Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the chair said, the committee spent a great deal of time working on this bill, and largely it was driven by the need to cooperate with our sister territory of Nunavut and work closely with their standing committee. That was a very productive relationship, and we were able to communicate some issues that both sides found with the bill.

However, the unique nature of this legislation where one body exists in two different jurisdictions and is governed by two acts, I think the expectation is that how it works in the NWT will be how it works in Nunavut, and that makes very...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Committee Report 30-18(3): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of Bill 56: Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act and Draft Code of Conduct; Bill 56: An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2; Committee Report 28-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act; Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act; Committee Report 27-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. During committee's review of the early stages of the carbon tax bill, the committee wrote to the department several times and encouraged them to bring forward reporting like this. There are models of carbon pricing in Canada, most notably in British Columbia, that require a tax plan to be tabled every four years, in the BC legislature, that clearly lays out how all of the money is being raised, where it is coming from, and where, ultimately, it is going to be spent. That is part of their budgetary process.

That kind of transparency and clarity is, the committee believes...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This House is well aware of the shortfall to the municipal financing formula that is putting increased cost pressures on our local governments in the Northwest Territories. We have heard many of those governments be concerned that they will be passing on costs to their residents as a result of the shortfall.

The concern that the standing committee heard directly from the NWT Association of Communities is that, without specific rebates or grant programs provided to municipalities in light of the carbon tax, the additional taxes that will be paid on municipal vehicle fleets...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This motion applies to much of the work of the standing committees of the Legislative Assembly. Oftentimes, the committee is put into a position of defending a government bill, and its role is rightfully to review that bill. Having access to some of the questions that the public wants to ask is crucial to ensure that we can clearly define the roles of the executive branch and the legislative branch and so those respective branches of government can operate effectively.

A plain language summary attached to the public consultations on bills such as this one would greatly...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations concluded its review of Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products Tax Act; and Bill 43, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act on August 7, 2019 with a public clause-by-clause review held at the Legislative Assembly building.

The committee read their substantive report into the House yesterday. To commence its review of Bill 42 and Bill 43, the Standing Committee on Government Operations sent letters inviting input from an extensive list of stakeholders, including all municipal and Indigenous governments in the Northwest...

Thank you. In response to the questions from the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Minister made comments to the effect that we would repeal the carbon tax if the federal government scrapped the approach.

I would like to ask the Minister why he is so certain. That sounds like a decision made for the next government, and we have had a whole sitting here where Ministers are telling us that some decisions are left to the next government. Why is the Minister so confident that the next government will scrap the carbon tax once it is in place? I don't know how he is able to make those kind...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a few other questions for the Minister. During this process and in previous communications the government has put out, there has been a claim that the federal government will control how carbon tax revenues are spent, or as the Minister said in his opening comments, "spend the carbon tax revenue as they see fit." Yet the federal government has a stated policy that every dollar raised from a province or territory will return back to the jurisdiction. Can the Minister or his witnesses provide me with a federal policy that contradicts the stated policy that all...

Mr. Chair, I move, to the extent it is possible before the dissolution of the 18th Assembly and for the public record, that the government provide a response to these recommendations, even of a preliminary nature, that committee may publicly disclose. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommend that the Department of Finance undertake a comprehensive review and evaluation of its carbon tax approach, including public consultation, to be completed after the program is fully implemented in 2022. The purpose of the review is to determine the effectiveness of the program on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to assess its impacts on the NWT economy in order to develop program improvements. Thank you, Mr. Chair.