Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the land withdrawal order for the reindeer grazing reserve was originally established by the federal government in 1936, as the Member has said here in his Member's statement. The reindeer herd has never used the full area of the original land withdrawal. The very large withdrawal area resulted in local requests for leases being refused, including interest in cultural healing camps, personal cabins, and tourism lodging opportunities. Starting in 2021, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Lands engaged with the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit land claim organizations and wildlife management boards to consider a size reduction to the reserve. The land withdrawal change was completed in September of 2022. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, he managed to forget that there was no public engagement. But presumably the land withdrawal for reindeer grazing offered some conservation value to other species in the area, including migratory waterfowl, bears, and perhaps others.

Can the Minister tell us whether his department researched the conservation value of the land withdrawal for other species before deciding to drastically reduce its size and can he share any such assessment with the public? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reindeer grazing herd was established under a land withdrawal order and never intended to be a protected area or a tool to manage and protect wildlife in the area. The GNWT's approach to reduce the size of the reserve to the area of existing herd activity was discussed with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to ensure the needs of the reindeer herd were met. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Of course it's question period; we don't actually expect to get answers here but, you know, I asked whether there had been any assessment of other conservation values. The Minister didn't respond. There are authorities and plans in the reindeer reserve area, including the Gwich'in land use plan and Inuvialuit community conservation plans.

Can the Minister tell us whether the reductions in the land withdrawal are in compliance and consistent with these plans and whether the Gwich'in Land Use Planning Board and the Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat were consulted? Merci, Mr. Speaker. And I did give the Minister the questions ahead of time. Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for giving the questions ahead of time. Sometimes he doesn't like our answers, but we are giving him the answers, so.

The GNWT recognized the land withdrawal order overlapped with some Inuvialuit community conservation plans and some special management zones in the Gwich'in land use plan. As mentioned, ENR worked with lands to engage with the Gwich'in, Inuvialuit land claims organizations and the wildlife co-management boards to consider a size reduction to the reserve. This engagement included Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat, Inuvialuit Game Council, YMAC, Gwich'in Tribal Council, and the Gwich'in Renewable Resource Board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course they didn't talk to the Gwich'in Land Use Planning Board, but that's okay.

Now that the land withdrawal has been significantly reduced, our government appears to have completed the work of the Conservatives in 2014 to open up this area for oil and gas. So can the Minister tell us when these areas slashed from the land withdrawal will be made available for oil and gas development and calls for expression of interest? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That wasn't our intention. I don't know if oil and gas wants it there. He has an article from 2014. The Liberal government is in power right now in Ottawa so I don't know what's going on there. So, Mr. Speaker, the land withdrawal change was completed in September of 2022. This means previous withdrawal land was returned available public lands. So it's public land. If people wish to use it for healing camps, cabins, tourism opportunities, that is available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Order. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the need to maintain safe passage for marine vessels is not limited to Hay River but along the Mackenzie River as well, and it's all the more need to address this issue as soon as possible.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Infrastructure confirm the status of the bathymetrics survey completed last fall on the channel and harbour in Hay River? And I do appreciate the fact that she actually had her department do that which is a lot more, I think, than past Ministers have done. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'll take that compliment when and where I can. We didn't forget. You know, we have bathymetric survey data from the coast guard in the fall for the navigable water of the channel. We also implemented this with our own data, as the Member is aware that we had some work done in Hay River. As well, Infrastructure has worked with many departments such as ENR, Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, MTS, and other people. So we are doing this engagement so that we can better understand the potential implications to the navigation.

I want to say that as a result of this, we have established volumes and locations of the sediment that is required removal. So there is approximately 200,000 cubic metres in total that needs to be looked at. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that answer. Can the Minister tell me what the status is on the development of a business case to access federal dollars for harbour remediation? Has that business case been completed and submitted to the federal government and, if not, why not? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Lots of questions in there but I'm happy to say that we have developed an application for multiyear federal funding to restore the harbour under the Federal Oceans Protection Plan. Harbour restoration will cost millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker, to implement and then ongoing funding to be able -- that is required to maintain the channel and the harbour into the future. This application to Transport Canada is at the end of this -- we're submitting by the end of this week. Meanwhile, there is work done to continue some of the regulatory and permitting requirements.

And I do want to note, Mr. Speaker, we had good uptake from a variety of communities up the valley, those that are impacted, to be able to support our application. I want to say thank you very much for those that were able to support this very important application funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm pleased to hear that there is support from, you know, people along the Mackenzie River. And, you know, when we see oil and gas return, it'll be great.

Can the Minister tell me who in Ottawa she met with to discuss harbour remediation for Hay River and what was the outcome? Were any commitments received from the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I most recently met with the Honourable Omar Alghabra who is the Minister of Transport Canada while I was in Ottawa early December. I also plan to have further discussions with him while I'm in Ottawa next week for a federal-provincial-territorial Ministers of transportation meeting. These discussions will not stop. My department's analysis is being used to inform ongoing discussions with federal counterparts as well as funding proposals. We continue, and we will continue, to lobby the federal government to stress the importance, Mr. Speaker, of this marine supply chain hub, including the need to avoid any interruption of essential resupply and to maintain safe, secure, commercial marine shipping operations here in the Northwest Territories. While, Mr. Speaker, I am hopeful that our federal partners will recognize this as a critical need for the work and to be able to help us address this issue here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're closing in on spring. We're closing in on flood season. So let us hope that if no dredging takes place this year, let us hope that the ice, as it moves through the channel, scours the bottom of the river, gives it the six feet that we need to get the marine vessels safely through that channel. So that's what I'm hoping for. But failing that, can the Minister provide me with a realistic timeline as to when harbour remediation will take place on the Hay River? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Minister's statement today I talked about how there's a lot of regulatory process that needs to take place, permitting requirements to be able to remove large amounts of sediment. These approvals cannot be avoided and will take months, Mr. Speaker. If we can obtain the required permits anticipated, we can get on that water and dredge as early as July 15th, which would result in a small channel by September.

Mr. Speaker, we do not control the federal and territorial regulatory processes, and this also assumes we secure funding as the cost to dredge this harbour is in the millions. This is a significant project, Mr. Speaker. Once we have a response from the federal government on our oceans protection plan application for funding, we can better determine next steps. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to correct the record, there are 24 SNAP students in the territory and 14 SNAP apprentices. After a student graduates from being a SNAP student, they can become an actual apprentice in the SNAP program. So some of the barriers are the fact that we only have so many employers and so many students in the territory. It is not always easy for employers and especially small employers to take on apprentices, although the government does provide funding for that. There are issues around -- and I'll say that we've had trouble attracting people in the trades for a while. And so that's part of the issue as well. You know, there's been a big push over the past few years to get more students in trades. And ECE has been doing their part. The SNAP program recently got a revamp. There's been new guidelines and handbooks. There's been additional outreach. So we are trying to -- there are barriers and we are doing our best to break them down, and we've seen those numbers increase due to those efforts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I absolutely hear the Minister that there are only so many employers in the Northwest Territories willing or able to take on this work and that it is a significant investment to be able to take on a high school student in this kind of capacity. One of the things that the Minister has at his disposal is an entire government, which is one of the largest employers in the territory and actually employs red seal apprentices and skilled trades people in multiple regions across the territory; in fact, Mr. Speaker, in all the regions across the Northwest Territories. And so what I'm asking is for the GNWT to actually recognize itself as one of the employers that can take on SNAP students and apprentices -- thank you, Minister, for correcting my terminology there. So is ECE willing to commit to ensuring that a youth from every NWT community, or at least region, is enrolled in the SNAP program before the end of the 19th Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.