I have to say I am disappointed in the Minister’s response. Transmission lines are at least $750,000 a kilometre, typically more, and in our environment probably more. That’s not what I’m talking about. We’ve been talking about that for decades. We can’t do that. We don’t have the money. The Minister said it himself. I agree with the Minister; we do not have the money. What we do have are customers. All of the South Slave.

Everybody uses energy. We heat our homes, we drive our vehicles, et cetera. Arctic Energy Alliance studies once again have demonstrated, for example, that the entire...

Thank you for that explanation. That clears it up. I think I probably ask that sort of thing every year. I appreciate the refresher.

I noticed in the narrative here, they talk about the incorporation of energy-efficient technologies and so on in the housing design retrofits, but I don’t believe the expenditures in that area are on this page. If I’m right, I will hold questions until later, but if they are somewhere on this page, I will ask questions there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural.

What are the comparative cost benefits of employing the different methods of fracking for fossil fuel extraction?

What is the failure rate of fracking operations (e.g. drill casings) and, since failure is inevitable and we plan to permit fracking, what predicted level of failure will we permit?

What is the potential for contamination of drinking water from fracking operations?

Given our low rates of precipitation and replenishment of waters, and the unpredictable rates of precipitation levels as a consequence of...

Thank you. Again, it seems to be good news on that front, Mr. Chair. So thanks for that information. I guess my last follow-up on that would be, are there things in particular for those seven that are common across them that they need to focus on or that we should be aware of. Thank you.

Madam Chair, just to follow up on that, is that something we then pass on to that council or is it a benefit to this government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

What standards will be in place in the NWT to govern gas flaring at petroleum exploration and production sites of horizontal fracking operations?

Is the release of toxic emissions, including carcinogenic gases, allowed under regulations, and what will be the regulatory limits for toxic emissions, including volatile organic compounds, carcinogenic gases and other related fracking emissions at flaring sites?

What will be the minimum safe distances for location of homes or human activity from carcinogenic...

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister. I haven’t myself, either, and I know most of us haven’t. Perhaps some have, and it would be good to hear from them.

I’m wondering, does the Minister agree that, based on what we have learned, the noise involved, the noise levels, the hundreds of thousands of large trucks and generators per frack, the indescribable amounts of water, cement and chemicals used, that based on this, an on-the-ground visit by those involved in regulating and those who are going to experience it on their homeland, an on-the-ground visit to an active fracking site would provide some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister is committed to water quality preservation, so he will understand how little we know about the state of our surface waters and the potential impacts of fracking contamination. We can’t permit fracking without knowing how it will eternally affect our waters.

Will the Minister commit to commissioning the research necessary to understand the threats and prepare for the need to act fast with supplementary budget requests if required? Mahsi.

Thanks for the comments from the Minister. It’s good to know that we’re on this.

Regulation of the exploration and production process is another critical matter. I mentioned the particular threat of failure of drill casings and contamination of massive amounts of water. We need a review of other jurisdictions’ regimes and evaluation of their suitability for our needs, then action to develop and put in place our own regs. Perhaps that’s part of what Mr. Minister was referring to.

Upon the release of the government response to our EDI report, will the Minister move quickly to contract and manage a...

Thanks to the Minister again for those comments. Sounds good.

I also appreciated the comment earlier from the Minister that there needs to be integration between these various strategies like the Anti-Poverty Strategy and so on. A challenging job, but I will be looking forward to that. I did appreciate that comment. That’s all I have on this page.