Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the new bypass around Giant Mine has opened, there are now barriers and gates across the old highway that passes through the contaminated mine site. The public no longer has access to the site but they still have questions.
When the City of Yellowknife referred the stabilization plan for an environmental assessment, the federal proponents complained that this would result in long delays. They said that any delay would be dangerous. Yet their recommendations were released almost a year ago and we are still waiting for the responsible Ministers to complete the process. Six months ago, in December, the Minister stated that they accept the recommendations, but we have heard little since.
What is the plan for operations at Giant Mine this summer? Are they following the old plan that was largely rejected or the new one based on the environmental assessment that is sitting on the responsible Ministers’ desks? Both Minister Valcourt, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, and our own Minister Miltenberger are responsible for approving the environmental assessment. While Ministers delay responsible oversight, work is proceeding without a clear and transparent plan. Also, it’s proceeding without any inspectors in Yellowknife to monitor what is going on.
Now that devolution is in place, all the former government inspectors work for the GNWT. The nearest federal inspector is based in Whitehorse. We’ve just come through another spring thaw and are getting reports of arsenic-contaminated dust from the tailings and spills of arsenic-contaminated water on site blowing into town at off-the-chart levels of contamination. Meanwhile, and despite an offer of GNWT inspectors, there have been no inspections for months now.
The Giant site is closed off from the public, and that is probably good for public safety. It doesn’t mean that we should relax our vigilance. We need to keep a closer eye than ever on activity at Giant, particularly because the work team regulators and inspectors are all working for the federal government. The environmental assessment clearly lays out a plan for stabilizing Giant Mine and providing independent oversight. We need to get the plan off the Ministers’ desks and implemented. What will it take? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
