Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions, as I mentioned in my statement earlier today, are for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. I want to follow up. Obviously, MACA has continuously refused progressive action on building standards, actions that will demonstrably benefit everyone both in terms of costs and adaptation to climate change. I’m wondering, Mr. Speaker, what has the Minister done to ensure this common sense measure is incorporated as one of the core tools in the new Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA is working with communities. They do have an investment, as does this government, through our various boards and agencies and departments to work with communities, to work with all aspects of government services and programs to look to the best building standards possible. In some cases we have direct authority. In some cases we can use moral suasion in how we do our capital plans. MACA is there along with the Energy Alliance, Public Works and all the other arms of government.
The Member knows and has been intimately involved in the process for the Greenhouse Gas Strategy, and as it moves through its process and the time that’s laid out and the steps to be followed, that one of the issues that’s going to be there, in addition to the broader issue of emissions, is going to be standards, energy standards, what is the most appropriate standard and what is the best way to enforce that. As that Greenhouse Gas Strategy comes forward and reaches its conclusion, it will be up to ourselves to ensure that it contains and addresses all those issues. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister is the lead Minister here for this strategy and participants. They’ve held workshops. Participants have brought forward these very measures. They have said we need better energy efficiency standards and building energy efficiency standards provided as a tool in this Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy. Is the Minister proposing to include that and what work is he doing to measure what that will get us in greenhouse gas reductions? Thank you.
Within government there is already clear evidence of our commitment to the proper energy-efficient building standards both in the commercial and residential areas. There is a process we have committed to in terms of consultation and working with the public and stakeholder groups to get their feedback, to get their best advice, and we’re going to do that. It’s not a question of myself, as Minister, standing up and trying to rule by fiat, which does not tend to work that well in a consensus government environment. I’m very sensitive to the Member’s concerns and when we bring this Greenhouse Gas Strategy through its process to fruition, we will be collectively making sure that it addresses all these key areas. Thank you.
I’m appreciative of the Minister’s sensitivity to my interests here. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to refer to the National Roundtable on Environment and Economy report recently released, wherein it was pointed out that the resilience of northern infrastructure systems will be essential for sustainable regional development and forsake our national and northern security interest for all Canadians. They note in there that some of the constraints on the whole process is lack of clear standards and lack of guidance, especially for permafrost regions where structural design standards or guidelines are totally missing. They go on to talk about the lack of coordination and so on. Given that the Minister of MACA is continually refusing to act on this, and I know exactly what the department is doing and not doing on this, I don’t appreciate the defence by this Minister. I wonder if this Minister will work with that department to get this work done. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, we as a government intend to come forward with a Greenhouse Gas Strategy that will address all of these critical areas and it may, in fact, become the position of the government, if not this government maybe the 17th Assembly, that we are going to look at building standards that are applied across the Territory for all construction and all levels of government.
At this point, we have the system that we just talked about. The work is underway to see where the improvements are necessary in terms of regulation and governance, and before this strategy is finalized, it will be up to ourselves, myself and the Member for Weledeh and all the other MLAs in this House, to make sure that it addresses what we think are the needs and priorities of the government or the people in the Northwest Territories and this Legislative Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s comments again here. I think I will look forward to that work. Basically what we need to be doing is determining here what gains can be achieved with this move. That is the responsibility of this Minister at this moment in time so we can use this tool appropriately and responsibly. Does the Minister agree that the standards we have for the GNWT that allow us to benefit so much should be available and made available to all members of the Northwest Territories for all infrastructure? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I think it behooves us all to have as energy-efficient building standards for all people in the Northwest Territories as possible. The issue is going to be to sort through the regulatory and government’s issues to, in fact, be able to allow ourselves to do that so that we, in fact, as the Member indicated, will have a common standard that is as high as the government sets for itself. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
