Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 26, Statistics Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 2018 fire season was well below average for the Northwest Territories. A total of 56 fires were reported, affecting 13,222 hectares. In comparison, there were 249 fires and just over 860,000 hectares burned in 2017. The 25-year average is 231 fires and about 686,000 hectares burned each fire season.

As a government, it is important for us to be able to provide assistance to other Canadian jurisdictions, as many of them have helped us during previous wildland fire seasons. The relatively inactive fire season allowed Northwest Territories personnel and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 27, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019, be read for the second time. Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of Northwest Territories for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 27, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 28, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019, be read for the third time, and Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I did not confirm that about the large emitters. What I confirmed was that 75 percent would be rebated back to them, and the other 25 percent would be going to their investments into greenhouse gas emissions. You could look at it another way. With all the corporate tax that they are paying, they are funding a lot of the programs that we offer across the Northwest Territories. They do make a contribution to that as well.

To the Member's question, the draft action plan, we shared that with committee, Indigenous governments, and organizations for a four-week review commencing at the end of October...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If that is the type of information that committee would like to see as we go before committee, debating the capital budget before we get to the floor, maybe we can provide that type of information rather than having it here, if that would be the wish of committee. That way, they will have a general idea of the life cycle during the debate of the capital estimates before we bring them on the floor, if that works for committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government has proposed that there will be an MOU signed with the three territories. It turned out the MOU is largely applicable to our sister territories because they were using the federal backstop. The federal government had indicated just recently that they are not advancing the MOU with us, as what would be included has already occurred. With the release earlier this week, the federal government has confirmed their agreement with the proposed NWT approach to carbon pricing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the committee for some of their comments, and we hear their concerns. Members are absolutely correct. This is probably the biggest capital budget this territory has ever seen, and, with some of the carry-over, I think that increases it even more. This is much-needed investment in a territory where things are very slow now, and we see the importance of a lot of the capital investment across the Northwest Territories.

There were some concerns with the money that was going into roads, but you have to be without a road to understand the importance of having a road. I...

You're absolutely correct, Mr. Chair.