Merci, Monsieur le President. The Diavik Diamond Mine is set to cease production in 2025 and there are some questions about what this government is doing to plan for that event. Under the devolution agreement, GNWT is fully responsible if the operator cannot, or will not, carry out any required remediation, so there is a lot at stake.
The final closure and reclamation plan was submitted to the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board on October 13, 2022. It is undergoing a thorough review and is subject to approval of that board. There are some curious statements in this plan regarding the airstrip which is 1600 metres long and has a 45 metrewide granular surface. It is capable of accepting Boeing 737 jets and Hercules aircraft. The plan for the airstrip is that "it will be recontoured to remove steep sides and berms, scarified where human and wildlife access routes are not envisaged and targeted for revegetation." The plan also states, "DDMI is awaiting an expression of interest from the GNWT and, if there is interest, a path forward and schedule for transfer of airstrip responsibilities." All activities associated with decommissioning these facilities will occur between 2027 and 2028.
It appears from the cost estimates submitted by Diavik that the reclamation of the airstrip will cost them about $132,000 using equipment already at the site, and a portion of the revegetation costs for the entire site that are set at about $1.4 million. If a third party had to do this work after the site is abandoned, the airstrip reclamation would be exponentially higher with mobilization, demobilization, and other associated costs. It is clear that Diavik would save money by not having to reclaim the airstrip but it is not clear whether those eventual costs or interim operational and maintenance costs will be funded by Diavik for any residual infrastructure it, or others, want left at the site.
Another big issue for GNWT is what happens to the NWTbased workforce at Diavik when it closes in 2025. According to the latest Diavik socioeconomic monitoring report from 2021, 500 of the 1200 employees, or 40 percent, are NWT or Nunavut residents. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
The SocioEconomic Monitoring Agreement is extremely weak and the only mention of closure is in appendix D on cultural and community wellbeing. It states, "DDMI will introduce and maintain the following measures to assist northerner employee to perform well in their jobs and to help their local communities cope with any potential effects of the project item X on closure, gradually reduce employment at the site." That’s it. That's all that's in the agreement.
I understand that Diavik has an extensive program, though, in place for individual career planning and placement postclosure. My question is, what is GNWT doing? I will have questions later today for the Premier as the closure issues at Diavik cut across several departments. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
