Bob Bromley

Thanks to the Minister. My last question on this, given the higher costs for these utilities, and particularly in the two problem areas mentioned by Mr. Lovely, can we expect the Minister will ensure, as we go forward, that will be brought into the full-cost accounting? In consideration of alternative sources it might be less costly and provide other benefits. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe these are primarily for the utility costs, heating and electricity, which we know are going up steadily. At the same time, I know the Housing Corporation are doing work to improve their efficiency of facilities both on the heating and electricity side of the equation. So I’m wondering if there’s an explanation… Are we still not saving enough to account for these additional costs or is there something else going on here? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the next few years, the people of the Sahtu and the people of the Northwest Territories will have to make a decision: Do we frack our land or not?

Today companies are telling us we can make lots of money fracking the land and selling the oil that comes out, but unlike the past, we can also do our own research now and we can understand that this is dangerous.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just released its latest report. It repeats what we already knew from the last report in 2007, and the one before that, 2001, only now with greater certainty...

Is that for planning or is that for actual construction of the infrastructure? Thanks.

My last comment is fairly specific. We’ve had, this fiscal year, an increase of about 60 to 70 percent from our main estimates to current estimates in our large capital, and about a 700 percent increase in our information technology, a smaller total amount, but maybe could I just get a brief explanation of what those are about, those increases?

That’s great, so I guess I can expect that the Minister will be bringing that forward to committee. When might we expect that strategy for dealing with this long-term care issue, as we know the numbers are increasing rapidly?

Okay. Thank you. So that’s on the numbers. In terms of what the strategy is to meet those, obviously, we need to be starting yesterday on that, and I see in the budget today we’re making some significant progress. I know that there are partners out there like Avens who are critical partners and provide leadership, but certainly not every community has that capacity. I’m just wondering: In terms of where are we at on putting a strategy in place to address that need, given that we know it’s going to be some big number, do we have that strategy yet and where are we at in its implementation? Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have three documents to table. The first one is entitled Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. It’s a brief compilation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most recent report.

The second one is entitled More Bad News for Fracking: IPCC Warns Methane Traps Much More Heat Than We Thought.

The third one is the CBC interviews of Sahtu residents about the fracking education workshops that was aired this morning, titled Questions About Fracking in the Sahtu, CBC Special Report, Thursday, October 24, 2013, 7:40 a.m. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister for that very long diatribe on something, but I assume that he understands when we burn fossil fuels, they release emissions, but if we leave the fossil fuels in the ground, they won’t release those emissions.

The Minister reported yesterday that he judged fracking developments in the Sahtu can be done sustainably, including environmentally so.

Could the Minister please provide the government’s estimate for the quantity of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses that will be released as a result of extracting and burning the oil and gas that is stored in the Sahtu shale oil...

Thanks again to the Minister. My last question on this, really, is: Are there any implications in terms of fees for users of the park, and if there are, will they be different than what’s currently in place? In relation to that, is there any consideration for people who actually live in the park?