This is page numbers 5945 - 5992 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was public.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee would like to consider Committee Report 25-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 36, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Resources Act, and Bill 37, An Act to Amend the Oil and Gas Operations Act; Bill 36, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Resources Act; and Bill 37, An Act to Amend the Oil and Gas Operations Act, in that order. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Does committee agree?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. We won't take a break, but we are going to take about two minutes to get organized here at the table. Everyone can sit tight and get your reports out. Get your binders out, and we will get started right away here. I just don't want anyone to leave because it takes forever to get everyone back.

Thank you for your patience, committee. We have agreed to consider Committee Report 25-18(3). I will turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment for any opening comments that he may have. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bill 36 and, in this case, as it relates to the report, Bills 36 and 37 were referred to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment on February 22, 2019.

The committee sent letters inviting input from an extensive list of stakeholders, including municipal and Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, as well as a number of NGOs, non-governmental organizations, and various stakeholders.

The committee travelled throughout the territory and held public hearings, in this case, in Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Yellowknife. Of course, the committee wants to thank everyone who attended these meetings or provided written submissions and shared their views with us on Bills 36 and 37.

The committee would also like to thank the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment and his staff for the collaborative approach on the review of these bills.

The committee concluded its review of Bill 36, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Resources Act, on August 2, with a public clause-by-clause review held at the Assembly. The committee moved six separate motions to amend Bill 36. All six were carried.

The committee concluded its review of Bill 37, An Act to Amend the Oil and Gas Operations Act, on August 2, with a public clause-by-clause review held at the Legislative Assembly building. The committee moved two separate motions to amend Bill 37. Both were carried with concurrence from the Minister.

At this time, if individual Members have additional comments or questions as we proceed with consideration of the bill, then I would be happy to hear from others. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. I will open up the floor to general comments on the report itself. Any comments from committee? Mr. Vanthuyne.

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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It seems like there are no comments in relation to the report. There are probably people who will speak to the bills themselves. To that, Mr. Chair, I have some motions.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

If I may, Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that, should any portion of a bill require federal concurrence, a statement to this effect be included in the legislative proposal and that the relevant clauses be identified at the time of introduction to the appropriate standing committee and, further, that a bill should not be submitted to the federal government for their concurrence until after it has been reported back to the House following the committee's review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am not going to belabour this one, because I am going to wait for the Minister to come up, and he is going to answer some questions about this. The public does need to know that the department and the Minister went off and got federal concurrence on the bills, because there is a requirement that that take place under the Northwest Territories Act.

While the bills were before the committee, the Minister went off and sought federal concurrence before committee had even changed them. It is my understanding that, even with the changes that have now been incorporated into the bills, they have to go back again to the federal government to get concurrence. That is a duplication of effort, it is going to delay the implementation of these bills, and I don't understand why the department went ahead and did that anyway. I think it is close to a breach of parliamentary privilege that the Minister went ahead and did this while the bills were before the committee.

I am going to wait until the Minister is in the witness stand before I ask questions about this, but I do agree with the motion, and I am very concerned about the precedent that was set by the Minister's action in this case. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Thank you. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that, in the second phase of the review of oil and gas legislation, consideration should be given to recent court decisions and best practices to ensure that the Government of the Northwest Territories and the public are protected from potential liabilities arising from oil and gas operations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I raised the Redwater case in a Member's statement and asked questions of our Minister of Justice about this. The answers that I got back weren't really all that satisfactory. It doesn't appear to me that our government is taking a serious look at this court case and what it means to prevent liability accruing to our government. I don't believe that the lessons learned from that have been incorporated even into this legislation to the extent that they can and should have. We are going to come back to this again, I am sure, in the future, but I support the recommendation. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake a comprehensive review of oil-and-gas-related regulation with the express purpose to increase the cap for absolute liability. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. There is a motion on the floor. It is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have raised this issue, again, on the floor of the House. I don't actually agree with everything that is in the recommendation. We don't have to do a comprehensive review of oil-and-gas-related regulation.

This absolute liability cap is in regulation right now. The Minister could change this tomorrow if the Minister wanted, and this should have been within the scope of the changes that were made to these pieces of legislation. I don't understand why the department didn't flag this internally as a problem. Right now, the absolute liability cap is somewhere between about $10 and $40 million for onshore exploration and development. If something happens, and it costs more to clean it up than that, our government could be on the hook for that.

That is the kind of liability that we assumed under devolution and could and should have been fixed by now, but this Minister won't do it, so it appears again here as a recommendation. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.