Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to touch briefly on the science agenda and climate change efforts of the department. In my opening comments, I spoke about the excellent work that ENR has done, developing expertise and gathering knowledge on climate change. I wonder if the Minister can explain the relationship of any we have with the Natural Sciences and Engineer Council of Canada in regards to expanding our knowledge on climate change and being of assistance to developing this body of knowledge across Canada. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very proud to be a member of this community, but I'm also proud to be a Member of this House and I'm going to bring forward that idea now. So can the Minister commit to developing an incentive for companies to provide alternative energy solutions to industrial activities in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That work is important work. There are some mines in southern jurisdictions that have converted to 100 per cent electrified processes, which has greatly reduced their greenhouse gas emissions, something that is unlikely to happen in the Northwest Territories.

Is there a plan along with these transportation corridors to expand power supplies for communities and mines? Is that a tangible plan, or are we just talking about it with people in the North?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Jay Bulckaert and Pablo Saravanja from the Artless Collective. They were big creative forces behind the Dead North Film Festival I spoke about earlier today. Without their mentorship and guidance for the next generation of northern filmmakers, I think we would be further behind than we actually are. Keep making great films and keep helping put the North on the map. Thanks, guys.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for that answer from the witnesses. Is it an opinion of the Minister that we have a capacity to host our own industrial research chair here in the Northwest Territories to be of the lead on climate change research for Canada’s North? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just briefly, I think climate change is a crucial issue, not just for us here in the Northwest Territories but for Canada and the world. In fact, perhaps more so for Northerners, we’ve been combatting or struggling with low water levels; increased forest fires; we’ve seen new species entering the Northwest Territories; rising sea levels and coastal erosion; and, of course, our economy is dependent on ice roads which are increasingly seeing degrees of fluctuation, unprecedented degrees of fluctuation.

Thankfully, this department and the government as a whole have placed a...

I would say priorities of building that road, which I support, go hand in hand with the priorities of building a transmission line, and it's debatable which one would come first. It does appear that one is much farther off. Has the department ever considered providing financial incentives for companies or think tanks to provide alternative energy to the mines, specifically, creating a prize for those projects?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Minister responsible for Public Works and Services. We have made a commitment to reduce a certain per centage of our greenhouse gas emissions in line with international agreements and with our own commitments. We also have an obligation to support our mining industry and to develop new mines. So how is the Northwest Territories going to do both, essentially, when one new mine can increase our greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 25 per cent? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, I had the profound enjoyment of taking in this year's Dead North Film Festival, watching 31 short films that capture the imagination and creativity of Northerners. Dead North is the world's only circumpolar genre film festival and has produced 90 original short films over the past five years. These films are not short on originality, Mr. Speaker, cutting across horror, science fiction, and fantasy genres, and for the most part, shot in familiar locations here in Canada's North. These films touch on themes as diverse as the traumatic legacy...

I know the Minister likes to be fiscally prudent along with his Cabinet colleagues. The Minister said that he believes that is sufficient to maintain public confidence. How is he coming to that conclusion? Has he consulted with the people of the Northwest Territories on the subject of a lobbyist registry? How do we know this for sure? Has any consultation been performed on behalf of his portfolio to gauge what the public is looking for, for increased public accountability from this government?