Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I will go a little easier on him today. It is not even about caribou. I know that he also has responsibilities to lead on Giant Mine remediation. The Giant Mine Oversight Board is concerned about the murky relationship between the working group and advisory body and socio-economic action plan. All of this is supposed to increase benefits from remediation work at Giant Mine. Can the Minister explain briefly the roles and relationships of the working group, advisory body, and the action plan? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Kind of ironic, we are having that conversation today. I had my grandchildren here this weekend. I took them actually out for a ride to the site, but there was a fence there. We couldn't get too far in. I was explaining to them some of the history of Giant Mine and a lot of the stuff that they were working on. I was hoping to actually get them as close as I possibly could. My grandson was asking me questions. I actually had to go back to the apartment. I had to look it up and see, get some answers to his questions. I managed to do that.
The socio-economic advisory body is a committee made up of senior management representatives from Indigenous, municipal, federal, and territorial governments. An advisory body meeting was held March 11, 2019. There was agreement that all signatories to the environmental agreement would be members to the advisory committee, including the YKDFN, Alternatives North, and the North Slave Metis Alliance. The advisory board provides strategic advice to the working group. The working group was established to coordinate all aspects of the socio-economic strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that. I actually got to go on a caribou road show with him one time, too, while we were driving around, driving-around stories. I want to thank the Minister for that answer. The working group is supposed to develop an action plan to flow benefits to the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister tell us whether this action plan is finished, and can he share it with Regular MLAs so we can see what kind of benefits may be coming for NWT residents from the remediation of Giant Mine?
The action work plan to carry out the objectives for the implementation of the socio-economic strategy draft plan has been prepared. The project team already reports on socio-economic performances to the Giant Mine Oversight Board annual report and remains committed to continue to do so. Feedback from stakeholders have informed the key performance indicators. Targets will be presented to the working group in April for discussion. I think the Member's short question was: would we be able to share a copy of this draft plan? I will follow up on that. If there are opportunities there to share it with interested or the public, then I will make sure that is followed up on.
I want to thank the Minister for that commitment. I neglected to say that it was a good move to have all the signatories to the environmental agreement as members of the advisory body. If the Minister checks, one of those signatures on the agreement is actually mine. I don't want to be there, but I helped to negotiate the agreement.
There are $430 million in contracts that have been let so far for remediation. The final price is going to probably be closer to $1 billion. Can the Minister describe whether there is the ability to directly negotiate any of the remaining contracts or other mechanisms to ensure Indigenous and Northern businesses benefit?
It gives me great comfort to know that one of the signatures on there does belong to the Member, knowing the Member's commitment to detail. It is a very detailed report. It gives me a lot of comfort. The federal government remains responsible for the procurement on the Giant Mine remediation project. Indigenous involvement is considered through the use of the Aboriginal Opportunities Considerations, or AOCs. AOCs are measured and aimed at maximizing opportunities for Indigenous companies, businesses, individuals local to the comprehensive land-claim agreement area. Parsons, the MCM contractor, will develop remediation work packages to target the local workforce based on their own labour capacity studies. This will result in work packages structured to maximize local socio-economic benefits. Indigenous involvement is encouraged through the Aboriginal Opportunities Considerations and contained in each work package. Out of the 10 contracts let in 2018-2019, seven of them are Northern or Indigenous business. Out of those seven, five of them are local Indigenous business.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for the detail in that response. I have frequently mentioned the economic potential for the development of a knowledge economy. Creation of a world-class centre on contaminated site remediation is a major opportunity from the Giant Mine project. Can the Minister describe what steps our government may be taking to ensure that we create such a centre and to help us take advantage of the remediation economy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
The Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Education, Culture and Employment are preparing to undertake a feasibility study in 2019-2020 for a northern centre of excellence. The feasibility study has been reframed to focus on assessing institution models that best advance GNWT research priorities, grounded in those identified in the GNWT knowledge agenda, and building on the outcomes of the Aurora College Foundational Review process. The core team is finalizing an RFP for a feasibility study request for proposals, RFP. The RFP is anticipated to be completed and released at the end of March.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
