Merci, Monsieur le President. In my statement earlier today, I covered two aspects of the closure of the Diavik mine, on whether GNWT was going to take over the airstrip and what role, if any, GNWT is playing with regard to transition planning for NWTbased employees. I'm going to ask my questions of the Premier because they cut across a few different departments. So can the Premier tell us whether GNWT has decided to take over the Diavik airstrip at closure? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm deferring those questions to the Minister of Finance who should be able to give comprehensive answers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Premier. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the comment around the airstrip, I understand, arose with respect to materials that are now in the registry of the land and water board. Mr. Speaker, it's the land and water board that notes in its revision that it requires Diavik to include a statement of willingness to participate in discussions with government and other interested parties to assess the fate of the airstrip. So, Mr. Speaker, I gather that their statement of willingness to accept an expression of interest really is them complying with what is required of them by the land and water board. There's not been any request on behalf of the GNWT for that. But, again, certainly would expect that they would continue to comply with what's required of them as expected. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Maybe I'm a little bit not understanding here but Diavik has indicated they want to hear from our government on whether the GNWT wants to take over this airstrip. So what is the answer? Clearly Diavik will save money by not having to reclaim the airstrip and the new owner will incur liabilities and expenses related to its ongoing operations and maintenance and ultimate reclamation.
So, can the Premier tell us whether Diavik has offered to cover these liabilities and/or whether GNWT will ask for these costs as part of any takeover arrangement? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, again, Mr. Speaker, there's been no request on behalf of the GNWT for them to undertake this. It's not been initiated by us. But, again, in reading in full the section from the land and water board, it does make clear that the regulator is asking that Diavik remain open to that.
Now, Mr. Speaker, there has been the reimagine and closure project initiated by the mines. Looking at ways to better utilize all of the infrastructure that they have, looking at ways to give back in a more long and longer, having a legacy type of approach. We're certainly at that table with them but that is at a feasibility stage only. It's initiated by them. And, Mr. Speaker, to be very clear, it's been very clearly made to us that the diamond mines always will be reclaiming their sites and always will be doing so in line with the reclamation and closure plans that they have filed, including this one, where the regulator asked them to be open to looking at other ways to utilize the airstrip. They're open to receiving that. There's no request coming from the GNWT, Mr. Speaker, but we will always continue to engage to ensure that there is again, that we understand what's happening, that we are ready, and that that's the same case here. But there's no plans on our end to be requesting their airstrip, only that, again, they are following what they are being asked to do. And it's my understanding that they'll be moving forward with the reclamation plans, and progressive reclamation, exactly as required. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I think we have a failure to communicate here so let me try it this way: So the closure plan says that DDMI's waiting an expression of interest from the GNWT on a path forward and a schedule for transferring the airstrip responsibilities. That's from DDMI.
So can the Minister confirm and provide this side with the information, confidentially if necessary, has Diavik asked our government to take over the airstrip or even asked our government whether we're interested in taking it over? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, they haven't asked us to take the airstrip. We haven't asked them to leave the airstrip. The land and water board, very clearly here, says that they had a requirement that they wanted Diavik to be open to it and Diavik has said that they're open to receiving something. But we're not asking for it. We're not looking for it. And nor have they asked us to take it. So for the third time, I think they are complying with what they've been asked to do by the water board, which is exactly what we expect of the mines that operate in the Northwest Territories, that they would always read carefully everything they're being asked to do and comply with it. My reading here is that that's what they're doing. I don't represent the water board nor do I represent the mine. But, again, I'm not sure if I can be much more clear about it. They haven't asked us. We haven't asked them. They are complying. And we're all going to keep talking as we move forward towards reclamation and closure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. That's a little clearer, thank you. I understand Diavik hasn't asked us. We haven't asked them. So the issues probably still unresolved. But if we're going to take it on, we better get the money that goes with it.
So but, Mr. Speaker, I want to move on to the other issue that I raised, which is transition planning. So there's apparently 500 NWT/Nunavut workers at the site. So can the Premier tell us what, if any, role GNWT has played in the transition planning to date and whether there are any plans to do anything more substantive to assist the employees? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to say that with respect to socioeconomic agreement monitoring that does take place, ITI is certainly one of the leads at that table. But this is where you do have ECE and Health and Social Services all involved, all working on this. GNWT does continue to have engagement with the mines to ensure that we understand their employment needs and their timelines to work with them so that there are training availabilities, whether mine training society or through ECE.
I can also say, Mr. Speaker, that because we are involved in that work with respect to all of the socioeconomic agreements, there are other projects in the Northwest Territories who also have obligations to hire, and I expect that there will be many opportunities at those other mines, at the other two existing diamond mines, to quite readily achieve their targets by moving forward to take on these workers.
I say that with some confidence, Mr. Speaker, because when we had the Ekati shut down, we saw that the Northern employees very quickly were able to, in fact, find employment. So, again, I'm confident that with the time that we have, the runway that we have, that we would, in fact, be well able to accommodate those workers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
