments on the proposed Mineral Resource Act, I have to ask: has this act been written with the collaboration of all stakeholders, or is the Minister rushing to check off a mandate commitment for the piece of legislation that nobody is happy with? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That might be his approach, but not mine. From the Government of the Northwest Territories' approach, we have done our due diligence on this act.
As we know, this is probably one of the most important pieces of act coming forward in the 18th Legislative Assembly. We have involved the intergovernmental council right from day one on this thing, along with their technical advisory panel, which is the North Slave Metis Alliance and the Dehcho First Nations, who also attend this meeting. We have met with special interest groups, environmental and non-government organizations, and the Chamber of Mines. We have had public consultation in many communities, with lots of feedback. We had Aboriginal consultation. For the most part, the reason we are bringing this bill forward is that it is part of the devolution process to bring this thing forward, but with all of this consultation that has taken place and in-person public meetings that we have had there is a lot of support for this bill coming forward.
I would expect that that response would be what the Minister would say publicly whenever asked, and yet he gave very different comments in the January 30th edition of the Yellowknifer. Can the Minister explain why he made those comments?
I make a lot of comments, just like the Member across the hall here. I have actually used this comment a number of times. This is a very large piece of legislation, that is going to affect a large number of people in the Northwest Territories, from industry to Aboriginal governments, to the person on the street, to the businessperson down the road. When you have that many people involved in a bill that is this important and this big, not everybody is going to agree on the piece of legislation. There might be things in there that we will all agree. No different than this House, this is built on consensus and collaboration with stakeholders in the Northwest Territories. With that being said, not everybody is going to agree on everything at all times, and this bill that is going to be brought forward in the life of this Assembly is going to not be supported by everybody. It is no different than everything else and what we did in this House last week.
We will continue to push this thing forward for the best interests of the residents of the Northwest Territories. I think the department has done a great amount of work that will be represented in this bill when committee takes it on the road.
Surely, the Minister is happy with the quality of the consultations and is happy with what the bill is going out there. I acknowledge that differences are what makes this House so strong and what makes our society so strong, but to hear that from the Minister makes me question whether he is satisfied with the quality of the legislation. Can the Minister clarify that?
As I have said in my previous comments, not everybody will be happy with everything in this bill, including me. This bill is built on the collaboration and consensus of the people of the Northwest Territories. I support the bill that we are bringing forward. I believe it is the bill at the right time, for the right industry, that we are doing this through the devolution process. This is a bill that people of the Northwest Territories are clearly interested in. As I have said, this is probably one of the biggest and most important ones in this Legislative Assembly. If the Member does not like the comments that I make in public, that's up to him. I support this bill. We have done our due diligence. We have worked with all of the residents of the Northwest Territories, as I have said, and we will be bringing this forward in this sitting.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is not that I don't like the comments but that the comments are confusing, and I think a reasonable person would assume differently from the logical contrast of the two comments made. Mr. Speaker, the Minister just said that he is not happy with all of the sections of the legislation. If he could speak globally, what would he like to see come forward that wasn't included? Thank you.
That is getting into the content of the bill, and the bill has not reached the floor of the House. If the Member wants to ask me that question when I am sitting in the Committee of the Whole, have at ‘er. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up to my statement earlier, my questions today are to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Is the Minister or his department aware of the Astro gold property that I referred to earlier? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am well aware of the Astro gold project in the Sahtu. They have been doing some work out there. They actually accessed our geodatabase that we have housed in the Northwest Territories geoscience department. In discussions with them, when I was talking to them at roundup, this actually came from a presentation when the Premier and I were at PDAC, and the department laid out a water-till sample that they did in the Sahtu region, and that is where these guys got some actual information to start having a look at that district. Evrim also used our Mining Incentive Program last year. They got $160,000 to go towards their work, and they are also engaging our community and client service unit regarding our activities in the Member's riding.
Thanks to the Minister for that reply and information here. It seems that there is some dialogue going back and forth, which sounds encouraging. My next question: what are Evrim's plans to keep the project moving forward?
This is early in the ball game with these guys, but, the exciting news release that they put out, that was right when we were all down at the mineral roundup. It was very timely because we actually had a meeting set up with them, with Evrim and Newmont, and had some discussions about what they are planning on doing and, as I said in my earlier comments, how they got to where they are. They are going to do a drill-test program. I think it was in their news release, but, if it wasn't, they are going to do one this summer, which is hopefully going to take place earlier on in the summer. The one thing that I want to state is that this is an early discovery.
It is a new gold discovery, an entirely new type of gold deposit in the Northwest Territories that hasn't been seen before. If we are lucky, maybe we are going to be witnessing something that is very similar to what just took place in the Yukon with the new White Gold District that is happening there. They are very bullish on this piece of property, and we look forward to working with them going forward.
Thanks to the Minister for that reply. It seems that the cost of going to Vancouver is bearing some fruit. My third question to the Minister of ITI is: will the GNWT be signing a SEA with Evrim to ensure that the Sahtu residents and businesses benefit from the work in their region?
I think that might be a little premature, about doing a SEA. These guys haven't even put a drill in the ground yet, but they are very bullish, as I said, on their project. The department has demonstrated time and time again that we want to focus on getting benefits to residents in the Northwest Territories, to the people working, to small businesses, and getting all benefits we can out of resources from these types of projects. We will be following these guys closely.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question to the Minister: are there any plans for these two companies, Newmont and Evrim, to come into our capital in the near future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am not aware of them coming here anytime soon. They will probably get a hold of me if they are going to come here and have a discussion. The last thing that I left on the conversation on the table with them when we were meeting with them was about the community engagement. I strongly suggested that they involve the residents of the Sahtu in their project, to keep them updated, not on a day-by-day basis but on a very regular basis, so they get an idea of what is going on out there.
