Debates of Oct. 23rd, 2025

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My first question is about the Taltson pre-construction planning. So the Minister said that they're hoping that they would be at the beginning of an environmental assessment stage by the end of 2026-2027. So that would imply that, you know, you would have sort of terms of reference or be moving towards a report that you can make public. So keeping in mind that this is for the next three years, but at what point in the next three years or at what point in the process will the public be able to see, well, first the estimated cost of this project and the business case being put forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

So Mr. Chair, there already is a fair bit of public engagement that is happening, particularly in communities -- more organized with the communities around the watershed. So let me certainly say, I think there's a commitment here that maybe we need to be doing some of that here in Yellowknife and doing a better job of bringing the story of this project to Yellowknife. So certainly happy to commit that we should be doing that. I know that when I had appeared at the city to talk about the project and to share some of the steps and stages, people did seem surprised although and I think some of us on the team were perhaps forgetting that it doesn't get out as often as we think it does. So happy to do that.

With respect to business case, I think that would have to -- at this point I'll have to confirm if it's fully up to date and when it can go out, but I know it's been shared with all of our partners and I expect that they probably are sharing it with their communities.

So again, let me take that back and make sure that I'm correct in my understanding of what the community members, I'm sorry, of what the partners are expecting of us and whether we can get that out, and/or how we can get some of that information out. And it may well be, Mr. Chair, that we share at least some more formal summary of it than what has come out.

So again, I do wanna, this is a difficult one in that everything I'm saying, I'm wanting to make sure I put through our steering committee. But anyways, as I say, I think it's important that we do get a lot more information out to the public, particularly in Yellowknife, because as I say, I know there's been community engagement sessions held with leadership in the communities and other partner groups. So there may be a gap here and I'll take responsibility and make sure we fix it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Chair; I appreciate that.

I know that many members of the public are eager to see the costs in the business case and the sooner we can do that, then the sooner we can have an informed public discussion about a cost benefit analysis, which I'm certainly eager to engage in.

Second, regarding the Slave Geological Province All-Weather Highway, can the Minister tell us has -- so keeping in mind that this project is slated for the next two years, the planning process. Can the Minister tell us whether a route has been set or decided yet for this project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, not yet, Mr. Chair. And there have been studies done really over the last few years of quite a large number of routes. There have been -- and with varying degrees of technical research on each. For instance, some have had geological analysis to understand what potential geology is in the regions. And some have had further than that, also more environmental analysis and more design analysis. But Mr. Chair, the stage that we're at right now, we have -- there's the YKDFN and Tlicho who I think are -- who I understand are looking to find a path to work together in order to, you know, given that the route almost certainly would cross either or both of their lands, both traditional lands and Tlicho lands. And so they are looking to take a bit of a leadership role at this point and confirm what a final route would look like. So again, subject to some work that they want to do, there is not a final decision. It is, I think, understood that there needs to, that that work does need to get done with some urgency so that we are lining ourselves up with maybe the interest that's happening on the federal level. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister explain then what the government hopes will be accomplished by the end of 2027-2028 or any milestones that are being targeted up to then, especially in terms of where it would be at, the environmental assessment process and, you know, at what point the government would have a developer's assessment report prepared. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So Mr. Chair, I do want to be quite frank about this, but that this was always expected that what was originally known as the Lockhart All-Season Road would be moving to an environmental assessment in the coming fiscal year. I think there has been a bit of a dialing back of that language and really a shift in a positive way to take advantage of the attention that we are seeing on a national scale to see an all-season road through this region. And so that shift in name has also come with a shift in approach, which is to say that this would not be a singularly GNWT-led in advance, but we are looking to partner more meaningfully and to engage more meaningfully at this stage with, as I say, Tlicho and YKDFN, but also noting that there certainly are other Indigenous nations, for example the North Slave Metis, who also have an interest in the area. So a bit of a change in that approach, which may mean that it is not as far advanced as what it might've been, but it is still the hope that we can, by the end of this fiscal, be at the point of having an EA ready which would, of course, require having the DAR in advance of that.

So it's a fair bit to happen in the course of the next year and a half, but I certainly haven't retired from that as a goal. There's a lot that would go into it, Indigenous knowledge studies and other information. So a lot of that can happen, whether it 100 percent gets to where I want it to be at before the end of the next fiscal, again, remains a bit to be seen but I do believe that there is a sense of urgency on this, again particularly given the national attention that it's getting.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do appreciate that the Minister noted that to get to be ready for an EA, there would need to be a lot of studies and Indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge studies, also a lot of baseline data collection, which can't be done sort of in the snap of the fingers and often can't be sort of fast-tracked in the sense of there are certain times a year where you need to collect environmental baseline data. And if you need to collect it in the summer, you need to collect it then, you can't just sort of do it in February instead just because you want to.

So just flagging that this is an extremely short timeline, and I would want to make sure that the proper baseline data and Indigenous knowledge studies are being collected and carefully considered as opposed to just sort of skimmed past.

I'll just move quickly then to the Mackenzie Valley Highway planning. I know that this EA has been underway for quite a long time, but just sort of more active in the last few years. Looking on the Environmental Impact Review Board website and their timeline, it states that they're expecting the government to submit an addendum to the developer assessment report by July of next year. It's unclear how long the next steps in the process would take, but what is the government hoping to achieve over the next fiscal year? Like what is the milestone or achievement where you hope to be by the end of 2026-2027? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So on this project, there would be the time for July and then after that, our public hearings would be held. And again, our hope certainly being that if we are in advance of that, spending time with the communities who are affected and impacted, that these public hearings would go fairly smoothly, that there will be no, again, that people are hopefully well versed in the project by this point. One of the things we are hoping to see happen in the immediate future is that a working group readiness or a project readiness working group can be set up for those communities. Typically that would, or historically, that would often not happen until later in the process, until you're sort of a year out from construction, but it is our view that getting that done now will actually empower communities to be ready when this moves forward and to also then therefore be better placed to participate in those hearings. So the hearings would be, again, really in about a year from now, but a lot of work in advance of that.

Another, getting out of the environmental assessment process really at this point does also ensure that we, again, want to make sure that when we get to that point, that there's -- everyone is ready. And one of the big parts there is ensuring that Pehdzeh Ki First Nation are involved. They've, for a very long time, not been very involved. And we now have with them a fairly detailed and fairly specific work plan to make sure that we are moving in tandem with them and so that we have, that everyone's ready to roll. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay, thank you. Time has run out on that. Is there any other questions from the Members? Seeing none. Okay, thank you.

Department of Infrastructure, Strategic Infrastructure, Energy Supply Chains, $70,801,000. Does the committee agree?

Thank you. Committee, we will now excuse the Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains and the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the chamber. Mahsi.

Okay, thank you. We will now move on to the Minister of Infrastructure for the remainder of the department. Does the Minister of Infrastructure wish to bring witnesses into the chamber?

Yes, I do, Madam Chair.

Okay. Does the committee agree?

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the chambers.

Thank you. Minister, please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right -- yeah, my right, Celeste McKay, no relation, assistant deputy minister, asset management. And to my left, Cathy Maniego, deputy minister. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, so please return to page 55, assets management information items on page 56, 58. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, under the Highway No. 8 reconstruction under the ICIP, can the Minister confirm if that is the work, any upgrade or upgrade the section to -- I mean, that work is allocated to the section from Rengleng River to Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. That is work that is slotted for 2026-2027 for kilometer 225 to 230. Thank you, Mr. Chair.