Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Premier as I seem to get different answers from different Ministers on whether this government intends to plow ahead with an allweather road project during a regional study.
So, can the Premier tell us whether it is the intention of this government to submit land use permit and water license applications for the Lockhart AllSeason Road that will undoubtedly trigger an environmental assessment while a regional study is underway. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct that to the Minister of Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker..
Thank you, Madam Premier. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government's mandate includes commitments to increasing resource exploration and development as well as making infrastructure investments, including the Slave Geological Province Corridor. The advancement of this project is a priority by which the entire 19th Legislative Assembly, and I will commit to continue to advance this project. It's our government's intent to continue advancing the planning, the design, as well as the regulatory work for the first phase of the Slave Geological Province Corridor, the Lockhart AllSeason Road while recent while the recently announced regional strategic environmental assessment is coordinated and conducted by Canada. The federal minister's decision clearly respects that existing projects can and will continue to advance through this robust environmental assessment and regulatory process while the RSEA is undertaken. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President, I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course I didn't agree with the 19 priorities identified by this Assembly, and I think it is probably safe to say that not everybody in this room would agree with every one of them as well. But I think some of the issues of the timing of the work with the socalled Slave Geological Province Road is a requirement to spend the money by a certain point in time. There has been a lot of slippage in this work and I don't see why the funding arrangement could not be changed to allow for more time or even reallocation of this money to something else like the Mackenzie Valley Highway.
So, can the Premier tell us what the restrictions are for the federal funding for the Slave Geological Province Road and whether a request to extended timelines or reallocate the funds has been made. Mahsi Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. A $40 million cost sharing agreement for the environmental review of the Lockhart AllSeason Road and planning for the remainder of the Slave Geological Province Corridor to the Nunavut border was established under the 2019 Transport Canada's National Trade Corridors Fund.
Mr. Speaker, this agreement includes a current agreement end date of March 31st, 2025; however, the GNWT is currently working with Transport Canada to amend this agreement to end at March 31st, 2028, which will align with the end of the current National Trade Corridors Fund program. This funding is specific to the advancement of the Slave Geological Province Corridor Project and cannot be reallocated. Again, this is a priority of the Assembly that we all set at 19th Legislative Assembly, and I will continue to advance this project, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister. Of course, I am not opposed to collecting data but triggering an environmental assessment while a regional study is going on? That's ridiculous. I am concerned that this government seems to think that it's a good idea to have a regional study as requested by the Tlicho government yet push ahead with a road at the same time that will have irreversible impacts on caribou. So can the Premier tell us what is the point of doing a regional study if a separate environmental assessment is triggered for the Lockhart AllSeason Road? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question is better suited for the Minister of ENR. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the regional study and potential EA for the Lockhart AllSeason Road has two different purposes. The regional study is intended to look at the impacts and benefits of the multiple activities in the region and make recommendations for decisionmakers to consider. A regional study will not replace land use planning or environmental assessment process, but it can inform those processes and improve their efficiencies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister. It seems like it's a real hot potato over there. No one wants to answer the questions. But, of course, we ask questions; we don't actually sometimes get answers. But this government has not done enough to protect and serve caribou. We called out Alaska for allowing development in the camping grounds of the porcupine caribou herd, but we didn't do the same for a gold mine in the calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou herd on the Nunavut side. So can the Premier tell us why we failed to protect the Canadaing grounds of the Bathurst caribou herd, we fail to identify and protecting habitat on our side of the boundary, and continue to bull doze ahead with a road that will have irreversible impacts. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm going to actually read my notes here. So you'll get a longwinded answer here. Mr. Speaker, ENR has worked closely with Indigenous governments and other comanagement partners to protect key habitats for the Bathurst herd. The collaborative development Bathurst caribou range plan supports habitat conservation areas of important caribou habitat, as well as using the mobile caribou conservation measures commonly known as MCCM in the core Bathurst area. ENR provides funding and support to Indigenous governments to identify important Bathurst caribou habitat, which will be used to help inform habitat protection. ENR participates in environmental assessments and land use planning process in the NWT and Nunavut to minimize the effect of development across the range of shared herds. ENR works with the mountain provincial diamonds to file the use of the mobile caribou conservation measures in the field and working with blue STAR gold in Nunavut to assess the effectiveness of MCCMs at their site. Mr. Speaker, ENR is also working with Rio Tinto exploration and Tlicho government to mitigate impact to the caribou from their aerial geophysical exploration projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
