YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Page 4034NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARD February 26, 2014

Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly

5th SessionDay 1917th Assembly

HANSARD

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Pages 3977 4034

The Honourable Jackie Jacobson, Speaker

Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Speaker

Hon. Jackie Jacobson

(Nunakput)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hon. Glen Abernethy

(Great Slave)

Minister of Health and Social Services

Minister responsible for

Persons with Disabilities

Minister responsible for Seniors

Hon. Tom Beaulieu

(Tu Nedhe)

Minister of Human Resources

Minister of Transportation

Minister of Public Works and Services

Ms. Wendy Bisaro

(Frame Lake)

Mr. Frederick Blake

(Mackenzie Delta)

Mr. Robert Bouchard

(Hay River North)

Mr. Bob Bromley

(Weledeh)

Mr. Daryl Dolynny

(Range Lake)

Mrs. Jane Groenewegen

(Hay River South)

Mr. Robert Hawkins

(Yellowknife Centre)

Hon. Jackson Lafferty

(Monfwi)

Deputy Premier

Minister of Education, Culture and

Employment

Minister responsible for the Workers

Safety and Compensation

Commission

Hon. Bob McLeod

(Yellowknife South)

Premier

Minister of Executive

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and

Intergovernmental Relations

Minister responsible for Women

Hon. Robert C. McLeod

(Inuvik Twin Lakes)

Minister of Municipal and

Community Affairs

Minister responsible for the

NWT Housing Corporation

Minister responsible for Youth

Mr. Kevin Menicoche

(Nahendeh)

Hon. J. Michael Miltenberger

(Thebacha)

Government House Leader

Minister of Finance

Minister of Environment and Natural

Resources

Minister responsible for the

NWT Power Corporation

Mr. Alfred Moses

(Inuvik Boot Lake)

Mr. Michael Nadli

(Deh Cho)

Hon. David Ramsay

(Kam Lake)

Minister of Justice

Minister of Industry, Tourism

and Investment

Minister responsible for the

Public Utilities Board

Mr. Norman Yakeleya

(Sahtu)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Officers

Clerk of the Legislative Assembly

Ms. Colette Langlois

Deputy ClerkPrincipal Clerk,Principal Clerk,Law Clerks

Committees andCorporate and

Public AffairsInterparliamentary Affairs

Mr. Doug SchauerteMr. Michael BallMs. Gail BennettMs. Sheila MacPherson

Ms. Malinda Kellett

Mr. Glen Rutland

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Box 1320

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Tel: (867) 669-2200 Fax: (867) 920-4735 Toll-Free: 1-800-661-0784

http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca

Published under the authority of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRAYER3977

MINISTERS' STATEMENTS3977

41-17(5) Post-Devolution Resource Development Regulation (Ramsay)3977

42-17(5) Department of Lands Role in the New Regulatory Regime Post-Devolution (R. McLeod)3978

43-17(5) Environment and Natural Resources Post-Devolution (Miltenberger)3979

44-17(5) Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Legislation (Miltenberger)3980

MEMBERS' STATEMENTS3981

Pink Shirt Day (Groenewegen)3981

Bullying in the Workplace (Bisaro)3981

Anti-Bullying Advocate (Moses)3982

Pink Shirt Day in the Mackenzie Delta (Blake)3982

Ms. Sharon Allen, Advocate for MADD Canada (Menicoche)3982

Bullying from a Students Perspective (Hawkins)3983

Traditional Arts and Crafts (Yakeleya)3983

Early Childhood Educators in Junior Kindergarten Classes (Bromley)3984

RECOGNITION OF VISITORS IN THE GALLERY3984

ORAL QUESTIONS3985

REPLIES TO OPENING ADDRESS3995

FIRST READING OF BILLS3998

Bill 12 Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan3998

CONSIDERATION IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OF BILLS AND OTHER MATTERS3998

REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE4032

ORDERS OF THE DAY4033

ii

YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Members Present

Hon. Glen Abernethy, Hon. Tom Beaulieu, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Blake, Mr. Bouchard, Mr. Bromley, Mr. Dolynny, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Hawkins, Hon. Jackie Jacobson, Hon. Jackson Lafferty, Hon. Bob McLeod, Hon. Robert McLeod, Mr. Menicoche, Hon. Michael Miltenberger, Mr. Moses, Hon. David Ramsay, Mr. Yakeleya

February 26, 2014NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARDPage 4033

The House met at 1:31 p.m.

Prayer

---Prayer

SPEAKER (Hon. Jackie Jacobson): Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers statements. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Ministers StatementsMINISTER'S STATEMENT 41-17(5):POST-DEVOLUTION RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT REGULATION

HON. DAVID RAMSAY: Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that our future prosperity is heavily dependent on the responsible development of our abundant natural resources. On April 1, 2014, our government will be assuming new responsibilities for the administration of public lands, resources and rights in respect of waters. This means changes for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, which will now administer mineral exploration and development activities and regulate onshore petroleum activities in the Northwest Territories, except in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

Having the authority to make decisions related to mineral and petroleum resource exploration and development on public lands will ensure the Government of the Northwest Territories can manage these non-renewable resources effectively and efficiently to the benefit of all residents of our territory. These new responsibilities will allow us to decide just how our future will play out, on our terms.

Our government is committed to the responsible management and development of Northwest Territories mineral and petroleum resources to create sustainable benefits for our people and fuel economic diversification and foster more robust growth over the long term. Our decisions will be guided by a legislative and policy framework that includes the federal legislation and regulations we have agreed to mirror in the Devolution Agreement

and existing Government of the Northwest Territories policies and strategies.

Responsibilities for mineral development will include planning and policy development as well as issuing the licences and permits required for prospecting and mining and recording mineral claims. The administrative authority that will allow us to further develop our onshore oil and gas resources also includes the regulatory responsibilities of ensuring public health and safety, conserving petroleum resources and protecting the environment.

As Premier McLeod announced earlier this week, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment has been designated by Executive Council as the regulator of oil and gas activities for Northwest Territories onshore areas, outside of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, effective on the devolution implementation date of April 1, 2014. I will be guided in this role by an integrated resource management approach to ensure fair and equitable decision-making. It should be noted that many decisions of the regulator will not be taken directly by the Minister. Where it makes sense, responsibility for decision-making will be delegated to independent, expert staff in the Department of ITI. This is consistent with the conventions supporting ministerial governance applicable in the Northwest Territories, in Canada generally, and in the family of nations descended from the British parliamentary tradition.

Oil and gas regulation in the Northwest Territories was previously carried out by the National Energy Board, an independent federal agency. The National Energy Board will remain the regulator in the NWTs offshore areas, which remains Canadas jurisdiction, and in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, but under territorial legislation. This will ensure the consistent regulation of resources that straddle the onshore/offshore.

In all other regions of the Mackenzie Valley, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment will serve as the regulator. Initially the regulator will apply the policies and practices inherited from the National Energy Board, but it will be open to the Northwest Territories to make prudent adjustments to those policies and practices as we move forward, consistent with the devolve and then evolve strategy we have adopted.

Oil and gas regulation are serious responsibilities. Cabinet carefully reviewed and considered a number of possible options. This approach to regulation is similar to that of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which have successfully regulated oil and gas activity for years, and in Yukon, which received its own devolution of oil and gas regulatory authority in 1998.

Our government considers this model to be the most economical, efficient and accountable way to ensure that regulatory practices reflect N