Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the offer from both Ministers to have a briefing. I think it is something that absolutely is necessary. It will certainly forestall the lack of feeling that we are being left out over here on this side of the House.

I wonder if I could ask the Minister how the response was filed without any input from Regular Members. What was the rationale for that? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am a little nonplussed, I guess, by the Minister’s response that he would choose to ignore the request of a standing committee. I want to quote from the letter that was sent to the Hon. Robert R. McLeod sometime in January. The date is not evident here, but from the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, and the chair said, “committee members are very interested in the recommendations made in the JRP report on the Mackenzie Gas Project and want both the opportunity to provide input in the development of a response and an opportunity to review the response before it...

So let’s try that novel idea, Mr. Speaker, the idea of working together with respect and consideration for others. We can accomplish a whole lot more together than we can if we antagonize each other. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following on the statement of the Minister of ENR, this is rather interesting. If I thought my job was depressing last week, yesterday set things up for this week to be even worse. I was aghast to discover yesterday morning that the GNWT had submitted a response to the National Energy Board regarding the recommendations in the Joint Review Panel report. I am not trying to suggest that GNWT should not respond to the JRP recommendations. No, absolutely, we should respond. But if it is the government who’s responding, Regular Members must be included in the development of...

Thanks to the Minister for that. I guess having asked about these two things individually I’d like to now ask the Minister how they relate to each other. Will these two projects operate or be developed in isolation of each other? I would hope not, but could he give me sort of a description, I guess, of how we’re going to set our greenhouse gas targets and also develop an NWT Climate Adaptation Plan and not do them together? Or will they be done together?

Thank you to the Minister for that. I’d like to as well, when we reviewed the business plans there was a discussion about developing an NWT Climate Change Adaptation Plan and I don’t believe I saw any date in there. I think that that work was being undertaken in this current fiscal year. I’d like to ask the Minister if we are developing an NWT Climate Change Adaptation Plan and, if so, is it done or when might it be done.

Thanks to the Minister for that. I’m sorry; I missed that in your remarks. I must have been snoozing. I guess I would like to know if the Minister could elaborate a bit. You’re talking about this plan being a little more expansive. Are you looking to pull in communities, to have communities as part of sort of the overall greenhouse gas emission targets, and/or are you looking to involve individual residents so that they can adapt their activities to try and lower our greenhouse gas emissions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, February 18, 2010, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, February 18, 2010, it shall be adjourned until Monday, February 22, 2010; and further, that any time prior to February 22, 2010, 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...

Mr. Speaker, I guess I have to then ask the Minister of ITI how he can say that that response that was filed with the NEB did not reference the recommendations from the Joint Review Panel. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I guess to clarify, I am looking for an operational audit and also a financial audit. I think, at this point, what I am looking for, and I think some other Members are as well, is to know how much we spent to date, how much we intend to spend to complete this project, because I think there are a lot of hidden costs which aren’t out there. I guess, at this point, I would say yes, I would like a full-blown operational and financial audit when the project is done, but within the near term I would like to see a compilation of all the costs that we...