Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister who is responsible for environmental assessment. I want to start following up my Member’s statement by asking this question. Has the GNWT insisted that Mr. Pollard bring policies on participant funding up to snuff similar to southern jurisdictions for environmental assessments? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Michael Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The discussions we’ve had with Mr. Pollard in regard to regulatory reform and the work he’s doing and some of our concerns have focused on other areas. Though we have talked about properly funding the processes that are currently there that haven’t been funded, things like cumulative impact. Thank you.
Thank you. That certainly is an area that needs attention. I think these boards have been underfunded, but all of the northern boards have spoken out repeatedly, calling for participant funding, Mr. Speaker. So I understand, from interviews of Mr. Pollard recently and so on, the process of environmental review process is ongoing. So will the Minister provide that input to Mr. Pollard? Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you and I appreciate the Minister’s commitment there. That’s a good one. I’m wondering if the GNWT actually contributed any of the funds for this precedent-setting move where Giant Mine interveners finally did get funding, and with GNWT being a co-proponent, would they consider topping up the available participant funding, because they certainly got less than they had applied for and obviously need. Mahsi.
Thank you. We will listen carefully to the Member’s suggestion and request. The issue of a top-up is one I will check. Our responsibility is mainly to do with the surface remediation and, of course, we’ve already contributed $27 million that we’ve booked for our share. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for his remarks there. My last question: did the Minister ensure that his legitimate expense under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act should be accounted for in the AIP negotiations, was it accounted for in the AIP negotiations to date and will he be ensuring that they are part of the final agreement? Mahsi.
Thank you. The AIP negotiations have yet to start. We’ve signed an agreement to start the negotiations and there is a section on remediation of sites and I will check whether Giant Mine is within that particular process or not, but the main point being that we’ve just initialled the document and the actual negotiation process has yet to start. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
