Merci, Madam la Presidente. My questions are for the Premier. According to the statement of environmental values, the Premier is, quote, "accountable to the Executive Council and residents of the NWT for implementation of the statement of environmental values," end of quote.
So recently I'd asked officials from three departments Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Finance, and Environment and Natural Resources who was responsible for implementation of the statement. And guess what, Madam Speaker, nobody seems to know.
So can the Premier clarify who is really in charge of implementation of the statement of environmental values, and how it is going to be accomplished? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, the statement of environmental values states within it that it's the responsibility of each Minister, and therefore I defer that to deputy ministers as well, to take reasonable measures to ensure that departments adhere to the statement and provisions of the statement of environmental values when making decisions that significantly affect the environment. In addition, the deputy minister of ENR is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the statements and best practices to see if possible amendments are needed from time to time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Premier for reading off parts of the statement. But, you know, in my statement earlier today I said that there does not appear to be a signed and dated copy of the final version of the statement of environmental values anywhere on the GNWT website. So can the Premier confirm that there is no publiclyaccessible final and signed version of the statement of environmental values, and can she commit to fix this problem? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Again, online things are not my strength but I have been assured by the department that the final statement of the environmental values is posted online. Signed versions are not posted on the policy section of the website as a GNWT practice; however, the signed version is posted on the Legislative Assembly website as the document was tabled. I'm going to do my check on that this weekend, and I'm sure the Member will let me know if it's not there. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Premier for that, and I can confirm there is a signed version on the ledge website but nowhere else on any GNWT website. And, of course, our website is not the GNWT website.
There is a requirement in the Environmental Rights Act for an annual report to be tabled in the House, although we've slipped on that in the past. I tried to include a requirement for some type of reporting and implementation of the statement of environmental values to the bill, but Cabinet opposed that. So can the Premier tell us whether there's going to be any sort of internal tracking of implementation of the statement and whether that will be shared with the public? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, the statement does set out the specific responsibilities for the deputy minister. ENR must coordinate the administration and implementation of the statement, monitor advancements and best practices, and periodically review with involvement of many departments and agencies. The statements of the environmental values is only one of a suite of tools that the government uses to protect the environment. This is a new policy, Madam Speaker, and as previously mentioned to the Member, we'll continue to work on its implementation. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. I want to thank the Premier for confirming that there is no internal tracking and that there's no public reporting. There's absolutely nothing in the statement about how it is to be applied to Cabinet decisionmaking, tracking, reporting, or evaluation. That's a disappointment, Madam Speaker, that Cabinet doesn't take this statement of environmental values very seriously, in my view. But Cabinet now includes some sort of genderbased analysis on climate change implications in its decisionmaking. So can the Premier commit to include a section and analysis on the application of the statement of environmental values in this government's Financial Management Board decision template? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm not the Minister of finance or the chair of the Financial Management Board, but I can say Cabinet does have, when we look at things like legislative proposals, there is a section that addresses climate change, genders, as stated. What I can commit to is under the climate change for Cabinet that we will add the statement of environmental values so that's considered as well. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
