Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk to you, our Premier, MLAs and all people of the Northwest Territories. I am gravely concerned that this budget does not address some crucial issues.
As the Premier said on CBC this morning, we have to start taking actions to secure the future. Unfortunately, this government does not appear to have a good grasp of the key issues we face today. In a nutshell, government planning and budgeting must recognize and respond to the full implications of climate change and the rising costs and uncertain availability of oil. Almost daily, between reports of catastrophic weather events, scientific reports reveal that we have woefully underestimated both the magnitude and speed of climate change. Impacts include the loss of species, decreases in food production, increasing disease and transportation issues, loss of cultures, landscape change and so on. We feel impacts in every aspect of our lives, our business and our government.
As Rajendra Pachauri said when he accepted the Nobel Prize on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.” Mr. Pachauri said this last year.
The Minister of Finance proposes to spend one-third of 1 per cent of the budget on mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Worse than this, Mr. Speaker, is the absence of a comprehensive, government-wide program to aggressively reduce the cause of climate change and to change how we do business in the NWT. We need a workable relationship with the natural world; we identified this need in our vision, goals and priorities. Time is running out. We need action to secure our future.
The second crucial issue to residents of the NWT is the declining availability of oil as we pass peak oil — the point where 50 per cent of our global resources have been used up, and thus the high cost of oil today and in the future. Mr. Speaker, we have used up the cheap oil, the price is soaring, there is no ready economic alternative, and availability of oil is increasingly uncertain. We in the North are currently totally dependent on oil; it’s the foundation for our heating, our food, our shelter, our health….
Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This shortage of oil was forecast, but it’s happening now.
Mr. Speaker, both of these issues are upon us. The 16th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories will decide our future. The opportunity, the responsibility, the requirement for immediate, comprehensive and effective action is ours. In light of the facts and today’s communications, we cannot deny that we are fully aware of these issues. History will record our response to these critical challenges. The time for action is now. Mahsi.
The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