I continually stress that, particularly in Sahtu, because that has been an oil-driven and gas-driven resource area of the Northwest Territories, and mining history goes a long way back there. There has not been any mining activity in that region for a long time, so I want them to engage early and often. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been approached by a number of leaders to explain how the Intergovernmental Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement worked. From what I have been able to find, prior to implementation of devolution 2014, the GNWT and Aboriginal groups signed the NWT Intergovernmental Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement with 25 percent of the net profit going to Aboriginal groups according to our formula. It is my understanding that allocation is made each year of the signatories of the development devolution agreement. In that, the formula says: "Aboriginal population not yet party to the agreement shall be retained by the GNWT." My questions are for the Premier. Can the Premier please explain what is meant by "retained by the GNWT"? Thank you.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The retained portion is an estimated calculation for those Indigenous governments who have not signed on to devolution. Each year, once annual net fiscal benefit figures are available, these retained amounts are distributed according to intergovernmental council negotiations that are guided by the provisions of the Intergovernmental Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement. These negotiations occur after intergovernmental council members receive their respective allocations of the net fiscal benefit under their Intergovernmental Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement.
I appreciate the Premier providing that answer. Mr. Speaker, does the government hold the shares for Aboriginal organization populations that have not signed on to the agreement?
No. The Government of the Northwest Territories identifies for the other parties to the agreement that there are retained revenues available and begins discussions on how they are to be allocated. The other parties are the Indigenous governments that have signed on to devolution, and they see this as Indigenous government money.
I thank the Premier for clarifying that answer. Mr. Speaker, does the government allocate funding from the retained part of this part of the money to the Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies Conference and Tradeshow in Inuvik? If not, how does the GNWT help support this conference and trade show?
No. Once again, retained amounts have not been used to support Indigenous governments to attend the Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies Conference and Tradeshow in Inuvik. The Government of the Northwest Territories' infrastructure department has not provided funds for Indigenous governments' delegates to participate in the Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies Conference and Tradeshow and does not anticipate doing so in the future. Indigenous governments, however, are free to allocate the funds however they see fit.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, thanks to the Premier. This is probably a redundant question, but I'm going to ask it to the Premier anyway: does the government allocate funding from the retained part of the pot to be set to send to Aboriginal group government delegates to the Association for Mineral Exploration in Vancouver?
No. Retained amounts have not been used to support Indigenous government delegates to attend AME. For AME Roundup, the GNWT ITI department uses funds allocated under the Mineral Development Strategy to client services and community relations for Aboriginal capacity funding. From those funds, a certain amount is used to support Indigenous government delegations to attend AME. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. First off, I would like to commend the Minister for fast-tracking public consultation on changes to the Employment Standards Act and to indicate my strong support for including domestic violence leave. The public consultation on this process ended January the 14th. Can the Minister tell us what the next steps are? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the compliment from the MLA. I appreciate that. Not only is it parental and family caregiver leave within this act. We are looking at domestic violence that was brought up, but also domestic workers, for example, nannies, to make sure that they are covered as well. We did the stakeholders' consultation that was brought. We will be bringing forward the “what we heard” document in March here, coming in, and then, right now, we are finalizing the legislative proposal at this moment.
Thanks to the Minister for that. I have expressed my disappointment that we won't be able to meet the federal implementation date of the employment insurance changes on March the 17th for improved parental benefits in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister tell us when we can expect to see amendments to our employment standards that come forward to this House?
As stated earlier, we are just in the finalization of doing a “what we heard” document and drafting up a legislative proposal. We are going to be introducing and bringing it forward in the next session of May to June, and then of course Members have the 120 days to take it out.
Thanks to the Minister for that. Well, if I have anything to do with it, that bill is going to fly straight through here. Wow, I actually got an applause from the other side of the House for a change. One of the easiest ways we can extend and improve federal parental leave benefits to our employees is to mend relative collective agreements. I know that is a sensitive area right now, but can the Minister tell us whether our government has made an offer to the relevant unions to mend collective agreements to allow our employees to take full advantage of the improved parental leave benefits?
The MLA actually answered his own question. At this moment, I cannot speak on anything happening with the union.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Well, thanks to the Minister for that. Look, I just want my colleagues in the House and the public to understand that there are some more steps that we have to do to make sure that our families and parents enjoy the best possible benefits. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, as our government is obviously going to lag behind the improved parental benefits offered by the federal government nationwide, I would like to ask the Minister what lessons we have learned from this experience to make sure that our families receive the best possible benefits in the future?
I guess there are many lessons that come. One of the lessons is that life changes constantly. Don't get used to status quo because it changes all the time. That is something I have realized, and that is something we need to be conscious of within this House because that is what we are here for, to be abreast of it and to make changes. Another lesson I learned is, not only through this, work together. Work with your cross-jurisdictional, work with your partners in other jurisdictions and the federal government because it is important. A third lesson that I have learned is, even though I really want to work closely with the federal government, sometimes the federal government doesn't work on our schedule. I am not sure how to fix that because, of course, all jurisdictions have different sitting times, they have different voting times. It is an issue. I am glad our Senator is in the House. It could probably be brought forward. It would be wonderful to have more partnerships, more working together, whenever federal bills come out or acts come out that affect the jurisdictions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
