Caroline Wawzonek
Deputy Premier
Statements in Debates
Madam Chair, I don't disagree with anything that the Member has said. It's just that I can't spend this money. I don't have the ability to spend this money, but obviously the more we say it out in this House about these ideas, the more possibility that one of the community organizations could work with the Department of Justice and put forward a plan to do exactly as the Member has suggested. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Yes, Madam Chair, I do.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe there are. I don't know them offhand. If I may, Madam Chair, if you could check with the deputy minister and see if she has that information available to her? If not, Madam Chair, then, we'll certainly commit to getting it to the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly defer to you on the rules. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm happy to answer this particular question. Yes, Mr. Speaker, absolutely. The securities that are required by the land and water board are up to date, and we have every confidence that they are available to the GNWT if they are needed. They are in accordance with the reclamation plan that was approved by the land and water board. I suppose it's all good news in that regard for the moment. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to send that one over to the director of Finance, too, please.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, it works out well to have those two roles combined in this particular instance. The Department of Finance does have the lead in terms of monitoring the CCAA proceedings and does work with Justice in terms of providing legal counsel and coordinating instructions to our external legal counsel in partnership with ITI as they, of course, have relationships with this industry more directly. Back to the Member's question about when we got involved, we do have experienced counsel involved in CCAA proceedings based in Alberta. We were notified of the filing on the day...
Thank you, Madam Chair. I know there is some variance as a result of the UNW collective bargaining, but if I might, I'm going to ask the director of Finance if there is any further information that we can provide to the Member, please.
I am certainly more than happy to phone Northwestel and have some engagement with them. In fact, I do think that that's an easy "yes." As far as what I can or can't convince a private corporation to do, I'm not going to be in a position to say "yes" or to make any commitment in that regard. Certainly, they are an important private sector partner in the Northwest Territories, and I'm sure they will want to have discussions and engagements with the GNWT.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That, on its face, seems like an easily solved problem, so part of me wants to simply give the easy "yes," but at this point, again, I am not sure if there are other pieces of legislation, either domestic to the Northwest Territories, that we would have to comply with. I do not know the degree to which there would have to be associated amendments and associated regulation changes, et cetera. I just do not know the extent to which this is a problem or why it's the problem that it is. What I can certainly commit to doing is finding out why, why it is that we have this...
Mr. Speaker, I can say certainly, in the last eight months or so, I have not travelled that road, but in my past life, for some 10 years, I used to be on that road quite regularly, attending court in Behchoko. I am well aware that there are some spots where there simply is no coverage, and it's a safety risk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.