Bob Bromley

Thank you for that response. I am concerned and will be interested in getting some more details on that.

I think I heard the Premier indicate earlier to Mrs. Groenewegen that he will be looking into what the costs would be for the G.N.W.T. to get out of this project or terminate the work. I’ll be interested in that. Is there a date when we can expect the estimate on that cost?

Yeah, I understand that Transportation would have done some work there. I’m looking for some assurance that the benefits will accrue to us. I think that issue of migrant workers has been raised. We already know that we are shipping out $350 million a year because of that. We know that there’s a shortage of workers. I’m looking for some assurance that we’re not just, again, piling on these projects that benefit the rest of Canada while robbing resources from the North.

So what are we doing to ensure that we’re not exacerbating the migrant workforce problem? What assurances have we got?

Mr. Speaker, youth are our future and a clear priority of this Assembly. I rise to report on a highly successful program, that of the Northern Youth Abroad charitable organization. Through the considerable hard work of many, many volunteers, this dedicated group promotes leadership, cross-cultural awareness, individual career goals and international citizenship to our youth across the Northwest Territories.

Northern Youth Abroad helps youth aged 15 to 21 to understand themselves and their personal cultural strengths and context within the Canadian and global societies. It provides a life...

Mr. Chairman, a couple of things pop out for me. The first one is the $2 million across departments to fund increased utility costs. Not unrelated, the second one is $1.2 million for additional funds going towards the territorial power subsidy program.

I think we have big opportunities for energy savings and doing things in a better way that’s both cheaper and beneficial to our environment. I, of course, have been bringing some of those ways forward, and I know the Premier and his cabinet are aware of those. But I think it highlights, as well, some of the infrastructure, like the mini-hydro run...

Yeah, I appreciate that. I guess the concern is liabilities, in particular, if the bridge is delayed. I think if you talk to many businesses in the North, their businesses have experienced a lot of delays. We are experiencing a lot of delays in our capital projects and infrastructure and so on. My constituents are raising their concern. They are seeing a bridge that is half-completed and sits there and takes twice as a long to build and so on.

Mr. Speaker, do we have liabilities, or do our costs increase if the period of construction extends significantly beyond the three years currently...

Again, I appreciate all the initiatives that I’m hearing about here. Probably the biggest single thing we can do is levy a carbon tax or some way of pricing our carbon emissions so that our industry, especially large industry, will get on board. Are the Premier and his cabinet contemplating that move?

You know, I don’t doubt that we could use help, and everybody would like to minimize our costs and so on. But I think we have a huge potential to do lots of things ourselves. I am again looking for leadership on this issue. I am sure the Premier picked up a lot of things, with the sharing of ideas and so on.

What insights did the Premier pick up that will enable us to move forward with or without help from outside this jurisdiction, given that our population is quite concerned and the costs are accruing to us?

Thank you, colleagues.

More than half of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are all currently in talks to set up a carbon cap and trade system. Did we consider joining them at the recent Premiers’ conference on climate change? Are we moving aggressively to implement a carbon tax to provide the level playing field for all our businesses and to stimulate environmentally and socially responsible economic development?

This is a responsible leadership opportunity, Mr. Speaker. The time to move is now. I will measure the strength of this House on the political will and leadership we demonstrate on this...

Yesterday our Premier indicated that the term “carbon-neutral” had not been heard before in this House. I would like to build on one aspect of this concept: economic tools for eliminating carbon emissions and thus mitigating climate change.

A new report of the National Round Table on the Economy and the Environment, entitled “Getting to 2050: Canada’s Transition to a Low-Emission Future,” states the obvious: climate change is upon us.

Of key interest to me, however, was the authors’ conclusions that with a proactive and immediate response, we can also take advantage of some unique opportunities...

Thanks to the Premier for that response. It’s great to hear about those things, and I am sure our public will be on board to help out with those initiatives.

I don’t want to cloud the issue of prevention or mitigation with adaptation. When we are spending money to change the way we build airport strips, that is adapting to the changes that are happening now. We need to balance that with efforts directed at preventing further climate change. So I’d like to keep those distinctions there.

I appreciate the moves that we’re making to adapt to climate change, but adaptation is basically spending a lot...