Debates of February 18, 2014 (day 13)

Date
February
18
2014
Session
17th Assembly, 5th Session
Day
13
Speaker
Members Present
Hon. Glen Abernethy, Hon. Tom Beaulieu, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Blake, Mr. Bouchard, Mr. Bromley, Mr. Dolynny, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Hawkins, Hon. Jackie Jacobson, Hon. Jackson Lafferty, Hon. Bob McLeod, Hon. Robert McLeod, Mr. Menicoche, Hon. Michael Miltenberger, Mr. Moses, Mr. Nadli, Hon. David Ramsay, Mr. Yakeleya
Topics
Statements

QUESTION 131-17(5): FINANCIAL SECURITY FOR OPERATING MINES

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity. I wanted to follow up with my questions for the Premier on the liability and of very grave concern, obviously, if not managed properly. Again, I cite our final agreement where Appendix 7, Part E lists our operating sites that we will become responsible for, and as both the Premier and I mentioned, there’s the opportunity to modify that list, but it’s over 200 sites, so it’s a very substantial list. We’ve mentioned the Norman Wells pipeline and the diamond mines and so on, we are taking those over as per our agreement.

All we have is this list of 200-plus. So I’m asking, will the Premier provide us with the updated list as of March 1st, recognizing that these are still possibly being modified? I can hardly believe that these are confidential. The list was fully revealed in the agreement; it’s been made public, so I’m looking for an update on that list. Will the Premier commit to providing that? Mahsi.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in the previous questionings, this was information that was made public, and as soon as we have an updated list from the Government of Canada, we’ll follow the same procedure. Thank you.

Thanks to the Premier for that. As soon as possible will be great.

I will take the high road here. Will the Premier also be adding transparency – I’m not sure he and I have the same definition here – on what our liabilities are in relation to the securities that we hold to cover those as soon as he can on this list of operating sites that we are taking over as per Appendix 7, Part E? Mahsi.

Our government has financial procedures for identifying environmental liabilities and I also know that the mining legislation also has some provisions for confidentiality. We share information with the Regular Members, so we’ll continue to do so, recognizing there’s some confidentiality involved. Thank you.

You wouldn’t happen to have a crowbar I could use, would you? Sorry, Mr. Speaker.

What I’m looking for maybe is a commitment from the Premier to provide to the public everything that is not confidential as it was provided in the final agreement, and will the Premier also assure the public at this time in this House that we will not be assuming substantial new liabilities without holding securities to cover them? Mahsi.

Thank you. I don’t know how many times the Member wants me to assure him. I’ve already told him in a previous line of questioning that we would provide that information, subject to confidentiality requirements. Thank you.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

I’m not asking for information here or details or any prior commitments. I’m asking the Premier to state unequivocally here in the House to our public and to this Assembly that we will not assume substantial new liabilities in this process without assuring that we have the financial securities to cover those liabilities. Thank you.

I can assure the Member that that’s what we’re negotiating for and that’s our ultimate objective. Thank you.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.