Statements in Debates
Certainly. With the transition of the National Energy Board having a new employer in regard to the enforcement of the oil and gas exploration, would the National Energy Board be obligated, then, to follow the guidelines that the Northwest Territories Assembly as a whole would want to enforce in regard to the operations such as the hydraulic fracking method?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regards to equality in the Northwest Territories, we see and I’ve read in the newspaper – the Yellowknifer – this morning, that the federal government approved another mine for the Yellowknife area, another diamond mine. So all its benefits, once this mine is approved, this region will see it.
I’m asking the Minister why we don’t have the same type of benefits in the Sahtu region that we know the hydraulic fracking can bring to us. I ask the Minister, would he then seek the guidance of the EDI, maybe working with the EDI committee members to go into the communities...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee strongly recommends that the government take immediate action to identify appropriate and ongoing levels of funding to support the development and expansion of the Mackenzie Valley winter road system beginning the fiscal year 2014-2015.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My questions to Minister Ramsay are on the planning of the infrastructure of the Mackenzie Valley winter road. It is in regard to the amount of traffic that could be there this coming winter. With the amount that we’ve seen or heard of last year, 2,200 trucks coming up from Wrigley to Tulita and then up to Norman Wells and across to the oilfields, I want to state that I was somewhat disappointed when I read the capital infrastructure and didn’t see any type of infrastructure to protect the people and the safety. There’s going to be a lot of trucks on that road and some of...
Certainly I look forward to the approval of the corridor proposal that the Minister talks about and see if it comes to fruition in regard to supporting the transportation issues in the Sahtu and specifically Norman Wells. When I was there I certainly saw a number of airplanes parked and it’s quite crowded in there. Norman Wells, being the second busiest airport on a consistent basis in the Northwest Territories, I’d certainly like to see support for being in that category. We need to continue to support that. I’ll leave it at that.
I want to ask the Minister on the airport in Deline. I do thank...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to say again that the needs in this department, with regard to the infrastructure needs…and certainly being reminded by the Minister of Finance as to the amount of funding we have, and putting the funding where it makes sense and it makes a good business case. I just want to remind the Minister and his officials here of the support that is going to be needed in forthcoming years in the Sahtu region.
I want to ask the Minister in regard to the support for families, single parents. There is a great deal of opportunity coming up in the Sahtu that would greatly...
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, October 24, 2013, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when the House adjourns on October 24, 2013, it shall be adjourned until Monday, October 28, 2013.
And further, at any time prior to October 28, 2013, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the...
Certainly the people in the Sahtu do realize the opportunity that lies right in their backyard on our land. What I’m asking the Minister of ITI is: Is there going to be some sort of a comprehensive checklist? Families who want to go work, there’s the high cost of living. So we need daycares in our communities, Deline, Good Hope, Tulita, Norman Wells, Colville Lake. We need to provide training opportunities in the Sahtu.
Will the Minister be coming forward to say this is a comprehensive checklist so that we can take advantage of the opportunity of hydraulic fracking in the Sahtu? We know that. I...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the observation made by Thomas Edison, who is a well-known inventor who had trials and tribulations before he got the incandescent light right. I want to talk about the issue of technology called hydraulic fracking. I will direct my questions to the Minister of ITI on this issue in the Sahtu.
No matter what we saw in the Bakken and the east corner of Saskatchewan, is the Minister looking at some sort of a checklist in the social, environmental, cultural and economics when we look at fracking in the Sahtu. Do you check that yes, we...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thomas Edison once observed that the reason most folks don’t recognize opportunity when it comes along is that it is often dressed in coveralls and it looks like work.
Opportunities in the Sahtu and opportunities in the Northwest Territories involve a great amount of work and the willingness to take a chance on something. We are told we take hold of opportunities and know the outcome, which may be uncertain. There has been a lot of media awareness, protests and discussion in the North about the Sahtu’s oil play and, more importantly, the use of the technology hydraulic...