This is page numbers 1111 - 1152 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.

Topics

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. Can I just get a little bit of an explanation of what the $360,000 is going to be used for here? Thanks, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is being utilized to help develop the comprehensive regulations that are required under the new Mineral Resources Act that received assent right at the tail end of the 18th Legislative Assembly. The regulations are fairly extensive and complex, and this is meant to support having individuals and staffing available to complete that work over at ITI. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, I agree with the Minister that there's a lot of work that needs to be done here, and there are a lot of matters of public interest, including royalties and so on. I'm just kind of curious, though, why ITI gets to go back to the well, and other departments that dealt with post-devo legislation like ENR, there's a new Protected Areas Act, Environmental Rights Act. They're still working on a Forest Act, minutes of the Environmental Protection Act, the Waters Act. Why that department, in particular -- and even the Department of Lands, they've got the Public Lands Act. It's going to require a lot of work to develop regulations. Why are we not seeing anything in the supplementary appropriation for these other departments doing this work? Thanks, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to pull back the veil a little bit on the process. Departments are expected to look internally and to determine whether or not they can utilize their existing resources, both in terms of actual structural resources and staffing resources before coming forward to seek additional funding, or seek the creation of additional positions. In this case, if they do come forward, then certainly an analysis is done by the Management Board Secretariat to confirm whether or not, in fact, what is being requested is really what is required. In this particular instance, ENR, Lands were able to look internally and establish that their staffing was a sufficient complement to achieve the work that they have to do on their side. Industry, Tourism and Investment did not have that ability within, so they are seeking some additional funding in order to undertake their portion of the work. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. I lived through the development of a number of these bills in the last Assembly. Some of my colleagues in this House survived that as well, and I don't want to go back to that where a bunch of bills or regulations come on us all at the same time without sufficient resources to the public. I'm already aware that there's a number of NGOs, Indigenous governments, as well, that have, in the past, talked about the need for more resources to engage in these sorts of co-drafting processes. I see ITI coming to the well, that's great. I'm glad ITI's doing that, but I'm concerned about the capacity of the other departments. The Minister is sitting here and listening to this. I don't want to have to go through that again. Indigenous governments shouldn't have to go through that again, nor should the public in terms of ensuring that everybody has the resources to get the job done. I want to encourage the other Ministers that have responsibility around post-devolution legislative development and development of regulations to get the resources to get the job done and do it right. Thanks, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance, did you have any? Any further questions, comments, under minerals and petroleum resources? Minerals and petroleum resources, not previously authorized, $360,000. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Total department, not previously authorized, $810,000. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, committee. We will move onto page 10. We will now consider the Department of Justice, operations expenditures, with the detail on this page. Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2020-2021, Justice, operations expenditures, services to government, not previously authorized, a reduction of $339,000. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I just get an explanation of what this reduction is? Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Chair. There is the project underway right now for unauthorized and rights-based occupancy proceeding through the Department of Lands. In order to support that work, Department of Justice had put forward that they estimated requiring three additional legal counsel. After further discussion, it was agreed that, perhaps, a phased approach to the unauthorized occupancy and rights-based occupancy initiative is more appropriate. As such, we'll start off with one legal counsel, and see how the needs may evolve. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Any further questions? Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'm always happy to see two less lawyers in the world. I have a little caution here to using lawyers on a rights-based occupancy dealing with unauthorized uses. We're essentially dealing with squatters. I know that we have to do a lot of work, and I'm very excited to see the Department of Lands make some progress on this. I would just offer some caution to the Minister of Justice and the Department of Lands that, perhaps, lawyers and the court process are not always the best way to go about doing this, and I think some mediation, some alternative dispute resolution. There's probably some processes that we could design, and I would encourage this one position to look into some alternative dispute resolution processes as we go through the process of catching up on about 40 years of squatting. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Madam Chair, I'll pass that onto the Minister of Justice. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Any further questions? Services to government, not previously authorized, a reduction of $339,000. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.