Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no other opening comments besides the comments I made in the review committee's report that just occurred. I believe that we are ready to proceed with review of the bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs develop a funding policy which provides clear guidance as to the funding eligibility requirements, to guide the disbursement of lottery funding under the new Western Canada Lottery Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to see this legislation before us today. It's been a long time coming. Since the election of the federal government in 2015, it's been very clear that the agenda of this new national government has been to legalize cannabis. It's something that Members on this side of the House have raised a number of times, both on the floor and behind closed doors, that this was an important issue of public policy that needed to be taken with the utmost seriousness by this government. It took a long time to get there, Mr. Speaker. It took a very long time, and finally...

I just want to clarify so the Premier understands me clearly, but currently there has not been a process launched for the North Slave Metis Alliance. They have been asked. The only avenue for them forward is to join the Metis nation AIP. So what I am asking the Premier is if he will start the process of fully recognizing their rights with a strength-of-claim assessment so that they can move on with any claim they might make to their own agreement, their own self-government, agreement, their own deal?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I raised some concerns I have heard from the North Slave Metis Alliance. Just to summarize, Mr. Speaker, the courts have found in favour of the NSMA many times, and it is clear that the issue of their constitutional rights needs to be settled clearly once and for all with a strength-of-claim assessment from this government and from the federal government. So I would like to ask the Premier in his capacity as Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs if a strength-of-claim assessment could be brought forward for the North Slave Metis Alliance...

The North Slave Metis Alliance represents Indigenous rights-bearing Metis people of the Northwest Territories who primarily exercise their Indigenous rights north and east of Great Slave Lake. The NSMA's mandate includes the assertion, protection, and implementation of the Aboriginal rights of the North Slave Metis people, and the exercise of Metis responsibility to protect the environment and promote and enhance economic, social, and cultural development. Mr. Speaker, the NSMA is located in my riding of Kam Lake, and today I rise to address the ongoing concerns they have been brought to my...

Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommend that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs make a submission to the Financial Management Board requesting that the Financial Management Board establish a limit on any cumulative deficit or surplus in the Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund and, furthermore, that this limit be made public, shared with the Standing Committee on Government Operations, and reported upon annually by the department in its year-end reporting on the fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With your indulgence, I will also speak to Bill 1, as it is the subject of this report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to report on its review of Bill 1: the Western Canada Lottery Act.

Bill 1, sponsored by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, repeals the existing Western Canada Lottery Act, and replaces it with a new act to establish a Northwest Territories Lottery Commission under the direction of the Minister, with the authority to enter into agreements with the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and that is good news. What is the government's position on the statement of claim that the North Slave Metis have filed with the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister has completed the work on the fence, it will be good of him to be able to tell me that today on the floor of the House. I understand he can't, and that's a concern for me. He knows I'm concerned about this issue. The security work that's been going on, the building that he mentioned, that money has been appropriated for that. It still hasn't been spent. We still can't find a contractor. Why? What is the hold-up? Why can't we spend this money? Why can't we get this work done? Thank you.