Bob Bromley

Thank you to the Premier for that response. I will share some of those resources with the Premier and, hopefully, Cabinet. My colleague mentioned February 13th Divestment Day. I’m sure the Premier has heard that many billions of dollars have been divested away from fossil fuels around the world. It’s a bit of a movement from people recognizing the extreme degree of action that’s required. The Rockefellers and so on have divested their interest in fossil fuels.

Will this government recognize that sort of thing and bring that into their thinking? The science clearly says that we must be moving...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize the lady in the pink house, the irrepressible Gail Cyr, a resident of Weledeh. I also appreciate very much the work that’s being done and the people who are attending the school. So, hats off to the Status of Women Council staff. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning, colleagues. Recent articles in the prestigious Nature science journal show that in order to salvage even a 50 percent chance of stopping dangerous climate change, as mentioned by my colleague Mr. Nadli, most of the untapped fossil fuels worldwide need to stay in the ground. Specifically, 80 percent of known coal reserves, 50 percent of gas and 30 percent of oil reserves must be left untapped over the next 40 years to keep to the internationally agreed upon limit of a two degree increase in average global temperature.

With additional study and taking into...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome to the Minister and his guests.

I’ll just start by saying I appreciated the budget as the Minister laid it out. I thought it was a reasonably good budget as far as it went. It was certainly a good budget speech, although we might want to think about how to present in additional engaging ways and response. But there was much that was unsaid as well. I don’t expect the Minister to be able to cover everything. But I want to acknowledge that it was a very frank and honest budget, acknowledging fully many of our challenges. The unsustainable nature of our current...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion. I would like to just put out a few points, some of which may have been presented already by my colleagues and I think they have done a great job at listing many of the benefits.

First of all, would an ombudsman impinge on an MLA’s work? This has been something that I’ve thought about for quite a while, and I have concluded today, no. MLAs are adept at seeking the best support for their constituents. They will quickly identify the ombudsman as a critical tool, a critical arrow in their quiver when needed, but also Cabinet, I believe, will...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the Minister has a vision. Again, some specifics would help us get on board with that.

What are the checks and balances in response to these challenges that are out there? If there is a fair chance that this P3 initiative will fail, based on vast experience nationally and internationally, as we saw with the Deh Cho Bridge boondoggle and so on, but most notably with the building and retrofitting of hospitals in other jurisdictions such as Ontario, what is this government going to do? What is this government doing to ensure we have the fiscal capacity to...

Thanks for the Minister’s response. I’m sure all the other jurisdictions that have had such failures have similarly done the analysis and so on. A 2012 study of 28 Ontario P3 projects worth more than $7 billion found that public-private partnerships cost an average of 16 percent more than conventionally tendered contracts. That’s mainly because private borrowers typically pay higher interest rates than governments. Transaction costs for lawyers and consultants also add about 3 percent to the final bill, and of course, private financiers are looking for a large return on their investments.

Speci...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate, again, the Minister’s response and commitment there. As we know, interest and potential for partnerships to develop a strategy to build an arts hub is high, and with a clear vision, a business plan and government support, this immense opportunity indeed could be realized. It can play a huge role in our territorial economy, and it’s been proven in many jurisdictions.

Will the Minister put out a call indicating exactly how partners, the latent partners out there, the many talented NWT artists and arts organizations, the private sponsors in the NWT and the...

Thanks to the Minister. I know in our communities we have a lot of facilities that are very supportive of their artists, but of course, their facilities are overworked and overused. What we are talking about is an NWT arts centre. I appreciate the Minister looking into this. The arts contribute to the economies, social debate, culture and identity, as we have said. In fact, in Nunavut the production of art is often the major local economic engine. Every jurisdiction in Canada seems to realize this and support their artists with a fine arts school or equivalent program. The NWT does not. Again...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A diverse and committed arts community exists in the Northwest Territories with literally dozens of groups in the areas of dance, theatre, music, film, visual arts, crafts and many more. Organizations may be small, but they are big on hard work, enthusiasm, commitment and inclusive programs that reach out across our communities.

Artists understand and acknowledge how the arts function to support our social strengths, our health and well-being. Hill Research Strategies in Ottawa reports reveal the link between the arts and student engagement and education, positive...