Debates of Oct. 29th, 2025

Thank you, Member from Hay River North. Member from Yellowknife North.

All of Yellowknife I represent today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to acknowledge and recognize Yellowknife North constituents Marie Wilson, Steven Kakfwi, and Paul Andrew. I am quite honoured to have such distinguished Northerners in the Yellowknife North riding. Former Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson, also a member of the Order of the NWT and the Order of Canada. Of course, Steven Kakfwi, a former Premier and the longest serving Cabinet member in NWT history. And Paul Andrew, recipient of the Order of the NWT and a national Aboriginal Achievement Award winner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm grateful that they could take the time to be here today.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. I got it right this time. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier beat me to it, but I also wanted to recognize Doreen Cleary and Gerri Sharpe who hail from the Frame Lake riding. Thank you for being here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Member from Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Doreen Cleary, a longtime friend of the family. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Doreen Cleary, a family friend as well, and Gerri Sharpe as well, and everybody else in the audience. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe Wiilideh. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.

If we missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to your chambers. Thank you very much for allowing us 19 people to represent the people of the Northwest Territories. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It's always nice to see people in the gallery.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ECC.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain as to whether the GNWT still considers surety bonds a reasonable fiscal instrument for mining reclamation, or are they being phased out for more solvent instruments in case of company bankruptcy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of ECC.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the surety bonds are still considered a very valuable type of security for this type of reclamation guarantee, and they are an asset that is fully able to be called upon on demand. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's important that the GNWT and residents know the fiscal capacity of mining operators. I would like to understand and have the Minister explain the process that GNWT takes to assess whether a company is deemed to be an assignment which would require a test of financial capacity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process to determine if a company is an assignment or not is one that would require me to make an interpretation of something that I don't feel I'm comfortable with doing on the floor, as I also wear the hat as attorney general, and this is a legal interpretation, and I would not be able to answer that question at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ECC. Member from Great Slave. Final supplementary.

Mr. Speaker, if a mining company declares bankruptcy and reclamation is now a responsibility of the GNWT, can the Minister explain which division or unit in the GNWT would be assigned this work to reclaim the mine and any associated expenses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the division of lands, we have a team of -- I have to pull up the title here; give me one second.

Certainly, you know, the team that we have in place within lands is the land administration team which would be responsible for overseeing that process as the potential reclamation moves forward and would go back and look at how that process was entered into after a potential situation where a bankruptcy was declared. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ECE.

Mr. Speaker, what is the rationale behind not renewing the 2008 to 2018 literacy strategy; did the mandate of the department change somehow? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of ECC or ECE. Try that again.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we came in and started this Assembly, we actually talked as a group a lot about strategies. We talked about the multitude of strategies that we often find in government departments across the country that sometimes act as doorstops instead of guiding documents. And what we decided as a group is we wanted to see actionable, tangible items. We wanted to see programs being delivered rather than strategies being written. And so that has been my direction as Minister, that I want to see action in communities. And one of the things that we're working on right now is working to review the way that adult learning and basic education is delivered across the territory. Mind you, it was not something that was jump-started on our move, but it is work that is now being done holistically with communities that we will see evolve over the course of this Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I understand the Minister's point behind strategies; however, we are still funding programming using this strategy as I mentioned in the statement. Doesn't that necessarily suggest that the strategy should be up to date? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, all of our contribution agreements that we have within the Government of the Northwest Territories do come with an agreement. A memorandum of understanding is often also included in that. Many of them end up being redone year to year, and they use data in order to form what we're going to do. And we also work quite often with the NGOs that are applying on and receiving these contribution agreements in order to access this funding. And a lot of times, especially, you know, when we're talking about literacy, we're generally talking about a small handful of organizations, and they work most closely with residents and really are subject matter experts. Thank you.