This is page numbers 1725 - 1748 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 residents.

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Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Honourable Premier.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that that is a question best placed with the Minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Minister of Finance.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, there have been no concessions or debt write-offs. All outstanding payments are not being forgiven, and indeed, we continue to hold all of the securities as we did prior to the sale. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, I could never get a fully consolidated list of outstanding amounts owed to this government for taxes, royalties, fees, or any other liabilities or accounts receivable from the Ekati Mine. I need to ensure that these issues are part of our diligent review of this major asset transfer. Can the Minister or the Premier commit to finally providing consolidated lists, in confidence if necessary, with details on how each category was treated as part of the sale of the property?

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

A consolidated list was provided back in August, and in fact, I believe it may have been tabled in this House, detailing the outstanding payments that were known at the time aside from royalties. Royalties are governed by a separate regulatory regime and are not made public independent of collective royalties. However, I can also update that, as of January, another list was sent, I believe, in this case, to committee, if not at least to the MLA directly, and it does detail property taxes, fuel taxes, various boiler registrations, some airport lease payments, mining survey costs, environmental fees, other miscellaneous fees and costs. We can certainly resend that, though.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, I have both lists in front of me, and there are a lot of things that are not on the list, which she is not going to disclose because she doesn't think we can, because we're country bumpkins or something on this side of the House, but merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for repeating all of that. Although this government was a creditor for the Ekati Mine during the proceeding, many businesses and even the union pension fund were in shortfall positions. Can the Premier tell us whether these NWT businesses and the union will be able to recover liabilities or accounts receivable?

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

To the extent that there may have been ongoing negotiations with the private parties or private entities, I am not privy, nor is the government privy, to their specific negotiations. I certainly can say that, with respect to the outstanding payments that the GNWT is owed, that those payments or any payments owing do have to be made in order for the matter to proceed. Indeed, that includes a full transfer of the securities.

Mr. Speaker, we are very alive to the fact that there is a number of NWT businesses which are owed money, of course, in this process. It is a process that is monitored by the court. Throughout that proceeding, we have continued to advocate in those proceedings and publicly to the courts about the importance of the Ekati Mine to the Northwest Territories economy and the importance and its impact on businesses here.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I am not sure it was really an answer. I mentioned that most of the financial security held by this government from environmental management and reclamation obligations are in the form of surety bonds backed by insurance companies rather than safer, irrevocable letters of credit issued by Canadian chartered banks. Can the Premier tell us whether this government used the sale of the property and our right to consent or not to the assignment of the water licence, land-use permits, and environmental agreement to convert these surety bonds to more secure, irrevocable letters of credit? If not, why not? I gave all of this to the Premier ahead of time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Honourable Premier.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I believe this question would best be directed to the Minister of ENR. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1730

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Securities have been transferred dominion to the new company in the same amount and with the same insurance companies and banks. With the cash required for the purchase, it would have been a detriment to ask the company to replace the securities with irrevocable letters of credit or cash in closing. Sureties are an acceptable form of security and our due diligence on the Ekati sale included an assessment of the financial health of the surety providers. There is an agreement in place for the company to replace the securities with cash over time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 487-19(2): Sale of the Ekati Mine
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Mr. Speaker, according to the information that we received, the Moderna vaccine should be administered 28 days apart but can be extended up to 42 days, if necessary. If a vaccine shortage continues, has the department begun a communication plan of what to do if residents cannot get their second vaccine within the 42 recommended days? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the question. It is my understanding that we are still going to be able to vaccinate everyone by the end of March, but the composition of the shipments is going to change with less vaccine in February and more in March. At this time, we believe that everyone will be vaccinated within the 42-day limit, and if that is not the case, we will certainly communicate that. Thank you.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Can the Minister confirm if the NWT would consider the following as having been achieved: a robust rapid testing strategy has been implemented; community spread remains limited; and a strong system of contact tracing remains in place, and all active cases of COVID-19 can have their contacts effectively traced? If not, can the Minister please explain.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I am proud to tell the Member that we have achieved all of those milestones.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

I understand the last requirement of moving from phase 2 is a second surge of infection in Canada and the United States has come and gone, with new cases falling over time and the epidemiological curve has demonstrably flattened. This has not been met. With our border controls in place and a 14-day mandatory isolation in place, will the Minister be looking into moving into phase 3 once we have completed implementing our vaccine plan and our most vulnerable population has been vaccinated?

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

What the Chief Public Health Officer has said is that, with the number of cases active in the South at this time and with the low rates of vaccination forecasted in this House relative to the entire population, it's more likely that there will be a relaxation of measures within the Northwest Territories rather than opening our borders. Specifically, she has talked about increasing gathering sizes. Those things are possible once the vaccination has been widely distributed in the Northwest Territories. I think it's worth pointing out that many of the items that were to occur in phase 3 have, in fact, occurred in phase 2 because people have asked her to move up the different activities, based on the good containment of our cases.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to clarify that: So with the vaccine, if we do get the vaccine and we are at 75 percent vaccinated, the Minister will commit to negotiating a lot more opening up this summer? Because I feel that, like I said in my Member's statement, we are really going to lose some of our vital, important staff, especially outside of Yellowknife. It is come to Inuvik. You came to Inuvik. The Premier came to Inuvik. There is nothing open there. There is nothing going on there. There is no social life. There is nothing that is keeping people. Even the youth are having mental health issues because it's harder and harder to socialize. So I am really happy to hear that from the Minister. I am just hoping that they can get the vaccine and get it going, and we can get opening up a little bit more inside the territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 488-19(2): COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Oral Questions

February 4th

Page 1731

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I recognize that people are really feeling COVID fatigue in the dark and the cold and that they are really looking forward to getting together with other members of their communities and their families, both within the NWT and outside of the NWT, and so I think the Chief Public Health Officer is aware of that, too. Ultimately, the decision about what phase we are in is up to her. She is the one who we have tasked with the public health assessment, and so I cannot make a commitment. However, I can certainly tell you that she has set some thresholds for enabling more gathering in the NWT and for opening the borders, and so let's see how the vaccine goes and take it a step at a time. Thank you.