Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually I do believe that within the agreements, there is a clause that states that they can be reviewed and updated as necessary. There is a commitment to that. Again, Mr. Speaker, though, in recognizing that I am willing to work with Indigenous governments, but really, the priority, Mr. Speaker, is to try to get all Indigenous governments into a place where they have land claims that are settled and self-agreement -- self-governing agreements that are settled so that they do take their rightful place at the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Yesterday the Minister of Lands made a Minister's statement in the House enhancing transparency and client experience. This was about the administration of lands in the Northwest Territories in something called ATLAS, which is a pretty cool computer based information system about land here in the Northwest Territories.

So I commend the Minister for this effort in bringing more transparency to ourselves as a, you know, manager of lands. But I want to ask some specific questions about whether this new information available through ATLAS includes information about financial security that our government might hold. So if I could get the Minister to answer that, I would appreciate it. Thanks, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Lands.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Lands recently expanded the information and data related to land administration and is available to the public and as part of our efforts to increase transparency. The Department of lands currently tracks the form, the amount, and expiry dates for security and is working on how to make this information transparent through the public lands regulation.

At this point, lands has not included financial information related to the leases on the ATLAS system. We are looking to do this into the future.

I agree that accountability of land manages; we should be open and transparent. The Department of lands is currently reviewing the on land platform -- online platform to make -- to best make this information publicly available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that information. And of course the reason why I raise this is our government, when we had the surface lease for the Giant Mine, we had zero dollars in financial security, zero dollars, which we actually -- we ended up on the hook for $26 million in an agreement with the federal government as our contribution because we had zero dollars for financial security on that property. Ptarmigan Mine, zero dollars for financial security for the surface. It's going to probably cost us more millions of dollars.

So can the Minister tell us when this information -- this kind of information is going to be publicly available. I know he's looking at it, but is there a date by which this information on financial security can be made available to the public. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish I could give the Member and the public a confirmed date, but presently, we don't have that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course I might be back here in October asking when it's going to be done. But can the Minister confirm that this information is actually tracked already by the department. So it's not a question of having to go and comb files to find this information. We already have it. It would be just adding additional attribute data to ATLAS. Can the Minister confirm we have this information already. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that the annual security reporting requirement is a part of the Public Land Act, and we do have that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course the difficulty with the annual reporting requirements of the Public Land Act is that that act is not actually in force yet. So we're waiting for regulations. So is there a way in which this information on financial security held by our government can be made available even on an annual basis in advance of the Public Land Act coming into effect. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department participates in the GNWT open data initiative to increase government transparency and accountability while maintaining the government's responsibility towards privacy, security, and legal obligations.

So we are working on it. The Public Land Act, as the Member said, isn't in force because we're doing the public land regulations on that. So until that is done, we're not able to provide that information publicly. We are working on it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Housing. About 18 months ago, her and the Minister of Health opened the Fort Good Hope Seniors Centre, but then it didn't open. And the Minister said she would open it in the summer, and then it didn't open. And then in the fall, the Minister said it would open in the new year, and then it didn't open. And in the last session, the Minister didn't give a date when it would open next, but it was clear the lawyers were getting involved.

So my question for the Minister of Housing is when will the Fort Good Hope Seniors Home, centre, open.