Michael Miltenberger

We’ve been in the oil business for literally decades. There has been a tremendous amount of traditional vertical drilling and fracking. The issue of horizontal is something that is, from my understanding, new to the Northwest Territories and is being looked at carefully through the process we’ve just been talking about here in this House. I’m not aware that there was any other horizontal fracking that I’m aware of.

We, as a government, are aware of the need to do, within the Sahtu, some regional groundwater mapping. The baseline work on wildlife, that work is underway. There is work being done through the Environmental Studies Research Fund, which is a fund and a program that involves the federal government and the territorial government as well as assistance from industry. We’ve got money invested there, nearly a million dollars as well. The industry representatives have been very forthcoming in terms of offering to share the site-specific work that they have to do in regard to groundwater and wildlife...

Mr. Speaker, the attribution of motive is not something I want to engage in. We know what is before us. We’re waiting for the federal Minister to give a public response. In the meantime, some work is carrying on. It has been taken out of the EA that has been deemed to be critical with the roaster and underground stabilization and such, but other than that, the project remains under care and maintenance until the federal Minister releases the final decision following the response from Ministers. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this is a project on a site that is under federal responsibility. The federal Minister of AANDC has hold of the pen and is investing his department. We, like everybody else, are awaiting his public release and approval of the report and the agreed to modifications. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Dolynny on March 4, 2014, regarding tobacco tax collection and reporting.

Statistics Canada conducts the Canadian Community Health Survey on an annual basis in the Northwest Territories. This survey collects self-reported cigarette consumption and is publically available from a variety of sources, including the Statistics Canada website.

In the Department of Finance, the tax administration section collects tobacco product data as part of the tax collection process. Wholesalers of tobacco products sold to retailers in the NWT report their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, June 2, 2014, I will move that Bill 28, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2014-2015, be read for the first time. Thank you.

As the individual projects are permitted, there are going to be the requirements to look at those types of issues. What we are committing to, of course, is a thorough monitoring on an ongoing basis. We’ll be able to track to very, very close range the need to go below groundwater tables and then there will be ongoing monitoring on site. We’ve also developed a process across the Northwest Territories with community-based groundwater monitoring that we’ll be looking and testing water on a regular basis, so we are going to have all the steps and best practices in place that we need to provide...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are aware of the report. We have done extensive work, a couple of years at least, of our own work looking at best practices and looking at other jurisdictions. There has been a lot of on-the-ground research done. Mr. Ramsay has taken a number of groups to different sites to take a look first-hand. We now have regulatory authority, we have a development assessment process. We are looking at that report along with all the other work that’s out there in terms of the best practices. As we look at the issue of hydraulic fracking, how do we do it in the best way possible...

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2014-2015.”