Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to Tabled Document 127-17(5) – and my questions today are for the Minister of Lands – Canadian Zinc’s Prairie Creek Mine has a shortfall of $6 million in the amount of financial securities provided, evenly split between the environmental land use permits and water licence. The same tabled document indicates GNWT has failed to collect the startling $170 million-plus in securities related to the water licence related to Dominion Diamonds’ Ekati mine.
Can the Minister explain these shortfalls and indicate when the required security will be forthcoming? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Lands, Mr. R.C. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Prairie Creek operation is a fairly complex operation as I believe some of the land is still on land that is retained by the federal government, so we’re in the process of trying to iron out the details to make sure that… We’re still in negotiations with these folks as to the security that is being required of them.
Mr. Speaker, how can you allow the responder to only answer to $6 million out of $176 million here? I’m wondering why the Minister has failed to answer that question. I’m perplexed here.
Federal failures to collect securities such as this are costing the Canadian public $8 billion. In addition to hundreds of millions in failed securities with this government, Dominion Diamonds have baulked at a condition proposed by the Wek’eezhii Land and Water Board to include a 90-day requirement for compliance with any revised water board security requirements. This, apparently, is also the position of the GNWT.
Can the Minister explain why this government is opposed to a condition sought by the Wek’eezhii Land and Water Board requiring timely payment of security deposits designed to protect the public? And I’d love to hear about the other $170 million. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, it’s too early in the game to say the sky is falling. This is a responsibility that’s being given to us and we currently, I think, have over $500 million in securities. There may have been some slippages in the past. We as a territorial government are going to do our best to ensure that these don’t happen again. We’ve formed a liability division within the Department of Lands to deal with this particular issue.
Again, I will follow up on the Member’s concern with these particular sites that he is pointing out, but I do know that there are some negotiations that are going on. We are hoping to have a resolution soon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the Minister’s intent, but we are looking for performance here. We are talking hundreds of millions of dollars here in liabilities, and history, yes, we have history up the gazoo, Mr. Speaker, on failed collection of securities.
The two shortfalls I referred to in my first two questions exposed the GNWT to liability, as I mentioned, and amount to a backdoor subsidy to industry and a proven risk – a proven risk – to taxpayers. These securities are levied to cover real liabilities.
Will the Minister commit to vigorously pursuing these two outstanding, legally required securities and safeguard the people of the NWT from huge financial and environmental liabilities such as the $8 billion Canadian liability mostly from northern mines? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I will commit to watching over this. I think it’s a commitment that we made to committee when we were speaking to them. Again, it is fairly early in the game and we’re still getting our hands or our mind wrapped around the liabilities and all that we inherited and what we can and can’t do. But I will commit to the Member and to this Legislative Assembly that we will be watching these developments and the liabilities securities that are required like a hawk and make sure that any future cleanup, if there needs to be, is covered. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment. I realize that despite the fact that I’ve been talking about this for over a year, that this has just been dropped into this Minister’s lap and I appreciate that commitment.
To be failsafe, governments have learned securities held must be in the form of bankable instruments such as cash or irrevocable letters of credit. Other instruments such as surety bonds are basically promises to pay. I note that the form of security is missing for Dominion Diamond $42 million environmental security listed in the tabled document.
After the Giant Mine experience, Treminco’s Ptarmigan Mine, Taherra, Snowfields and others, will the Minister commit to avoiding setting a low security instrument threshold such as surety bonds, and instead require highly secure and bankable instruments such as the ILOCs to provide the certainty we have learned is required to protect the public? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, The boards set the security and we negotiate with the company as to the form of instrument that we’re going to use. I can assure this Assembly that we will ensure that we have security that’s, as the Member said, something other than a promise to pay. I think with these particular ones, we might be in the process of negotiating right now the instrument, so I will give Members an update once that work is complete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
