Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That dinner was a tough act to follow.

I made some remarks when we were discussing the committee report a couple of days ago where I thanked committee and the public, and I don't really want to go over that ground again, but I want to say that I do personally agree with legalization. I wish that we had more time, though, and that much of our efforts, and I think most of the efforts have been very well-intentioned, have been really fraught with poor communications. We have had to deal with a whole set of very complex, difficult issues, and it has been very divisive. I think we...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I was going to let it go, too, but now I am not. This corporation was set up in 2005. If this had been identified as a problem a while ago, it should have been fixed a long time ago. The only reason this is before us today is because of Cabinet's fiscal strategy of cutting programs and services to fund infrastructure, and that is a strategy that I have opposed from the beginning, and that is why this is before us here though, is to try to help BDIC out of this hole that has been created by Cabinet's fiscal strategy. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I don't want to flog a dead horse here, but what gets tabled in the House, though, that is only after the Minister has approved it, presumably. So I want to know whether the Minister has actually approved the request by BDIC, the full request, or not, so can the Minister share that kind of information with standing committee? If it has to be done on a confidential basis, that is fine. I just want to know how this is going to operate the first couple of years. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

The Executive's 2030 Energy Strategy and a Climate Change Strategic Framework relies heavily upon greenhouse gas reductions, supposedly resulting from a major expansion of the Taltson hydro-electric system.

Could the Minister describe the phases of the Taltson hydro-electric expansion set out in the 2030 Energy Strategy, including the following:

Identify the timeframes of construction, how each phase of construction will be financed, and to whom will the energy be sold;

Po...

I look forward to the briefing and getting the letter tabled so that we can tell the public what is going on. Our government apparently participated with federal government experts to prepare some sort of a study on the impacts of carbon pricing on the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister tell us whether that study has been completed and, if so, when it will be publicly released?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance on the issue of carbon pricing. I would like to start with something simple. The federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada wrote to all her provincial and territorial counterparts on December 20, 2017. She requested a response by March 30, 2018 on whether each jurisdiction would implement its own carbon pricing scheme or rely on the federal government. Last time I asked the Minister of Finance, in April, we still had not responded, so can the Minister tell us and the general public if he has written a...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I'm going to support this, but I think that the expectations of some, in terms of the economic opportunities from cannabis sales, are not going to be nearly as significant as some folks seem to claim, and I am worried that we are setting up some people to fail by raising some very high expectations around this. I do think that there are probably more significant opportunities available around local production, but that is going to take a bit of time to sort out, as well. We do have programs under SEED that could support both, I think, sales and production. Having...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I will support this motion, but this is exactly the kind of task that could have been assigned to an advisory committee, had the committee been given the proper mandate and membership and so on.

You know, I served on the Waste Reduction and Recovery Advisory Committee to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources for 10 years. I chaired it for a good part of that, as well. It was made up of a number of representatives with expertise in various areas, and it did provide, I think, good advice to the Minister. I think it has also allowed for the waste reduction and...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do want to start with some general remarks. It was a real privilege to travel to seven communities outside Yellowknife as part of this joint effort. I went to Ulukhaktok; that's the first time that I've had a chance to go to that community. We were made welcome in all the communities, and I want to certainly thank everyone for their assistance with the travel and logistics, and especially those who provided their input during the process.

I'm not going to speak at length about what's in the report, but I do want to note that this does represent a fundamental change for many...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to thank the Minister for that response, but he did not answer the question, again. This study that was done in collaboration with federal government experts on the impacts on the Northwest Territories of carbon pricing, is it done, and, if so, can he share it publicly?