Bob Bromley

I think the Minister knows that the committee is highly supportive of this program but we sort of assume the basics are being covered. The one obvious target for information on this program is the Coalition Against Family Violence. That’s the starting point. I’m told the coalition was not informed of the existence of this program. That would be a key part of their strategy development. I’m asking this Minister how this could occur. Is there not a mechanism in place to ensure that your obvious partners are part of it?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Enormous environmental benefits could accrue if the Con Mine community energy system goes ahead. On carbon emissions reductions alone the project is a huge winner. The project will displace Yellowknife’s fuel oil consumption by seven million litres a year, providing a 17,000 tonne reduction in greenhouse gases. That’s the equivalent of taking half the vehicles in Yellowknife off the road. It also cancels the emissions from thousands of fuel haul trucks.

Emissions from buildings connected to the system, the largest buildings in the city, will drop by 95 percent...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to speak principally to the elements of the bill dealing with contracting employment of Ministers and Members after they leave office. I’d like to begin by thanking the members of the independent commission and all the staff that have done considerable work towards putting this bill together and my colleagues for discussions we’ve had over it.

I’d like to go back to the public climate that focused attention on these matters. Members will remember particularly the case of two sole-sourced contracts with a total value of $225,000 awarded to two former Ministers...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for those comments. I want to just be clear that we’re distinguishing between the market economy impacts and the domestic economy is what I’m talking about here. So nobody has ever come to me from ITI and said you’ve lived on caribou for 25 years and never bought red meat, what’s the impact of this caribou crash? Those are the sorts of things. So will the Minister commit to bring something forward to committee to begin the discussion on this and move towards that? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate those comments from the Minister. In fact, the domestic economy is recognized generally as being even larger than the market economy and yet we still don’t have these important statistics on it, so I really appreciate that intent. I look forward to working with the Minister on that.

Will the Minister agree that if we are going to know or talking about here and balance off the various options that we have in development and market economy, will we be measuring the value of child care and home care, the value of education and services provided in the domestic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to congratulate the City of Yellowknife for its national recognition with a 2011 Sustainable Communities Award from the Canadian Federation of Municipalities. The award recognizes the City’s outstanding work in developing its Smart Growth Development Plan.

Creation of the plan involved public consultation with over 2,000 residents and consultation with local First Nations. It tackles such issues as urban design, land use, preservation of natural areas, transportation, economic development and energy use. The plan is a roadmap to improve the environmental...

Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate the Minister’s comments. I realize this is not commonly done so there is not a lot of good methodology out there, so we have some work to do. Beyond measuring it, I think monitoring could be important. What was the economic impact of the caribou population crash, for example, to our domestic economy? What was the importance of rising mercury in the fish as a result of climate change or large dams, more industrial activity? Do we have the potential to measure those impacts? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on the Minister’s statement this morning or earlier today on the traditional economy, the Minister of ITI. I want to start by agreeing with him that the traditional economy is indeed a critical part of our total economy. I support the Minister’s statement on this. I am wondering how much we are doing in the way of measuring this. If we really value it, we should be measuring it. Are we measuring the importance of berries, mushrooms, garden produce, fish and trade of the same between families? I am thinking not on those things that are actually...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve often been told that only the federal government can regulate industry proposals through the environmental review process, but here we now have evidence that there are two ways to skin a cat, so I appreciate that. Will the Premier ensure that in fact the Greenhouse Gas Strategy does include the ability to regulate carbon emissions from the development project as one of the key tools obviously required in such a strategy?

I appreciate those comments from the Premier. I think it’s a better way of going about business, a good comprehensive approach. I’ve noticed that many of our development projects that are proceeding are happening slowly, often with five to 10-year time frames, perhaps even longer. With this is an opportunity for suitable hydro development options to be proposed and considered and assisted. Yet we seem to either go for the huge, get-rich-quick schemes, like the Taltson to the mines, or we sit idly by and allow time to pass so that they’re finessed into using diesel generation. Will the Premier...