Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess, you know, there's a couple of things that have happened over the years. One is leasing was largely across all departments and they were slowly moved into the Department of Infrastructure. A lot of our leases are from the federal government. We have over actually 90 leases for various periods of time, many of them short three-five year periods. And the reality is you can't go to any northern landlord and say build us a new building or, you know, buy an asset without giving them years' notice. By the time we get to the end of a three-year lease, we just simply renew it and this is the kind of cycle we've got in. So I really think there needs to be some political direction from the top to the department to look at that all leases across the board and give direction now, even if they have five years left, of find a plan to get them out of the hands of large southern REITS.

Is the Minister willing to give that direction to revisit all of these leases and give some centralized clear purpose to this portfolio? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Lands.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, community land use plans are actually communities. In 2007, the community of Kakisa developed it with the support of Municipal and Community Affairs. In 2017, the community redid their draft or looked at improving it and, again, without anybody's help except from the community's level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for that answer. I'm not sure who the leadership of the day were at the time, but we have to be mindful of the fact that there's never any meaningful consultation by the federal government, nor the Government of the Northwest Territories in deciding to a impose land use plan into many communities, including this community. And a lot of times, they go on a plan, well, this is square so we're going to keep it square. You know, it's so...

Can the Minister enlighten this House to whether or not the First Nations community was invited for input on the government imposed land use plan and did they have any consultants that were working with them on their behalf? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I should reiterate, the community developed the plan in 2007 with the help of Municipal and Community Affairs. They reached out to Municipal and Community Affairs and asked to be part of it, asked them to be part of it so they could develop it. In 2017, the community went and redid the plan. They did it, not the federal government or GNWT. It was the community that dealt with it, and then in 2017 it's my understanding it's still the same Chief that is presently there now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for that. The Minister, in email, states buildings should be set back a hundred feet from an ordinary high watermark. The ordinary high watermark at this small community has ever only gone over the boat dock. It has never, in history, crested the riverbank. If it ever does, and probably will never, then the whole community would be flooded. Why worry about what is on the riverbank and don't forget there are currently many buildings and establishments on top of riverbanks in every community up and down the valley.

Can the Minister revisit his decision and stance and allow a simple arbor to be built on the riverbank as per the First Nations wishes? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would never ever say never. I live in the community of Fort Simpson. I represent the community of Jean Marie. We saw our arbor go under water. So we saw that impact. We've seen what the floods do. The fallback plan is a hundred feet is across if -- the Member talked about the K'atl'odeeche , their arbor; the one in Fort Res; the one in Fort Simpson. It is actually further than a hundred feet back there. So, again, we need to be respectful that Mother Nature does not allow us to do it, because sometimes they do the 200-year flood which what I've seen in my community of Fort Simpson. So there is a community plan in place. We've reached out to them to come up with an alternative solution. So we've been talking with them.

And you heard today from another Member here talked about the flood in BC. That is the reality of Mother Nature and climate change right now. So we need to be respectful of that. So, no, I'm not going to revisit it. We need to follow what our rules and guidelines are. But we're willing to work with the community, and our staff have been reaching out to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.

Mr. Speaker, and mahsi, Minister, for that. He talks about floods and everything. But First Nations people have lived on these lands for centuries. You would think that they would know that if they would ever have floods or any problems along the riverbank.

Mr. Speaker, government is great at suppressing and taking away life's liberties to First Nations for centuries. This government is no different from those governments. That is a shame. This government talks about reconciliation with First Nations but does not walk the talk. The Minister should be mindful that he represents a majority of First Nations communities in his riding. Government should be mindful that they are to represent all First Nations communities in their day-to-day decisions.

Will the Minister revisit his decision and stance on the riverbank issue and allow dwellings such as arbors at the wish of the First Nations community of Kakisa? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Quick answer, no, I'm not going to revisit it. The flood that happened in Fort Simpson and Jean Marie. You listen to the historical history from our elders there, I had an elder who is very much a supporter of mine who gives me advice, and when we were sitting there talking about the flood in Fort Simpson, he said oh, don't worry about it, Shane, it's never ever happened. Then he went, oops, it happened. That is the reality of it.

