Thank you, Mr. Speaker; I was worried you missed me.
Mr. Speaker, I guess I'm so old I remember MACA managing the land, so I'll redirect the exact same questions to the Minister of ECC which I'll give him a moment because it looks like he's ready. But I can repeat the question in case he needs me to repeat it. That said, the question was about the block land transfers to municipalities, and I've heard in particular that there's been some challenges in the Yellowknife transfer. Can he bring this House up to speed as to what is being done and what he can do to ensure that we have timely and effective process happening here and ensuring that citizens have access to land such as the city of Yellowknife to ensure we have development, etcetera. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to date, there has only been one request for a block land transfer, and that was from the city of Yellowknife. The Department of Environment and Climate Change has been in constant contact with the city and have been discussing the issue to find a path forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is where I get to be the long tooth of the Assembly. I remember that same message back in 2003. So what is the blockage from some of these initiatives that's stopping this transfer moving forward? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of challenges with the proposed bulk block land transfer. It is under the -- there's a couple of pieces of legislation that govern that type of transaction, one being federal, one being territorial, and there's a requirement under that legislation for a complete survey which has a significant cost. This has been one of the barriers. But as I stated in my earlier answer, the department is continuing conversations with the city. Our deputy minister met with the city representative last week, and I believe they're meeting again this week and continuing to advance this forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From my understanding, I didn't know we had the federal lands Minister here, so I'll focus strictly on territorial lands and territorial lands that may or may not need a survey. I thought they worked through the cost of the survey issue in order to transfer them in larger quantums rather than parcel them out into small pieces which costs a fortune. So, Mr. Speaker, has any specific headway been gained or made through that type of challenge to ensure that it's an efficient process and doesn't become a cost burdensome to the municipality? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those discussions are still ongoing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
