Thank you, Madam Chair. The department's four-year business plan says that the Waters Act will be introduced in quarter four of this fiscal, along with the Environmental Protection Act. Can I just get clarification that that is not actually the case? We will not be introducing those as per the business plan because we are waiting to see what happens with the MVRMA negotiations? Is that what I just heard? Thank you.
Debates of March 9th, 2021
This is page numbers 2383 - 2438 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 work.
Topics
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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North
Can I get clarification, as ENR is the department I ask questions of, on what's going on with the MVRMA negotiations then? Thank you.
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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North
Madam Chair, I show some frustration on that. The department has done a lot of work on the EPA and the Waters Act and has spent thousands of dollars working with Indigenous governments and stakeholders. It's in the business plan, and I'm now hearing that we're waiting on the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, which operates on federal timelines. Is that also the case for the Air regulations, that we will then have to delay the Air regulations pending the MVRMA?
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Kelly
Thank you, Madam Chair. We need to do work on the EPA and the Waters Act to determine where Air Regulations ultimately reside. The EPA is not a co-management piece of legislation, while the Waters Act is, and there are questions about how we do the ER regulations. We are in discussions with the land and water boards about how that will work. I would say that part of the reason for waiting to do this until after the MVRMA review has been done is that we don't want to overtax Indigenous governments with so many legislative projects to work on, so we are awaiting the results of the review of the MVRMA. It's not like we're not doing some work in the background to make sure that we're prepared. We will move on the EPA and the Waters Act as soon as that work is completed. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I just clarify? I understand that the waste reduction was only $200,000 and it has sunsetted, but does that now mean, can I get clarification, that this Environmental Protection Unit here is responsible for all of the implementation under the waste reduction strategy? I forget what it is. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just trying to figure out who is doing the waste reduction work now if it's not that unit. Thank you.
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Kelly
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Waste Reduction Unit is still there. They are funded through the environment fund, and they are the group that will be implementing the Waste Resource Management Strategy. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry. I misunderstood that a little earlier, how exactly those positions get started. I see there are 23 staff here, but how many are actually working on the Waste Reduction Unit? I just want to get a sense of how well we're funding this. The Waste Resource Management Strategy is great; it has the potential to save us lots of money in making sure that, when we have to track how much it costs to put all of our buildings into landfills, we are doing that properly. I just want to get a sense of how many staff are actually in the Waste Reduction Unit to do that work. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Katrina Nokleby Great Slave
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm looking at page 77 and, in particular, the Taiga Environmental Laboratory line item. The government is going to spend $2 million there this upcoming year, but when you look at the revenues, it only brings in $712,000 in revenues. While I understand that the lab does other things besides taking in samples from the private sector, there is concern about the lab testing itself and being the watchdog of its own projects. Has there been any look at Taiga laboratory to see whether or not it's still viable to have the laboratory, or would it be better off to use this money to fund Indigenous businesses, other northern businesses, create business opportunities outside of the government? Thank you, Madam Chair.