David Ramsay

Leadership is not taking a world-class opportunity that we have in the territory and putting it on the sideline. What we’re trying to do is manage this. We’re trying to get out; we’re trying to educate the public; we’ve been to many communities; we’re halfway through the process that’s underway today; and we can manage this resource.

I’m getting the feeling that some Members on the other side of the House don’t believe that we can manage this resource and that we can do it in an effective way. We want to manage the environmental concerns. We want to manage the opportunity that this presents us...

On April 1, 2014, this government made a commitment to the people of the Northwest Territories to devolve and then evolve. We have been at this for just over a year, it is an evolution process. We are continuing to work on a process, and I know the Member is saying we should ask that question right up front. The process isn’t even halfway through. Yesterday in this House I committed to giving us as much time as we need. We are going to take to the end of August to get public comment.

We are going to go through this process, and Members on that side of the House seem to want to pre-empt that...

Mr. Speaker, resource development has long been the foundation of our territory’s economy.

Our rich mining and oil and gas sectors have generated significant employment, skill development and wealth. Vital economic infrastructure that continues to advance economic growth in other sectors was, in many cases, first built to support resource development.

We now have locally owned and operated airlines, hotels, restaurants, construction firms, telecommunications and logistics companies, and service and supply industries. They are evidence of the capacity of northern and Aboriginally owned businesses...

No, we haven’t. The other thing I should mention is that not all reservoirs are created equally. There are different types of rocks. Some hydraulic fracturing that would occur, say, in the Bakken, would require more water than it would in the central Mackenzie Valley. It all depends on the type of rock, and the rock we’re talking about with Canol and Blue Fish wouldn’t require as much water as other hydraulic fracturing operations around North America. That’s definitely something I think we need to continue to get out.

I believe there have been 175,000 wells for shale oil that have been...

I think, with the resource that is in the Sahtu, it’s important that the government continue to take the long game approach to the development of those resources. Two big decisions were made. Obviously, the decision to move forward with devolution and negotiate a deal for the people of the Northwest Territories, that was very important. The other decision that was key to all of this was the fact that we wanted to build the capacity to regulate the oil and gas industry here in the Northwest Territories. We didn’t want to be regulated from Calgary; we wanted to have some input on policy, on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a constituent in the gallery today, Ms. Cheryl Fennell. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to Return to Written Question 27-17(5), I wish to table the following four documents, entitled “City of Yellowknife Energy Use,” “Annual Water Withdrawal Rates for Imperial Oil – Norman Wells Project,” “Annual Withdrawal Rates for City of Yellowknife” and “Annual Water Withdrawal Rates for Diavik Diamond Mines.”

Also, further to my Return to Written Question 29-17(5), I wish to table the following three documents, entitled “Workforce Residency at Diavik Diamonds and Snap Lake Mines,” “Water Volumes Removed at Ekati and Diavik Diamond Mines” and “Number of Large...

There are many things we can do. We continue to discuss with industry, opportunities to partner. We have to look at the opportunities to invest and continue to invest in infrastructure that is going to lend itself to resource development here in the Northwest Territories. I mentioned a lot of that in my Minister’s statement earlier today as well. This is a long-term approach. This is why it is so vitally important that we get our Oil and Gas Strategy together so we can collect our thoughts and move forward on developing resources on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories.

In the case...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This was welcome news for us. It’s something we’ve known for a long time, is that there is great resource potential for both oil and gas in the central Mackenzie Valley. The report would indicate that there are close to 200 billion barrels of oil there. We have only drilled two wells. I believe Conoco was the company that drilled two wells in the area. There is a lot of work that will go into determining what the resource really will be like. The exploration should continue and wells can be drilled and a determination made on what that resource would look like, but if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents, entitled “Take One: Northwest Territories Film Strategy and Action Plan,” “Communities and Diamonds: 2014 Annual Report of the Government of the Northwest Territories under the Ekati, Diavik and Snap Lake Socio-economic Agreements;” and “2014 Annual Report, Northwest Territories Public Utilities Board.” Thank you.