And the Member talks about working with Indigenous governments. We are very much working with Indigenous governments. We're talking with the Band. We're talking to them about alternative solutions. We've reached out to them. And we're trying to come up with a solution that works for the rules and regulations that we do have and that helps the community build the arbor. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question's for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, and I'll squeeze in he's also in charge of the climate crisis.

I was thankful we had a delegation at COP26 but we need to move beyond blaming the feds. Can the Minister tell us whether there are any plans to centralize responsibility for the climate crisis including energy projects in the Power Corp and have one Minister responsible for all of this. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member is well aware, the Power Corp is with Minister Archie so whereas the energy climate -- energy plan is under Minister Archie's portfolio. However, in saying that, we don't have any current plans in place; however, we've been having conversations on how we better deal with the climate change and energy issues. So we've been able to work with that there.

So also we have to be aware is that the Department of ENR and Infrastructure has a couple of -- a number of departments working -- or groups, collaboration between a couple of groups. So the director's climate change working group, the ADM climate change -- climate change working group, energy and climate change deputy ministers, and a committee of Cabinet. So we do have a number of people working together to address this. But presently, we do not have any plans to amalgamate things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'd be happy to be part of those conversations when he wants but it's no surprise to this House that I don't support -- I've never supported the climate change approach from the last Cabinet. We need to develop a real and focused climate crisis response; ditch the old approach from the last Cabinet and Assembly.

Can the Minister tell us whether he considers the current state of the climate a crisis; and, if so, can he commit right now to adopt the widely accepted carbon neutral target of net zero by 2050, or even sooner if he wants. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I agree that we are in a climate change crisis. We've been in it over 15 years. So I'm not saying anything new. When I was at the opportunity to attend Scotland, that was the climate change, we talked about it. Everybody was talking about when it was going to happen. This is the reality. The sad part about it I found even more frustrating is I had to educate Canadians. Canadians weren't understanding our challenges that we face day-to-day.

So in saying that, though, as for the net zero 50 -- in 2050, unless we get more money from the federal government, we're in trouble. We're not going to be able to meet the needs where we want to get there. And so, you know, we have the Department of Infrastructure working on the energy action plan. There's a new one coming up, and I believe it's supposed to be starting to look at 2022. So we're starting the process that will be involving committee, involving Indigenous governments moving forward. So presently, right now, unless the federal government wants to give us some more money, we're in trouble, folks, and I'm not lying. I'm not trying to hide anything. That's the reality of it.

And I had the opportunity to talk to Minister Guilbeault about that. Minister Archie had recently had an opportunity to talk to Minister Wilkinson about it. So, again, even though the federal government is spread out in two different departments or three different departments, similar to what we are, we are trying to work with them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that and his passion. Earlier I spoke about the need to face the capitalistic crisis at the NWT Power Corp and its entities head on. So just as the Minister spoke about, we need a real plan in place to -- and we don't have one.

So can the Minister commit to working with his colleagues and the public to develop a real and just transition plan for energy in the NWT? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, we're -- me and my colleagues, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure, we're talking all the time about climate change and how we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, I can say that the GNWT has a plan under the Climate Change Strategic Framework and the 2030 Energy Strategy. The energy strategy guides the development of affordable, secure, and sustainable energy for transportation, heat, and electricity, as well as supporting energy efficiency, conservation, and promotion of renewable and alternative energy solutions for the Northwest Territories. The energy strategy takes an adaptive approach and remains flexible to take advantage of new technology and opportunity as they arise, including accessing federal funding.

And as I said, 2022 is when we're starting to go through this. So there is this opportunity to look at the plan that we are in place, enhancing it, and improving it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I can hardly wait to work with the Minister in 2022 on all of this. But I spoke of, you know, we got to stop pretending that big petroleum development is ever going to come back to the Northwest Territories. So can the Minister tell us what he is doing to convince his Cabinet colleagues that we cannot and should not promote large scale fossil fuel development and exports in the interest of this planet? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.