Okay, thank you. I also wanted to ask -- I know in the business plan the 2025 environmental audit is mentioned. It was tabled just last October, and many of those recommendations remain only partially implemented or outstanding. So in the business plan, it identifies that one of the priorities is to move forward with implementing the recommendations in that audit. Do we see any money slated in this budget to make sure that that implementation can take place? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Debates of Feb. 10th, 2026
This is page numbers of the Hansard for the 20th Assembly, 1st Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.
Topics
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Jay MacDonald Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the specific money that's allocated to the environmental audit recommendations is -- some of it is contained in the *SIMF funding, and other amounts are spread across the different areas within the department. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask a specific question about the work on accepted waste sites. It was included in the information item in the cost-shared agreements, but I figure this might be as good a time as any to ask about it.
So it looks like the funding for accepted waste sites that was coming from the federal government has sunset now, or it's sunsetting in March 31st, 2026, and it was to conduct pre-remediation work on six sites, many of which -- or some are in my riding. The Crestaurum, Ptarmigan, Tin, Rod, Burwash, and Tom mines. And so given that that funding is sunsetting, what has been accomplished so far with that federal funding? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Jay MacDonald Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, since 2023, we've completed extensive environmental, geological, geotechnical, architectural, and risk assessments on field programs as phase one for all six of the sites. Draft remedial options analysis are now complete for each of the sites, and those outline the feasibility remediation options and identify site hazards and evaluate the options against safety, land use, technical feasibility, and socio-economic factors and costs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So that is pre-remediation work, but there's still a lot of actual remediation work to be done and this funding is running out. So what is the next step, then? How do we move forward with remediation on these sites? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Jay MacDonald Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the remedial option analysis will form the technical foundation for negotiations with Canada on the actual remediation responsibilities and what that potential future funding could look for, as well as inform the regulatory process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. And so is that -- has that negotiation with Canada begun, then? Or what's the timeline for that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Jay MacDonald Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we're completing engagement on those plans and plan to start negotiations with Canada early in the next fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the Minister. That is helpful to know.
I just finally wanted to touch on transboundary waters. In the last fiscal year, there was a bit of a jump or a spike in spending, both for the Alberta-Northwest Territories transboundary waters and the Yukon-NWT transboundary waters, and it looks like this year we're back to the sort of standard baseline of what we're spending. Can the Minister explain what was accomplished on transboundary water issues last fiscal year to -- in terms of what extra money was spent and why. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Robert Jenkins
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So under those agreements, the work that we do year to year is really sort of gaining knowledge and monitoring the health of the aquatic ecosystem in those shared watersheds, and we work with a number of Indigenous governments on that work. You know, there's a number of water monitoring programs. There's fish studies. There's annual reporting. There's some consultant contracting. So in terms of a specific breakdown of some of the activities and details that we did, we would have to follow up with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
The Chair Richard Edjericon
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from the Yellowknife North.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, I mean, as far as I can see, concerns about transboundary water issues are only heating up. They're not -- concerns aren't going down. So are we planning to -- why would we plan to spend less than last year on transboundary water issues? What assurance do we have that we can sort of go back to the lower baseline amount? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th
Committee Motion 138-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 454-20(1): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 2025-2026, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 10th