Merci, Monsieur le President. Last week, the Giant Mine Oversight Board held its first public meeting in Yellowknife. There were over 80 people in attendance, including Chief Edward Sangris of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and all of the board members. A presentation was followed by questions and answers, real answers, Mr. Speaker.

The recommendations in the board's May 2017 report include:

● Performance measures and timelines should be set for the Giant Mine Remediation Project;

● Improved communications are necessary;

● A federal response to calls for an apology and compensation;

● Need for a comprehensive traditional knowledge plan;

● A full environmental management system should be developed;

● Full explanation of why the project has not obtained a water licence for the current use of water at the site;

● The need to build capacity through intervener funding for water licencing;

● Examination of other delivery models such as a community based trust should be carried out; and

● A framework for socio-economic impact assessment and management should be developed.

This is a comprehensive and thorough report from the board. Some of the issues raised by the public at the meeting included:

● off-site contamination, including near the school in Ndilo;

● the need to survey former and current workers for health impacts;

● progress on the research program for permanent arsenic disposal; and

● the failure of Canada to allow the board to carry-over unspent funds into the research program.

I understand a federal Treasury Board submission may finally happen in the fall of this year, over two years after the agreement was signed. There is still the issue of whether the federal government will replace the funds that should have been carried over from the first two years operations by the board. I'll have questions for our Minister of the Environment about the GNWT position on a number of these matters later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker