Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A little less than two weeks ago, the NWT and all Regular Members woke up to news reports that more than 30 employees were critically exposed to arsenic at the Giant Mine remediation site. At this point, we have no idea how these employees were exposed, how long they were exposed, when this government and WSCC were notified of this incident and, more importantly, what is being done.
Why do Members of the House and the people of the Northwest Territories have to be notified via surprise media reports of such disasters? Why do we have to hear quotes from the president of WSCC saying, “There’s a disconnect somewhere where these people are getting exposure and they’re not supposed to.” What are these disconnects? We know this is a federal cleanup initiative. This is a given. But the contractor is local and these employees are covered under health and safety jurisdiction, and like any other business in the NWT, there are rules to follow, especially with dealing with high-risk work.
What is further perplexing is that this government may have been aware of this serious arsenic exposure issue for many months, so again, it seems I ask this question every session: Why, in a consensus government, are Members not informed of such problems? Why do we get the feeling of a perceived cover-up? Even as of today, we have yet to hear anything concrete coming from this government or the federal government on what is to become of these high tested arsenic employees, the contractor or the future cleanup initiatives of Giant Mine.
The bigger question is: How many more health and safety issues are out there with this remediation cleanup work? When is it more important to hide from the truth behind the Giant Mine curtain than to come clean with issues affecting the health and safety of our employees?
On the mind of many, and it must be said here today, when do cleanup profits take a front seat to human safety? It is clear, I have many more questions here today than answers in my Members statement. Therefore, I will be asking the Minister responsible for Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories to help demystify this arsenic caper later today.
