Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After my Member's statement, I have a couple of questions for the Minister responsible for Youth. I'm sure he could work with the Minister of Justice on this as well, but I'd like to ask the Minister: what kind of programs or funds within the GNWT can organizations like the Odd Squad apply to for government support, financial or otherwise? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister responsible for Youth.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have various programs throughout all the departments that focus on youth within the GNWT. Justice has some funding, obviously, and the ECE and our schools have funding. MACA has sports and recreation and youth funding programs.

We can provide the Member with all the application-type funding that we give to youth programming, share it with him so that they can look at the appropriate ways to fill out an application should we want to bring the Odd Squad up to the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I mentioned, this great opportunity here, a few of the Members have a responsibility to work with this sort of program here, a very good opportunity. I spoke to one of the organizers who is doing the planning. You know, they're putting in a proposal at the moment. They're planning to visit Fort McPherson and also bring students in from Tsiigehtchic, I believe, and also visiting other areas in the region and down the valley, as well.

So, once this application is brought forward, can the Minister assure me that some sort of funding will be put towards this initiative?

I am aware of the request that was made from community justice in Fort McPherson, and we will be bringing this attention forward to the departments responsible and seeing how we can look at reviewing that proposal and whether or not we can fund the program.

Obviously, our communities that are on the road system are ones where we find some of our biggest concerns with alcohol, with drugs, and I know that it's something that wants to be addressed. I guess we are in the process of reviewing that proposal right now, and, as soon as we come up with a solution, we'll get back to the Member.

That sounded like a yes.

---Laughter

I look forward to working with the Minister, and, if we don't find a solution, I'm sure I'll bring it up again here during session. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am also anxious to get these positions filled. We are waiting for them to come back from the Department of Human Resources for classification. I can make a commitment that as soon as we do receive them back, that we will put a full effort into doing the recruitment and getting these ads out, and trying to fill the positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for her answer. Still not a deadline. Are we looking at the new fiscal year? Are we looking at this fiscal year? I know when we're looking at things, even if it takes a month to get through classification, we're going to still be looking at the new fiscal year. What time will we be looking at in the new fiscal year so these positions can be filled?

It is actually impossible for me to set a deadline and say, by this date that these positions will be filled. I have made a commitment that we will put a serious effort into it as soon as we get the classification back. Filling a position isn't as easy as putting it out there, and getting it in. There's a process. There are applications. There's internal hiring practices. There's an appeal process to come through. I will stand by my commitment that, as soon as we get back from the classification, we will put all of our efforts into doing what we can to ensure that these positions are filled in a timely manner.

I guess I was asking for the impossible, and I apologize to the Minister for that. On my constituency tour, I heard from the youth. They're asking, what is this government doing? With these positions not being filled, can the Minister please advise this House what is happening in the youth area for our young people?

Currently, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs provides about $3 million annually to support youth leadership programs and youth at risk programs. We are also working interdepartmentally with education, health and social services, and working intensively with our Minister responsible for Youth to keep him updated, and also to develop a comprehensive plan. We are looking at updating our Youth Leadership Strategy in partnership interdepartmentally, but also with the stakeholders that are involved within the communities. We will be putting a serious effort into updating that plan, and having more inclusive youth strategy moving forward.

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for her answer. Unfortunately, strategies don't do anything if we don't have anything for our youth, and that is a real concern, but that will be another day for other questions for that. Mr. Speaker, with the challenges of the Municipal and Community Affairs that they are facing through the Auditor General and that, will the Minister look at, potentially, moving the Sport and Recreation division to the Youth Secretariat, and call it Sport and Recreation Youth Secretariat, so that they're not the poor sisters on the block, and that we can focus on helping our youth become better citizens, and give them the skills that they need? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It actually saddens me to hear the Member talk about considering our youth as the poor cousin neighbor on the block. I do not take that personal opinion. I believe that every single program that we provide is critical to the residents of the Northwest Territories, and especially providing services to youth.

The question asking if I would consider taking it out of the department, that is not one that I am prepared to answer at this point because it will take consultation with the departments, and consultation with stakeholders as well because in recognizing that community governments are one of our biggest providers of youth programming, and I really don't want to lose the great work that community governments do to support youth within our communities, all communities in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. In my Member's statement, I talked about both remediation and environmental assessment for Kam Lake. Can the Minister tell me if an environmental assessment has been done for Kam Lake? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ENR is not aware of any environmental assessment that was conducted on Kam Lake and Grace Lake. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Does the department have any awareness of arsenic levels in the waters of Kam Lake itself? I believe there was testing done on Grace Lake, so this would specifically be about Kam Lake, and any potential arsenic or contaminants in the water.

I am aware that a study that was on mercury and other metals on large-bodied fish was conducted in the Yellowknife region was funded by the Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program and Polar Knowledge Canada. It was initiated in March of 2016. The lakes that they actually sampled were Kam Lake, Grace Lake, Long Lake, and Martin Lake.

Thank you to the Minister; that's clear. Ultimately, who is responsible for the remediation of Kam Lake? The ongoing remediation by Newmont, not Miramar of the Con Mine property, is having an impact on Kam Lake. Who is responsible for the remediation of the lake as it relates to the remediation of the Con Mine project?