Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by the Member for Frame Lake on June 11, 2020, to the Honourable Caroline Wawzonek, Minister of Finance, regarding the financial obligations of and subsidies to the Dominion Diamond group of companies.
At the appropriate time, I will table the spreadsheet that identifies outstanding payments from the Dominion Diamond group of companies, as well as the amount of carbon tax subsidies they receive.
Regarding Workers Safety and Compensation Commission assessment information you requested, and in consultation with the responsible Minister, I will explore any privacy issues regarding releasing assessment information and will provide you with an appropriate response. Regarding your request for mining royalty information, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment can speak further to this request, if required. However, royalty information is confidential in nature and not able to be disclosed per company.
While Dominion is eligible to receive relief on all land tenures for 2020-2021 as part of the rent relief program, the total amount that they receive is confidential in nature. Further questions regarding land tenure rent relief can be directed to the Minister of Lands.
In the course of developing a response to your questions, the GNWT has determined that other portions of the information you requested are excepted from disclosure under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, or "the act." The GNWT has determined that Section 24(d) of the act applies to your request regarding tax liability, as public bodies cannot disclose information about a third party, gathered for the purpose of determining tax liability or collecting a tax.
Additionally, we have determined that Sections 15(b) and 15(c) of the act are applicable to your request for an itemized listing of amounts spent by GNWT in connection with the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, proceeding in relation to the Dominion Diamond group of companies.
Section 15(b) allows for the refusal of disclosure of information prepared by or for a lawyer or agent for the Minister of Justice involving the provision of legal services, while 15(c) allows for the refusal of disclosure of information in correspondence between a lawyer or agent for the Minister of Justice and any other person in relation to a matter involving legal advice or services by the lawyer or agent. In this case, the costs associated for outside counsel and consultants that were incurred with respect to the GNWT participating in Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings would have been established by bills made by or for them, as agents of the Minister of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
