Merci, Monsieur le President. I have closely followed and participated in the review of resource management legislation and regulations in the 18th and 19th Assemblies and have been reflecting on my experiences to date.

I sent a detailed seven-page letter with my thoughts to the Premier and Ministers of Environment and Natural Resources; Lands; and Industry,

Tourism and Investment. I tabled it in the House and the less-than-enthusiastic reply too.

I commend Cabinet and this government for its progressive and innovative approach to the co-development of resource management legislation and regulations with Indigenous governments. This is an accomplishment that we should all be proud of and a true expression of reconciliation and co-management that all NWT residents have come to expect. I support this co-development approach and want to make sure it has the time and resources necessary to do its work. From every report of recent activities, this process appears to be working well. There is still a need to provide more information and work with those Indigenous governments that are not part of this process.

I acknowledge that there has been some improvements since the 18th Assembly in terms of public engagement in post-devolution resource management legislation and regulations. However, the extent of information being shared by departments and timelines for public engagement have varied substantially and shown little consistency. In particular, I am alarmed and dismayed that GNWT has failed to embrace and implement an approach to resource management that includes meaningful public participation in both the development of resource management legislation and regulations, and in modifying and establishing new processes for decision-making about resources.

Public participation in these two significant aspects of resource management does not come at the expense of relationships with Indigenous governments but rather should be seen as an essential part of co-management. Public participation opportunities are what NWT residents have come to expect from responsible resource development and co-management itself.

It is not clear to me, whether GNWT continues to endorse and implement its own Open Government policy as signed by the Premier on January 8th, 2018. I offered other specific suggestions and it is not clear anything is going to change. I'll have questions later today for the Premier. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.