Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I talked about, I guess, perhaps a redevelopment of the Taltson hydro dam. I would like to ask the Minister of ITI, I suppose, questions on the Taltson hydro dam. I would like to ask the Minister if he is aware that there is an organized community on the Taltson River larger than some of the current communities that we have. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not quite clear on the question. What I said in the House last week here, when we talked about the Taltson project, was we are involving the three Indigenous governments that are affected in the region, the Northwest Territories Metis Nation, the Salt River First Nation, and the Akaitcho. I have met with all three of them from their leadership point of view and given them the heads-up about the announcement on this funding. As I have said in the House last week, there seems to be a willingness to work towards supporting this project. That is what this Aboriginal engagement money is going to be for. It will clearly lay out what needs to be done with the work going forward. There are a number of things that have to be done, but one of the best things I think about this project is the far-reaching reconciliation around economic development with Indigenous governments on a project like this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, my question was if the Minister was aware that there was an organized community on the Taltson River, but I will move on. I would like to ask the Minister, if he is aware that there was a community called Rocher River, an organized community, complete with surveyed lots, if the Minister would find a way to consult with the people that actually lived in Rocher River prior to construction of the dam?
At this point, right now, as I've said, I've clearly laid out the three Indigenous governments that the government is willing to engage with. I am willing to go into the communities to have a discussion with the local communities of Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, and Lutselk'e, in particular. At that point, maybe that's when there will be an opportunity for some questions from the Regular Members.
It appears as though the Minister is not fully aware of who was impacted, and that's what I'm trying to get at here. The greatest impact of the Taltson dam was upon the people that lived in a place called Rocher River. I am a person that is from Rocher River. What happened there was the school burned down a few years before the Taltson dam was constructed. Many people felt that was deliberate, but the bottom line is, there was a group of people living there in an organized community. It had stores, two stores. They had a school, and they were a regular functioning community, and suddenly, after the school burned down, the people started moving. The people moved to the river to trap, trap on the rivers, continued to use Taltson as basically a lifeline for all the people there, and then, the dam was ---
Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, what's your line of questioning?
Can the GNWT start working now with the elders, the remaining elders, that were from Rocher River to start developing a list of the families that were impacted as a result of the Taltson dam?
As I've said, I'm willing to have a discussion with all impacted residents on this project. If we're going to sit down and have a discussion about the Taltson back when it was built, in the '60's, I think, if that's a discussion that some of the Member's riding wants to take place, we're going to have to have all parties at the table for that discussion. That's something that took place prior to devolution. That was under the federal government's watch, and that's probably a discussion that should be taking place with the federal government or maybe even at the Akaitcho main table. I'm willing to sit down with all residents in the South Slave who are impacted by us, who want to move this project forward and have those discussions.
Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when people are relocated, they are scattered all over the place because they don't have a home. They ended up, yes, in Fort Resolution, yes, in Yellowknife, some in Lutselk'e, some in Edmonton, Hay River. They're all over the place. There is no home. They are scattered around. These were the people that were greatly affected. I'm asking the Minister: I agree that Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, Lutselk'e, that will capture the majority of the people; however, there is a group that is going to be missed unless we pull that list together, so I'd like to ask the Minister again if he is prepared to work with, if it's the Aboriginal government that he needs to work with, then if he would develop a list of see who was originally impacted and include them in the discussions moving forward for the redevelopment of the Taltson dam?
As I've said, I'm willing to have a conversation with anybody, but this is a conversation that has to include more than just me. As I said, this is something that happened, not under our watch, under the federal government's watch. There are other opportunities for those people to have those discussions at different venues, as I've said. I'm willing to have those discussions, and I suspect through more consultation with Indigenous governments and their leadership on moving this project forward, I can raise this question of around the impacted residents, and we'll see what the leadership wants to do in that regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
