Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, with regard to the Giant Mine surface cleanup, we want to work with DIAND to come to an agreement on governmental responsibilities as they relate to the surface cleanup at Giant Mine. We have been in discussions with the federal government to discuss the responsibilities for the cleanup on the surface and it largely remains unresolved at this point in time. There were repeated efforts by our government to engage DIAND and to see who is responsible. DIAND is insistent that the formal process be established before negotiations proceed. DIAND has not provided any input on any acceptable negotiating process. So we have advised DIAND that our willingness to continue cost-sharing surface cleanup is going to be dependent upon the progress being made on the issue of responsibilities. We heard in this House from members that we need to clear up who is responsible for the surface cleanup before we proceed, so we are following those directions. Thank you.
Debates of March 4th, 2003
This is page numbers 473 - 504 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.
Topics
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 501
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 501
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 501
Sandy Lee Range Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I guess the answer is that we are not participating in that area. I understand that it's desirable to have an agreement on a formal process in place, but I also know that some extent of surface cleanup is the responsibility of the territorial government and I wonder if it's a wise move on the part of the government to take that tactic. While you are working on an agreement, the work still has to be done and if there is money available and the federal government is making money available for cleanup in the interim, as well as the city government, I would suggest that it would be wiser for the government to take that money and do what we can to clean it up while negotiations are going on. Why such a hard line on this issue, Mr. Chairman, especially when we know that the GNWT is responsible for part of the surface cleanup? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 501
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 501
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to reiterate to the member that that's what we are doing and we got Cabinet direction to not spend any more money on the Giant Mine surface cleanup until we are clear about who is responsible for what. Our officials tabled a draft process outline with DIAND in October of 2002. There were several attempts to engage federal officials and they were insistent that a formal process be agreed upon, but DIAND has neither provided input on our draft outline nor provided an alternative outline for our consideration. So I guess it's Cabinet direction that I am following at this point in time to negotiate before we spend any more money. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 501
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Sandy Lee Range Lake
May I ask the Minister how much money we are lapsing while we are having this discord with the federal government?
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are not lapsing any money because we have no money identified for this. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Sandy Lee Range Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Then are we to assume that there will be no cleaning up of any contaminated sites on the Giant Mine surface happening until such time as this agreement is concluded?
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Well, I think for us, the ball is in DIAND's court. We put a draft process outline before DIAND in October and they haven't responded. I think the direction from Cabinet was that we need to work out who is responsible for the surface cleanup before we spend any more money. So your question is if DIAND responds tomorrow to our outline and agrees to work out who is responsible, then we are going to have some money through probably a supp and that will be our contribution to the surface cleanup. Thank you.
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Sandy Lee Range Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Given the level of contamination at the site at Giant Mine, I would be concerned if this goes on for a long time. I would like to see that we do what we can to work with any contribution from the city or DIAND to clean up the sites as the negotiations proceed. I would like the Minister to revisit that issue.
I would like to spend my remaining time making a comment about the environmental review process for the third potential diamond mine, the De Beers project at Snap Lake, and the issues surrounding that. Mr. Chairman, many times when this issue gets brought up, we are told over and over again that the GNWT does not have a direct role to play in the environmental review process. But the information I am getting is maybe it's true that we don't have a strong and formal direct role to play, but it seems to me with what little power we have, we are doing a lot to make it more difficult for the process to advance. Mr. Chairman, members here are told a lot of the time about the level of information and questions that this government asks for the mine to provide, which sometimes is repetitive and sometimes is more extensive than it needs to be. I would like to know if the government has a stated position on what its objective is or goal. Is there a stated position from the government on what role it wants to play in the environmental review process?
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the environmental impact review board that we are talking about here is a process that we... As RWED, our responsibility in the process is to coordinate the government's response to the application and we are not responsible for individual departments asking questions through the process. There is a process in place and depending on the proponent's package and level of information that is in there and the way they prepare their documents and if there are questions in there that need to be asked, then these questions are asked. Our responsibility at the table, as RWED, is to look at the environment and make sure the environment is protected. Thank you.
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the past couple of years I have asked the Minister on a number of occasions about lobbying the federal government with regard to the 10 percent excise tax on diamonds. It's been reported in the National Press that in the lead-up to the federal budget, there was some discussion at the federal government level about eliminating that tax. I would like to know if the Minister could advise us what he did in order to try to keep that on the table. It didn't make it into the final budget, by the way. So the tax is still there, although there might have been some discussion about eliminating it. Could the Minister tell us what role he played in trying to encourage the federal government to eliminate that tax as the budget was being developed? What role did his department play?
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Yes, Mr. Chairman. The member has been very persistent on the excise tax over the years. The department and previous Ministers, have always pursued this issue with the federal Minister of Finance. In the last few months, we've written a letter to Finance Minister Manley and he responded favourably. He was prepared to look at this and he's instructed his department to take a very close look at that whole exercise. I have raised it with the Finance Minister on one occasion when we met. I have lobbied the different federal Ministers that are very concerned and interested in diamond issues. So I think we made a bit of headway in the response from Minister Manley. It is positive in the sense that it is the first time a Finance Minister is saying he's instructing his department to look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What was the timing of this letter? Was the Minister or his department aware that this was a subject of serious discussion in the budget preparation and that it was apparently only three days before the budget was finalized that it was finally eliminated from the federal budget? There was a heavy lobby put on by the jewellery industry. Was the Minister involved in those last days that the budget was being prepared?
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 502
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We weren't involved in the last stages of budget development. Our last correspondence to the Finance Minister was October 3rd, in a letter outlining our concerns. The letter written by Manley indicates that the reduction or elimination of the excise tax on jewellery would have to be examined in the context of overall fiscal priorities of the federal government. So I think that was a way where we were involved. We weren't very involved in a substantial way, but I think it had an impact. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.