Shane Thompson

The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan made nine recommendations to manage the range of the Bathurst caribou herd. Habitat conservation is recommended in areas of importance to caribou, such as key water crossings and land corridors. ENR is supporting Indigenous governments to document these key habitats and features. We will then work collaboratively to identify legislative tools to establish conservation areas. The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan recommends managing the total level of development on the range of the herd, including industrial development in communities and roads.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I'd like to thank the two Members from Frame Lake and Kam Lake for attending the meeting. That was greatly appreciated, them attending and listening to the concerns by the Indigenous governments and the Government of Nunavut and the GNWT. To make a short answer, yes, we are going to be having a follow-up meeting, both myself and the Premier/Minister from Nunavut. We made a commitment to do the meeting and have it in Kugluktuk as we work on it. Again, we are working toward that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Right now, they are meeting as a board independent of their roles as deputy ministers. They are taking on the task of trying to govern the NWT Power Corporation as best they can with the information that they have. Again, right now, it's not costing us anything to pay them. We're not paying them to do that job. Right now, they're independent. Yes, they are DMs who were appointed, but they are going as individuals, not as DMs.

In your speaking notes, you talked about the DMs who were removed or replaced. We're fixing that. We're specifically talking about those people to do those positions right...

Thank you, and I thank the Member for telling me exactly where this quote was from. It's 2005 that they talked about best practices in moving forward. I have read the briefing on it. I can't tell you how the previous government made that decision. I can tell you what we are doing.

Right now, I am trying to make a decision based on a whole bunch of information. I have directed the board to come back with the governance model. Whether we stay where it is; do we go independent; do we go half-and-half; right now, we're working at trying to get the answer and get this information to us as best we...

Indigenous governments and organizations are involved in NWT-wide, community-based water quality and monitoring programs, which includes 21 partner communities across the territories. Regular engagement meetings include the annual water strategy implementation workshops with water partners across the territories; seeking input on the monitoring program and aiming to build capacity for communities to take an active role in the water monitoring.

Just to make it real short and simple, we engage with Indigenous governments and communities. They are a part of this whole process. It is just not the...

I can't talk about another Minister's department, but what I can do is talk about what ENR is doing. We are committed to protecting the caribou population by making sure that our decisions consider any potential impact on caribou herds and their habitat. We make sure we understand that, and make sure we present the information to the boards and everybody else like that. We have a strong regulatory system in place. It ensures all projects are reviewed before permits and approvals are granted, and the department actually does have comment on these projects moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess I should make it clear. Whether it's government or private industry, we do have regulations, and we need to follow them. My understanding is that the federal storage tank regulations were developed in 2012, and we follow those moving forward. We do have regulations. We do inspect them, but, if people have concerns, they need to reach out to our inspectors so that we can check on these things.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Short answer: yes, there are regulations. Over a certain size, the tank has to be registered with Environment and Climate Change Canada and, if it's under that, there are regulations with the Department of ENR. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The surface and subsurface rights for Thaidene Nene wildlife conservation area were withdrawn on April 1, 2019. Thaidene Nene wildlife conservation area lands withdrawal is not intended to be permanent and could be removed when there is an approved land use plan, when the land claims are settled. The GNWT aims to establish the Thaidene Nene wildlife conservation area under the Wildlife Act in regulations by February 2021.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The protected area registry has been available on the ENR website since June 20, 2019, as the Member said. It includes all the material currently required under the Protected Areas Act. As the management boards are established for the new Indigenous and territorial protected areas, additional information will be posted on the registry.