Deputy minister.
Debates of Feb. 23rd, 2022
This is page numbers 3441 - 3480 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.
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is the crux of the negotiations that we're having right now, is who is responsible for paying for the remediation of those sites. Not just Ptarmigan, the suite of accepted sites. And that's all I can really comment on at that time because the work is ongoing. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Katrina Nokleby Great Slave
I just want to say I appreciate the Minister and deputy minister's patience, as you can understand that from this side we definitely want you to be asking for that money to be paid for by the federal government regardless, you know, if we do end up doing the remediation work ourselves. Some of it seems like it's their stalling that has let the mine to get to that state for so long. So I feel like we should hold them accountable. And again, just a comment. So thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair Ronald Bonnetrouge
Mahsi. No other questions from committee? Oh, we have got a couple. Mr. Simpson.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Rocky Simpson Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just -- I think I'm in the right spot here hopefully. Environmental stewardship -- stewardship and climate change? Oh, sorry, I think it was the next one.
---Laughter
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The Chair Ronald Bonnetrouge
Environmental protection and waste management. It goes up to page 78. You good? Okay, I'll move on to Mr. Edjericon.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Richard Edjericon Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I just had a question for the Minister.
Since devolution, it's my understanding that the contaminant sites, does the GNWT take responsibility of the contaminated sites, or is it -- my understanding it's still the responsibility of the Government of Canada?
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The Chair Ronald Bonnetrouge
All right. Mahsi. Maybe just to remind committee if we can indicate that you're done with your question by saying. Minister.
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Shane Thompson Nahendeh
Thank you. So those six sites are part of the negotiations. We didn't take them over from devolution. But for further detail, maybe I'm wrong, so maybe I'll look at the deputy minister. She just touched her brow so I think I might have said the wrong thing. So to get the clarity, I'll have to go to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So there are still federal sites that are on federal land. There's some that we're negotiating. There's some that the federal government is remediating, and then they're asking us to take back, and we need to do the work to figure out if we want to accept those are not. And there's some that are GNWT sites that were contaminated sites before devolution, and they remain ours. So there's multiple ways, but there's still federal contaminated sites that are the responsibility of the federal government. There's some that we're negotiating here that are called accepted waste sites. There's some that we agreed that they would remediate and give back to us, and then there's some that were ours to begin with. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Richard Edjericon Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Thank you for your answer. Also, can you tell me exactly how many contaminated sites are there, we're looking at here? I'm assuming you guys did the study, that for the Northwest Territories. The question is to the Minister. Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Shane Thompson Nahendeh
For that detail, I will turn to the assistant -- or the deputy minister. Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There were 1,319 sites that were transferred to the GNWT through devolution. An additional 99 sites will be transferred to the GNWT once the Government of Canada has completed the remediation work to the GNWT's satisfaction. A further 20 sites are being negotiated with the Government of Canada regarding responsibility. And I've already mentioned the different categories of the sites. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Richard Edjericon Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Thank you for that. Now that you told me those numbers on that, has your department -- or to the Minister, has your department gone out to figure out the actual cost to remediate these mine sites in broad numbers so we -- I don't see any numbers here but I'm asking that question to you. Thank you.
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The Chair Ronald Bonnetrouge
Mahsi. Mr. Edjericon, since you're kind of new, I'll direct all your questions to the chair and then when you're done your question, maybe you can just indicate that you are done by saying "thank you" or recognizing the chair. Mahsi. We'll move along. Minister.
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Shane Thompson Nahendeh
Thank you. So before I put my foot in my mouth, as the Member was asking the question I thought we were just talking about the six sites and not the whole gamut. But for that detail, I'm going to turn to the deputy minister. She has the numbers, I believe. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So to be clear, these are not all mine sites. Some of these are just small sites on the landscape. And the GNWT uses a risk management approach, and we work with Finance and other departments on that. And there is a liabilities fund that can fund some of the remediation. But the decisions on what will be remediated are dependent on the level of risk. So we prioritize high priority sites to action with the funding that we do have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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