Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke of the need for environment officers in Tu Nedhe. I’d like to ask the Minister of ENR questions. Could the Minister tell me if there are any regulatory impediments to hiring environment officers in non-settled areas? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe there are any regulatory impediments. The big impediment would be just access to sufficient resources. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, could the Minister advise me if the GNWT takes any environmental responsibility on land and water? Thank you.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, we’ve exerted our political and moral authority for sure on the water. We’ve spent a significant amount of money with the Water Strategy. We are looking at a land use framework. We are very concerned with environmental protection on an ongoing basis as it comes to contaminated sites and in those types of areas. So we have a very clear and vested interest in those areas. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, would the Minister agree to discuss immediate environmental needs for the Tu Nedhe insofar as resource development and exploration goes? Thank you.
We’d be pleased to sit down with the Member and any of the leaders from his constituency, from the communities, to talk about some of the pressing issues that may be out there. We recognize there are resource development initiatives throughout the area and we’d be happy to come to a table to have that discussion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, assuming that the communities are still looking to have some environment officers in their communities, would the Minister agree to place these important positions in the next business plan process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we’d be happy to have the initial discussions and we’d be more than willing to look to map out exactly the role of these positions and what they would do and the impact and the possible need in other parts of the Territory with an eye towards seeing what could be possible by the next business planning process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
