Bob Bromley

Thanks to the Minister for that commitment. One has to question the care that was taken in the planning of these exercises to ensure protection of public safety and infrastructure. Has this government contacted the commanders of these exercises and requested assurance and a detailed explanation of measures being taken to prevent further harm to people and vital infrastructure or will we do that contact soon?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation and it’s my hope I can get answers beyond finalizing devolution as the answer to all of my questions. The hydro supply for Yellowknife and Behchoko was recently knocked out by the Canadian Military’s current exercises for our protection. We face a huge bill for one kilometre of transmission line repairs, elevated fuel costs replacing hydro with diesel power for at least 10 days, and associated expenses. Will the Minister be sending an invoice to the federal Minister of National Defence for a...

Thanks for that response from the Minister. I appreciate that. Will the Minister commit to immediately revising the Greenhouse Gas Policy to remove the policy of allowing greenhouse gas emissions to soar to 100 percent above earlier emissions by 2020 and replace it with a more responsible policy in line with the science with which he agrees?

Yes, Mr. Speaker?

Most of my Member’s statement was in fact dedicated to that, but I’d be happy to offer a lot of suggestions. We have elected this Minister to lead us and I’m expecting… This was raised in the last session, as you are well aware, having ruled on various points of order and so on. Now we’re finally getting back to the debate here. Obviously, months have gone by and there’s still no response. I’d like to ask that question again. What is this Minister doing, what is he prepared to do to modify our policies and laws to address the concerns on greenhouse gas emissions?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to address my questions to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources today. Following up on my Member’s statement earlier, I would like to begin by asking: What is this government’s position on the federal proposal to collapse the regional land and water boards established under the MVRMA into one board? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal government’s proposal to collapse the regional land and water boards into one big board is disturbing, unnecessary and possibly unconstitutional.

The regional boards were created under claims processes to provide for regional and local control over the pace and scale of development. Federal negotiator Mr. Pollard says the proposed changes are needed to “meet Canada’s long-term interest of having a single land and water board structure.” Makes a nice sound bite, but a single board does nothing to meet the real problem: failure of implementation.

No less than...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly support this motion and I think, at the same time, I would like to see us direct Cabinet to look into some productive ways to spend these dollars, if we do indeed have these dollars.

I didn’t get a chance to or didn’t remember to ask whether these were theoretical dollars, debt dollars we were spending or not. Dollars we don’t have. I think that’s one of the important aspects of it.

The other thing is I think we need, before we go down this road, an appreciation of the cost-benefit analysis side of the equation. I’d like to get a briefing on that. The old...

In the interest of debate, I prefer not to go to rules, so I’m happy to move on.

I’d like to perhaps just sum up my input with the following: First of all, we do seem to be so rushed to get this baby birthed that we are guaranteeing a premature baby with all the challenges associated. I think we need to go forward but we need to go forward with good and thorough planning reassured by a reasonable time schedule. Unlike the Minister of Transportation, I do not see that as a waste of time. His reference to taking a reasonable amount of time, that’s not a waste of time, in my mind. Let’s complete...

Yes, Mr. Chairman. I would suggest that in the scenario the Minister paints, if Yellowknife did not have a road, undoubtedly this road would not be happening in that scenario and under these conditions, and I agree with that. That is the oversight and accountability that we are trying to bring from this side of the House. Thank you.