Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, In my riding of Hay River North we have some beautiful waterfront property. Much of that property is owned or leased by NTCL, and unfortunately, too much of it is littered with old fuel tanks, barges, scrap metal, derelict buildings, and garbage. This mess is a constant eyesore for the residents of Hay River, works against this government's ambitious plan to increase the number of tourists, and does nothing to help attract new residents to my community.

We all know that NTCL won't be cleaning up these properties, so it falls on this government to take the initiative and reclaim our landscape. Many people take for granted that the federal government will swoop in and clean up. I don't. I'm positive that the feds hold the liability for many of the contaminated sites, and where they do, we need to ensure that we aggressively pursue federal support to not only accept this liability, but to remediate those sites as well.

This is a complicated issue. When I raised it before, it was pointed out to me that we don't know where the chips are going to fall, and until we do, the GNWT doesn't really know who is responsible for what. Mr. Speaker, that's not good enough. I hope that, since I last raised this issue, the government has been more proactive.

It is my hope, Mr. Speaker, that there is someone in the Department of Lands who has been designated as the lead on the NTCL file. This would be someone who knows the liabilities associated with each leased parcel and has plans on how to deal with the likely eventualities for each parcel; someone who is coordinating with ENR and proactively engaging the federal government; someone who understands the intricacies of the Devolution Final Agreement, the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act; someone who is doing everything in his or her power to ensure that NTCL's contaminated sites across the Territory are cleaned up so the people of the Northwest Territories can rest assured that this government is taking the steps needed to ensure that their health and the health of the environment will not be compromised by NTCL's legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I will have more on this as the sitting continues, but for today I will have questions for the Minister of Lands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.