Debates of May 11, 2007 (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The financial and community, territorial and federal governments, and certainly the developers of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline project, are, I think, still trying to get used to the stunning news of a couple of months ago about the revision, cost and the timing of the pipeline. The cost is more than doubled to something like $16 billion Canadian with a completion date for the project now in 2014. One global energy advisor, a company called Tristone Capital, in a report just last week, said that the very high-risk project, in order to earn the high returns that would normally be required on a project of this nature, is not commercially viable and that it may need as much as $2 billion in government support or financial aid or incentive to make this happen.

Now, Mr. Speaker, many Canadians absolutely shudder at the thought of subsidizing ventures such as Exxon Mobile which had revenues of over $370 billion in 2005. Certainly, we have to take on an abundance of caution whenever we are starting to talk about government support or investment of taxpayers’ money in projects like this. But we have to look at some of the significant barriers we have here in the NWT to our own sustainable development. That really involves infrastructure, the kind of thing we have been talking about of late here, the Deh Cho Bridge, hydro investment, ports and communication facilities. So we have yet to see, Mr. Speaker, any real legacy project arising from the already significant developments that have happened in the NWT. So here it seems is an opportunity for the federal government if they are going to come on board to invest and contribute to this project not through any equity position, Mr. Speaker, or direct subsidy or financial support but in the building of these very crucial, very necessary and I think very significant kinds of investments that will help this project to become a reality and indeed leave the kind of legacy that we need here in the Northwest Territories for generations to come, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause