This is page numbers 6125 - 6186 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 land.

Topics

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just to get it clearly on the record, this was not a bill that was co-developed in a collaborative manner. I would like to ask the Minister about one issue raised with us around financial security by the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency. It is my understanding that, with a recent amendment to a water licence for one of the diamond mines, there was an adjustment made to financial security when they wanted to deepen a pit. The company came forward with a financial security which was not accepted by our government, because it dealt with both land and water related matters.

Although, in this case, as I understand it, the additional security was probably less than $1 million, why is this government not accepting financial security that deals with both land and water matters, and does this bill fix that in any way? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Ms. Bard.

Bard

The example that is mentioned related to a recent land and water board decision where, in relation to a particular project, there was a barrier in legislation, but not in our legislation, to accepting securities. We cannot alter MVRMA securities through territorial legislation. The MVRMA is federal law, and the land and water boards that it created are federally managed. The barrier in that particular example could not be fixed through an amendment to Bill 46. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Ms. Bard. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Am I to understand, then, that this is a barrier moving forward, that there may be new developments that happen in the Northwest Territories that require significant financial security, and our government is not going to be in an a position to accept that, and the taxpayers and the environment are going to be at risk? Is that what I am hearing? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't know whether I am in a position to speculate on that possibility. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Clearly there is a problem, and there don't seem to be any solutions being offered by the Minister in the context of this bill. I guess I am going to have to find other ways to pursue this, maybe on the floor of the House, but I don't think that that leaves our taxpayers or the environment in a very good place.

Can someone from the department or the Minister indicate how the concept of "polluter pays" has actually been incorporated into this bill in any way? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Ms. Bard.

Bard

The concept of "polluter pays" is integrated directly into section 87 in the bill. That clause specifically says that the holder of a disposition is responsible for restoration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think that we are going to probably have some further discussion of that. I think one of the last committee recommendations in its report was that, of course, the time is going to run out for the Minister to have to respond to committee's recommendations. Given the amount of work that the public put into commenting on this bill, and the amount of work that standing committee spent on reviewing the bill and providing comments and trying to negotiate changes, is the Minister prepared to commit to providing a response to committee's recommendations before the end of this Assembly? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

In a perfect world, Mr. Chair, I would be able to say yes to that. I just don't know if we have enough time, and that is the problem. There are not many days left. This is an important issue. We want to have a measured, sensible response, and I just don't think we have enough time for the sort of work that is required. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Just a note that those recommendations are contained in a document that is not before the committee. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think that that is a problem with the workload that we all have, that some of these bills have not received the kind of consideration that they can and should have had, and I think that this is one in particular that can and should have been improved a lot more than what we see before us because of the amount of work. The public is not going to have any satisfaction that, the recommendations that committee spent a significant amount of time thinking about and putting before the House, that there is even going to be a response to it. Is there anything stopping the Minister or his department from responding to these recommendations after this Assembly is finished and, say, posting them on the department's website? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Again, those recommendations are contained in a document that is not before the committee, but I will let the Minister respond. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I suppose that we could do some preliminary high-level work. I just don't want to set up unreasonable expectations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. General comments to the bill. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

That's all I have, other than I think that it was unrealistic for committee to have do all of this work and provide quality results for our residents. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. McNeely. General comments on the bill.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, agree with the statements made by the Yellowknife North Member, and I agree with a lot of the principles of proper land management and the inheritance of authorities' responsibilities from the devolution process in conclusion. Moving forward, considering the elections and so on, are there any plans to do community engagements now that this legislation is looking like it is going to become law and relating that information on to some of the communities that were not on the committee's engagement list? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Minister.