Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Lands, again on the preventable public liabilities at the Cameron Hills sour gas field.
Can the Minister tell us whether there's anyone from the Northwest Territories working at the site for Environmental Liabilities Management Incorporated or any of its subcontractors? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT receiver sought bids through the procure process from all parties, including Northern Indigenous governments and Northern businesses. The NWT receiver did not receive any bids from Northern businesses or Indigenous governments. To the Department of Lands' knowledge, there currently is no one from the NWT working at the site but that there may be opportunities for subcontractors to conduct some of the upcoming work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. That doesn't really surprise me. It appears the entire operation is being handled out of Alberta. No jobs, no contracting. The government that actually said no to an Indigenous government that wanted to do the work? That's pretty bad for a government that says it wants to support a remediation economy and then the work goes elsewhere. So can the Minister tell us how the work at Cameron Hills is supporting the remediation economy of the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, access to the site, with the exception of one well, has always been through winter road constructed through Alberta. The receiver is responsible for the procurement process and the management of the contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. So from the questions I asked yesterday, it seems that the sumps and contaminated soils are not covered in the current land use permit or the abandonment agreement that's been negotiated with ELM. It's not clear whether all the closure and reclamation work is sorry, can the Minister tell us whether the current contract with ELM and the land use permit cover all the work that's going to be required at Cameron Hills? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current contract covers the work required to carry out the order issued by the regulator of the oil and gas regulations to comply with any directions from the GNWT inspectors. The regulator is inspected and certified the work being done. As mentioned, the receiver is working to submit a revised closure and reclamation plan by June of 2024. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. By June 2024, a lot of the work is already going to be done and then the plan will actually kind of be almost meaningless. But, you know, I've raised the repeated failure of our government to prevent public liabilities and I'm not aware of any new legislative regulatory policy work to prevent this from happening again and again. I called on the Auditor General of Canada to examine these devolution failures.
Can the Minister tell us whether there will be any new legislative regulatory or policy work to prevent public liabilities before the end of this Assembly? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. This site did go through a modern regulatory process, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, the funds held transferred to the GNWT and OROGO at devolution were insufficient to cover the liabilities. The GNWT is currently carrying out the regulatory and policy work set out in the work plan to implement the GNWT's approach to contaminated sites and management. Some of this work has been completed and the remaining work is ongoing. So, Mr. Speaker, we're going through a process. We're trying to get it done. And, again, we don't know what the true costs are going to be until all the work is done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
