This is page numbers 2819 - 2866 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 mrspeaker.

Topics

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I managed to write down two of the items that were listed. With respect to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board workshop, there was a workshop that was held; I believe it was hosted by the land and water boards and it was attended by, if I recall correctly, a hundred or a 150 different representatives from governments, from industry, so, you know, I am not particularly surprised that they'd be talking about that since both parties would have been in attendance at that.

With respect to the Fraser Institute, that's an annual report that's put out. Some say, you know, again, say what you will about whether or not it is an accurate representation of our industry or perhaps we're doing better than they're saying that they are. The point is, it's an industry publication that is looked at by the industry. And, again, in general, we haven't always done or fared as well as I would like to see us do.

Again, not surprising that we would want to look to the members of the industry who respond to that and say 'what can we do to be better' so that we can rank more highly. And, again, Mr. Speaker, there was a number of items listed there. The point of these meetings, at the core, was to find areas of common ground. They are not entirely overlapping. There are going to be things that the Chamber of Mines raises that the government can say, thank you, we will take that away. And there are going to be items that may be an interest to the government to pursue that the Chamber of Mines say, go ahead, do as you will. But that is the nature of tension between industry organizations and government that exists, whether I'm in the tourism sector, the agriculture sector, the fisheries sector, the film sector. It's a healthy tension, and it has too be there. So we should always, in my view, be having these conversations with the industry that we represent or that we work for, to grow the economy. We don't-- we are not run by them but the conversations need to be had.

So I'm happy to go through the other items on that list and ensure that in fact the conversations are clear, that the-- you know, the position of the government is made clear and, you know, can do that, whether that's one by one now or whether that's later with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that commitment to ensure that the scope of these meetings is confined to its original purpose. It appears as though, and I want to draw the attention of the Minister to one particular meeting that was held on November 4th, 2020, and there was a discussion there of the mineral tenure relief package. And that certainly does have something to do with economic recovery. Information, though, shared appears to have included considerations and the decisions made by the Financial Management Board and Cabinet. Regular MLAs, we were not provided an opportunity for input into the relief package. Can the Minister explain whether the Chamber of Mines was provided with information on how the FMB and/or Cabinet made its decisions on this relief and how that relates to Cabinet confidence? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have only scanned notes in front of me, but I am confident that nothing that is confidential would have been shared. The meeting minutes simply are indicating that, in fact, although there were ongoing requests as to whether or not the mineral relief would be extended, this is of course just several months in, wondering what would be happening for the next year, the statement simply is that it has to go through Cabinet and FMB before such a decision is made. That is an appropriate response. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

MR. O'REILLY; Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that response. I'm not aware of any other economic sector or nongovernmental organization that has been able to have twice monthly meetings with senior officials for over a year with so little transparency without other stakeholders or interests at the table. Can the Minister tell us whether any other economic sector or nongovernmental organizations have bimonthly lobbying meetings without any public scrutiny or other stakeholders at the table with her department? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the business advisory council certainly, once they got going, were meeting very regularly; I think at one point weekly with representatives of the Department of ITI. But before the BAC, or the Business Advisory Council even existed, this group was put together as a working group to start to talk about economic recovery at the tail end of the closure-- there was still Ekati I think was still closed at the time. It was clear that there was going to be a tremendous economic recovery. There was great fear and uncertainly and so this group came together and said what can we start to do right now, and they've continued to have regular meetings.

As far as others, and setting the Business Advisory Council for the moment, I believe there are regular, if not weekly or biweekly meetings with NWT tourism. That is another major sector that we have regular meetings with. And it's actually been my request that we start to have more regular meetings with the representatives of the fisheries sector given the momentum that's behind the revitalization of the fishing industry.

So, you know, again, Mr. Speaker, this is a sector that represents a third of our GDP. They are certainly spending more time at developing a recovery plan because of the impact that it has on the economy but that is by no means exclusive, and it certainly would be my hope that as we make the decisions about economic growth and about economic recovery, we are doing so in a way that is responsive to what is happening on the ground in the industry and in the business community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Colleagues, our time for oral questions has expired. Written questions. Returns for written questions. Replies to the Commissioner's address. Petitions. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Reports of standing and special committees. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Tabling Of Documents
Tabling Of Documents

Page 2837

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Tabled Document 427-19(2):
Annual Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, June 2021

Tabling Of Documents
Tabling Of Documents

Page 2837

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: The Annual Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls June 2021. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabling Of Documents
Tabling Of Documents

Page 2837

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Honourable Premier.

Tabled Document 428-19(2):
Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 520-19(2), Client-Focused Integrated Service Delivery

Tabling Of Documents
Tabling Of Documents

Page 2838

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document; Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 520-19(2) Client-Focused Integrated Service Delivery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabling Of Documents
Tabling Of Documents

Page 2838

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Motions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS Section 2(1) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act prescribes that an Electoral Boundaries Commission be established within two years after the day fixed for the return of the writs of the 2015 general election; and,

WHEREAS section 2(2) of the act requires that the Commission shall be composed of a chairperson and two other members appointed by the Commissioner on recommendation of the Legislative Assembly; and,

WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly is prepared to make such a recommendations;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission, 2021, is hereby established;

AND FURTHER, that the Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories that the Honourable Ted Richard of Sydney, British Columbia, be appointed chairperson, and Mr. Glen Abernethy of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and Mr. Jack Rowe of Hay River, Northwest Territories, be appointed members of the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission 2021.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Motion is in order. To the motion?

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Motions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly has established and appointed members to the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission 2021; and,

WHEREAS Section 9(K) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act enables the Legislative Assembly to establish guidelines or criteria that shall be taken into consideration by the Commission;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that the following guidelines are set down for the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission 2021:

1. The Commission shall review the existing electoral districts using the most recent and accurate census and other population data available.

2. In keeping with Canadian constitutional conventions, relative parity between electoral districts shall be sought, to the extent possible, except where special circumstances warrant exceptional deviation.

3. For greater certainty, "relative parity" means that the percentage variation between the number of persons in a riding and the average mean should be within plus or minus 25 percent.

4. In addition to whatever recommendations the commission may propose, the Commission shall recommend how the electoral boundaries should be drawn if the Legislative Assembly were to be comprised of a minimum of 19 Members.

5. The commission shall prepare an interim report with proposed electoral district boundaries for review by the public and discussion at public hearings.

6. The commission shall establish a website or other publicly accessible mechanisms, in addition to public hearings, to receive submissions on the existing and/or proposed boundaries.

7. All submissions to the commission shall be considered public documents.

8. Simultaneous translation of official languages shall be available at public hearings where the use of an official language in a particular community or region is sizable enough to warrant the employ of translation services.

9. If the commission is not in a position to accomplish its mandate within the existing budget allocated, it may return to the Legislative Assembly for additional funds; and,

10. The final report of the commission, complete with recommendations, shall be submitted in English and French to the Speaker and Clerk of the Legislative Assembly no later than twelve months after the commission is struck. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for KamLake. Motion is in order. To the motion?

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Motions. Notices of motion for the first reading of bills. First reading of bills. Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 33, National Indigenous Peoples Day Act be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, honourable Premier. Motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Bill 33 has had first reading. First reading of bills. Minister of Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 34, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2021-2022, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Bill 34 has had first reading. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Minister responsible for Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 34, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2021-2022, be read for the second time. This bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.