Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the transboundary water agreement remains one of the best of its kind. The agreement prioritizes NWT interests to identify throughout the years of engagement on the NWT water strategy and guidance from Indigenous steering committees. For example, it includes measures to protect aquatic ecosystems' integrity and ensures Indigenous knowledge is considered in decisionmaking. These agreements are cooperative and respected decisionmaking authority of each jurisdiction.

There is no reason to renegotiate the agreement. In fact, the agreement gives us the tools to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you firsthand that the Indigenous governments reach out to me on a constant basis, especially about the tar sands and this issue. And it's been an issue previously. So I've had a number of conversations with them. I've been down to Fort Smith and met with the Indigenous leaderships there. I've had conversations with other leaders in the Northwest Territories about that. So the first and foremost thing is right now with the disaster that had happened in with the seepage and of 5.3 million litres of tailings released into the environment, I can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, he did give those questions and I can tell you I just answered your question one at a time so I still have other answers for the information that you asked.

So the Government of Alberta is currently conducting assessments and scientific studies to fill knowledge gaps provided to decide on whether to develop regulations that would allow the release of treated tailing water. Alberta has agreed to give us significant time to critically review the reports and discuss our concerns with them before they make a decision to develop regulatory guidance.

The GNWT has received...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I totally agree with the Member youth are our future. That's our commitment, though. If you look at recreation funding, which is $825,000, we give that out there. We also give $450,000 to youth and child resiliency. We also give $400,000 for the regional sporting events. We also give youth contributions of $225,000. We also do $500,000 for youth court. So we do put money into that. We also then have the Mackenzie Recreation Association and the BDSRA, when we put money to them, and they provide to the programs there. I'm more than willing to work with the Member. I'm...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do give funding to the BDSRA and then the BDSRA gives that funding to the community. So there is an applicationbased money allocated from the BDSRA for the communities to do that. Again, it doesn't give all the money that they need, but it's similar to the Mackenzie Rec Association that does the same thing in the southern part of the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Jack Lee Mouse was born on May 15th, 1972, in Fort Simpson. He passed away on March 14th, 2023, at the age of 51. He was the son of Cecelia Mouse and Frederick Tonka. When we heard that he passed away, the family, friends and community were very shocked and saddened. Mr. Speaker, death has taken away a genuinely nice individual and, more importantly, a loving nephew, cousin, and brother. While the family and friends mourned the loss, they gathered in Fort Simpson to pay tribute and a celebration a life this past Tuesday. I can advise you that he had left a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Lands is able to offer fee simple title to leaseholders in the areas where land leaseonly policy is implemented or doesn't apply. In other words, where land claims have been concluded. The land leaseonly policy applies where land claims are not settled. The policy restricts the sale of public land in order to ensure the land claims and treaty negotiations are not jeopardized. As the Member is aware, we are wrapping up a review of the land leaseonly policy. This review is intended to address the efficiency or effectiveness of this policy...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first, the NWT does can and does participate in the Alberta environmental assessment and regulatory process. I need to stress that. We do engage. We were part of that process.

In regards to the question the Member is talking about, the Government of Canada continues to work towards a Canada water agency. We have participated in the process and will continue to advocate for the NWT Indigenous governments and organizations to be part of any process that we have or they have. We've been having that's our letter. We've had conversations with Minister Savage...

First of all, I'd like to thank the Member for the question. We've had this conversation numerous times so I can tell the people of the Northwest Territories she's doing her due diligence in trying to get this information out there.

The department is working with the Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations to distinguish potential rightsbased cabins from unauthorized occupancy and to develop an approach to manage the rightsbased cabins on public land. The department will continue the discussions with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations that want to engage with us on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I took the heat from the Members on the other side during their business plan and that, and I did bring it forth to raise the concerns with her about the House that development regulations for the release of oil sand tailings need to be transparent and public, and we need to be engaged moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.