Bob Bromley

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m just going to follow through the Minister’s comments here to focus my remarks. One percent over 2012-2013 in the departmental budget, obviously some serious work has been done here and I appreciate that.

I notice there is a good recognition of the need to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions, but I think there is, overall, insufficient effort and expenditures at addressing that priority.

The one thing that I think is an opportunity is that we need to work with our business and industry partners towards renewable energy projects that serve both industry...

Mr. Speaker, when you are on a roll, go for it. Will the Minister work with his colleague in Industry to, in fact, take our regional leadership to ensure they visit active frack sites as well as jurisdictions that have banned fracking, for whatever reason, to learn about those reasons and concerns and also to visit with Aboriginal people wherever they have experience with fracking, such as northeast BC? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up with my questions to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on some of the fracking regulations that we’re doing. I expressed an interest in having people visit actual frack sites. I am wondering, first of all, has the Minister ever visited a frack site where, in fact, a horizontal frack was actually underway. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, thanks again to the Minister. Some jurisdictions have banned fracking. That isn’t something they do lightly, so we need to understand the serious concerns that led to this.

As I mentioned, our so-called EDI fracking tour didn’t include a visit to even one fracking site. As part of this information gathering, will the ENR Minister work with the Industry Minister to ensure the promised southern tour of regional leaders includes a visit to a no-fracking jurisdiction and to meet with the Aboriginal leadership with extensive fracking experience in northeastern BC? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. We are in the earliest stages of learning about fracking. The policy development needs are huge and the time frame urgent. We know the drive for fracking is underway in the Sahtu. Funds and time are needed to determine the basis on which to make good management decisions.

Recognizing that the resource will not disappear, will the Minister of ENR commit to ensuring that we dedicate both the funds and the time required to develop a policy on fracking that will protect both our people and our land...

I appreciate the Minister giving some serious consideration to this and looking for opportunities in his role as Minister.

Can we expect a rigorous analysis on how to increase the benefits for the public and thereby buy some real credibility for the Mineral Development Strategy that would incorporate some of the things we’ve been discussing here?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our EDI report on fracking provided a start to learn about fracking, but as we learn more, the management challenge grows. In fact, urgent action is needed to make good decisions. We need to adopt best practices, yes, but what are these, will we actually adopt them, and how will we do so and ensure that they are followed? Many jurisdictions profess a similar commitment but have failed miserably to protect their citizens, despite good intentions.

The need for environmental and geological baseline data essential for good management is clear, but are we committed to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think this Mineral Development Strategy is something that’s underway. I know we’ve got a lot of happy industry out there. I’m not sure that that’s totally in line with the public interest, but we seem to be handing the strategy over to them and saying go for it.

But I want to bounce off the Minister the statement that we don’t need more mines as much as we need more residents working in the mines we have, and better economic rent or return from the extraction of our resources and then replacement of mines as they reach the end of production. A good way to do this would...

Was there an internal competition for these dollars? Obviously you had a couple of projects here, economic mineral development strategies. How did that work? 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.