Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Final comments are due today as the Sahtu Land and Water Board decide whether to refer to environmental assessment the proposal by ConocoPhillips to test horizontal, multi-stage fracking. I’m urging the board to issue direction for a review.

Only last year the board issued a decision referring a similar proposal by MGM to environmental review. In issuing that decision, the board noted that because this is the first proposal of horizontal fracturing in the NWT, significant public concerns have been identified. There is concern regarding the environmental effects of...

Mr. Chair, thanks to the Minister for that additional information. That does sound like important use of this system. I don’t know whether the Minister is aware or knowledgeable in this area, but covering the bases and this information obviously sounds so important that I don’t think we can really exist without it somehow. How are things being handled in the meantime until we do get a new electronic system in place?

Again, I’m not totally clear yet on what the system does. I understand that we don’t have a system because the other one hasn’t been maintained. Report cards, I think, was mentioned. Obviously, that sort of information, following students and making sure we capture information on them seems pretty critical from year to year.

Could I just get a little more in-depth explanation of the student information system and what it is that we don’t have in place at this moment?

Thanks for that response from the Minister. I guess my last point is: We have been hearing from this government that they expect natural gas prices to go up considerably, and I understand that there might be some efficiencies, that we might be able to get liquid natural gas from closer source and ameliorate and mitigate that rising cost, but recognizing that the Minister does not have a crystal ball, what is our vulnerability there and what weight does that play in the decisions to go with a fossil fuel versus renewable energy alternative? Thank you.

I guess I’ll just leave it at this. This government is obviously open for business at any cost. We are always in favour of development and we always fail to protect our people and our land. I think that’s a pretty consistent record. So maybe I could just get the Minister to define for me what he sees as balance. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for the Minister’s comments. The renewable energy development to cut the costs for families and businesses were also emphasized by the public. At a time when electricity rates are guaranteed to increase by 7 percent per year and heating costs have soared, how will the Minister ensure that the strategy reflects an emphasis on shifting from expensive imported fossil fuel to renewable energy? Mahsi.

I’d like to thank the Minister. I’d also like to thank very much all the public, our citizens who took the time to participate and contribute to our ideas.

A major point raised in the continuing economic drain of fly-in/fly-out employees from other jurisdictions has been raised before. We have socio-economic agreements with hiring targets, but the targets aren’t being met and government isn’t being firm, insisting on better results.

How does this government intend to move now to call the big companies to book on their performance and up their proportion of NWT resident employees? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Economic Opportunities Panel report is affirmation of our citizens’ grassroots priorities for economic development. My thanks to all those who took time to contribute and share their views.

In reading the report, it often seemed I was reading my files of correspondence from people across the NWT or, indeed, in entreaties from this side of the House.

A few highlights:

widespread interest in more agriculture, recognizing the importance of small subsidies and empowerment of local capacity;

strong support for development of commercial fisheries, recognizing unused...

I’ll look forward to a lot more fleshing out in the weeks to come here. For our community residents, mega projects clearly aren’t the priority, though. Our citizens stress the benefits of locally controlled, sustainable businesses that will take us through boom and bust. Yet this government’s focus continues to be the huge developments local people can least control, and as we see from fulfilment of hiring targets and fly-in workers aren’t delivering full benefits here.

I’m wondering: How does the Minister intend to really take this input to heart and turn the super-tanker approach of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and I want to follow up on my Member’s statement in which I said I was very impressed with the way the Economic Opportunities Panel heard and documented our citizens’ grassroots visions for the future of our economy. We have the input and now we must put it into action.

Can the Minister explain the process and timing for bringing this input to a final strategy and confirm that the strategy will include an action plan of costed, concrete measures to put the ideas into action? Mahsi.