Bob Bromley

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...

Thank you very much, Mr. Premier.

At this time we don’t have any other speakers on the list. What is the wish of committee?

Next on my list is Mrs. Groenewegen.

Continuing with the response to the Premier’s sessional statement, I’d like to call on Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Chairman, there were many, many things that I liked in the sessional statement, and you know when I say that, there’s more to follow. I thought a number of things did actually reflect some of our early discussions on our priorities and vision. It was when we got to “maximizing opportunities,” and even there I was doing well. I was totally with the Premier until we reached the statement of blind support that says we can do all this with the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. As a biologist in the old days, we always used to look for the one solution, too. And you know what? We never found it. It’s...

I certainly agree with the most economical travel. This government has to be responsible economically, financially. Of course to do that we need full-cost accounting. Obviously air travel is, when it’s fully accounted for, one of the most expensive ways of travelling that’s possible in this world today. You need to account for the subsidies we give to the airports and so on.

Basically, we’ll let you do the necessary research and departmental self-education to engage in a full-cost accounting review in order to minimize our net costs and improve the health of our land and our people through a...

My questions are for the Minister of ITI — Industry, Trade and Investment.

Northerners are certainly quite concerned, as are many Canadians, about the whole issue of climate change. They are aware that we need to do business a lot differently than we have been, and that it is not necessarily easy. They are willing to shoulder their responsibilities to provide leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I’m quite concerned about this policy of not allowing support to be spent in an environmentally responsible way. Will the Minister immediately review the so-called travel policy and make the change to allow...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Minister’s Statement 1-16(2), Sessional Statement, and would like to report. I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

I have no other people on my list, here, so I would like to turn it over to the Premier for any responses.

Mr. Premier.