Julian Morse

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke to a suggestion by the Tlicho government that we engage in discussions on amendments to the water regulations. I'd just like to know from the Minister of ECC has the department initiated those discussions as suggested? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be brief on this one. I just wanted to thank the Member for Deh Cho for bringing this forward. I really appreciate her work, and the Member for Range Lake for seconding the motion.

Mr. Speaker, I'm very happy to support this. This is absolutely an important issue to me, and I definitely know it's an important issue to the people of Frame Lake.

I made a statement about this earlier in session about the need for a prioritization or sorry, our need to prioritize this, our need to put money behind it to ensure that the priority is reflected in our actions, and so the...

Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Mr. Speaker, I just want to get clear is the Minister open to initiating changes to the regs. I know that there's talk about changing the Waters Act, but I would suggest that's going to be a process that will take some time. Is the Minister open to initiating changes to the regs ahead of or alongside development of a new Waters Act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister explain to us why the department making a ruling is precluding the department from initiating discussions and moving forward knowing that changes to the regulations could take some time. I don't personally see why the work can't occur alongside. Can the Minister provide some more clarity? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when people refer to changes needed in our regulatory system, it is often said that we need to cut the red tape. As someone with experience working in this system, something which stands out to me is that in many cases sweeping regulatory reform is not what we need to or even should be talking about. Rather, there are many achievable and shortterm changes we can make regarding how the system is working and how we work within it. I think the GNWT has more agency in this regard than it gives itself credit for, and we have an opportunity to make changes within...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly I appreciate the concerns raised by the Member for Yellowknife North. She spoke well to them and I think summarized well the concerns associated with moving forward with the bill as it is. Certainly the biggest one that I have is the uncertainty it could create. We certainly don't have certainty as to what would happen after the bill moves forward, and that is a concern that I share.

I also think the Member for Yellowknife North made it clear that we are not in a position to be repealing the carbon tax in the sense that citizens will not be paying...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I would appreciate hearing back from the Minister. And just I guess the clarification I'd like is if it hasn't been fully spent, the question of course is are we going to have the opportunity to spend it, or does the funding simply lapse on April 1st? Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that's going to be a question for the future. It's probably not one the Minister can answer now. Thank you.

So, you know, it's kind of stating the obvious, I suppose, that the next fiscal year is really just a month away. Does the Minister expect that this funding is going to be secured before that time?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So can the Minister just kind of describe the low carbon economy leadership fund itself kind of holistically; what it is, the time period that it extends through, and yeah, I'll start with that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just wondering, so the total well, I mean, we can ask about the $6 million but also the total appropriation. Is there indications that the feds are going to be coming back to the territorial government with support for this due to it being related to a natural disaster?