David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We worked long and hard to get our Devolution Agreement with the federal government. We also made a decision to regulate the oil and gas industry here in the Northwest Territories ourselves. Had we not made that decision, the industry would be regulated from Calgary by the National Energy Board, and Members on the other side of the House would not have the opportunity to question anybody and our government wouldn’t have opportunity to influence policy or direction on regulations. That would be left up to the National Energy Board of Canada.

What we have in front of us is...

We need to know what we’re getting ourselves into. We’ve spent the last four years, we’ve had trips to the Bakken, to Calgary with Members of the standing committee. We are trying to learn and trying to understand, and as I mentioned in response to some questions yesterday, not every basin is the same. The water quantity that would be required to frack a well in the central Mackenzie Valley is not the same as the Bakken. The geology is much different. We have to understand all of these things. It’s easy to make a decision and just cast an opportunity aside. We want to study that opportunity...

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...

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 move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.