Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that very clear commitment. One more question for him, if I may, Mr. Speaker: the audit shows that there is often a flurry of activity around the adoption of a greenhouse gas strategy and then efforts to monitor and report quickly wane. We know that, if we don't get our act together, we may be ineligible for federal program funding. How does the ENR Minister intend to ensure that climate change becomes a real priority for this government with the attention and leadership it clearly requires and as called for by the Auditor General? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I believe there has been leadership shown by territorial government, past and present, on the work in climate change. We recognize and we are at the front line of climate change so we are feeling the effects a lot quicker than people across the country. In having said that, I think this government has invested a lot of money into some mitigation and adaptation measures. We will continue to work with the federal government. They have made it known that climate change is also a priority of theirs. They are willing to put some money into the mitigation of the effects of climate change. I think we are in, through all of the good work that has gone on from the departments, I think we have positioned ourselves very good to take advantage of some of the investments that the federal government. We will just continue to push that. Debates like we are having in the House today will also strengthen our case as we go forward to the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's Statement. I have questions for the Minister responsible for Housing. Mr. Speaker, I believe some constituents may be listening in right now. Can the Minister explain the working relationship between the Housing Corporation and the local housing organizations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, the relationship between the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and the local housing organizations is as a third party entity in that we contract out our services to provide supports on the ground for the housing units that are built in their communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At the moment, LHOs have to take leave without pay during the Christmas holidays. Does the Minister feel that this is fair?

I just want to remind the Regular Member that, before I came into politics, I came from the non-profit sector, which didn't get paid for holidays as well based on if it is fair or not. The reality is that that is not our determination. We fund each local housing organization at a comparable rate to Government of the Northwest Territories levels. Each local housing organization has the ability to define their pay and their benefits and their compensations to their employees themselves. Those wages and benefits are determined by their board of directors. Some of the local housing organizations, 12 actually, are actually unionized. That, again, is not a requirement. That is an independent decision.

In conclusion, we fund them appropriate to the government's wages that are paid to government employees, and then the board of directors for each individual housing organization defines what they are going to do with that funding.

I would like to ask the Minister: will the Minister ensure employees of the local housing authorities have the same benefits, for example, Donny Days?

It is a really fine line that that Member is asking me to consider, in all honesty, because I do believe in self-determination, and I think that allowing the local housing organizations to have autonomy and determination of how they use their funding is best practice, in my opinion.

I can commit that I would recommend we meet with the local housing organizations on an annual basis. I can bring this up as a topic of discussion, but at this point, no, I am not willing to instruct local housing organizations on what to do with their compensation, the funding that we provide them for administrating their programs.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think there is a little communication gap between what the Minister is saying and the LHOs, because, according to the LHOs that I have been speaking to, they are sort of directed through their budgeting that they cannot take leave with pay. I would just like to ensure that, if the Minister is correct, that she relays that information to myself so that I could pass than on to my LHOs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

If the MLA sends me an e-mail, I will actually address that to him and more to define exactly what he is looking for. Again, I must state that there are 12 of the 23 local housing organizations that are actually unionized, which in my impression is that it is really hard to tell unionized workers what to do because they are unionized. That does not itself state that they have autonomy over what they do with their funding, and like I say, each one is funded fairly. They are paid based on what we would pay government workers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The priority of the Giant Mine Project is to maximize possible economic opportunities to Indigenous, northern, and local residents and businesses. The contracts for the main construction manager for Giant Mine will be awarded, my understanding is, by the end of December of this year. The purpose of the main construction manager would be to develop and procure subcontractors for the delivery of the project, and by dividing the project into smaller work packages, local employment and business opportunities can be maximized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Hearing from him as it relates to dividing the contracts into smaller work packages, this is good news. I have seen this done before, and it has worked well in the past. Mr. Speaker, there is going to be a lot of responsibility that the GNWT is going to have in this project as we move forward. There will be a lot of overlap going on between a number of our departments, whether it is Environment, Industry, Education, and the like. I would like to ask the Minister: how is the GNWT preparing for opportunities associated with Giant Mine?

The Departments of ENR, ITI, ECE, and Infrastructure have established a working committee to provide advice to the project and assess ways in which the GNWT programs can be tailored and maximized to prepare NWT residents and businesses for opportunities with this project.

Again, thank you to the Minister for his reply. It is good to hear that we are being prepared in that record. Mr. Speaker, we have heard all kinds of numbers when it comes to potential employment, anywhere between 200 to 300 jobs potentially. I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker: is there a good understanding of the current labour and skills required in order to help go forward with the Giant Mine Remediation Project?

ENR is part of the Giant Mine Project team and is making sure that GNWT interests are considered in the design and implementation of the project. The project has carried out and is currently revising a labour study to assess the labour market and identify gaps in skill and services in the NWT. This will allow the project team and GNWT departments to focus our training and capacity building to maximize opportunities in the NWT.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

bee Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, again, I appreciate the insight shared by the Minister. It is good to hear about the labour study, and I am glad to hear that the GNWT is working with the project team to hopefully fill some of those gaps.

Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier about the potential energy demands that are going to be associated with the remediation of Giant, and can we meet the demands that the project will need as well as potentially if the needs of TerraX should come on stream at the same time that the remediation project is going forward. I would just like to put that to the Minister. Is the Minister prepared to describe to us how we are going to meet some of the energy demands? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The recent findings of the freeze of arsenic underground at Giant Mine determined that a passive freeze system is preferred, which uses substantially less energy. This means that the energy requirements for Giant remediation may not have a significant impact on energy consumption in the Yellowknife area. I can speak to the Minister of the Power Corporation and would be more than happy to discuss the energy needs of TerraX mine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.