Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Earlier today the honourable Minister tabled a letter from Mario Renault's chief of staff to the honourable Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada. This is Tabled Document, I believe, 497-18(3). This letter concerns the implementation date of this plan, and also a potential implementation date for the federal backstop. Could the Minister confirm whether or not a copy of Tabled Document 497-18(3) was provided to Members prior to its tabling in the House? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister responsible for GNWT procurement policies has made a standing offer to hear complaints on the floor of the House concerning government procurement, and today I rise once again to bring forward the concerns of my constituents.

The Business Incentive Program statement of policy is to "provide an incentive to NWT-based businesses in a manner that recognizes the higher cost of operating in the NWT." I have a constituent now who asks why certain companies have been grandfathered into the Business Incentive Program registry without having to meet the same...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The purpose of this motion is twofold: one is to immediately provide up to nearly four months of tax relief to NWT taxpayers, because that would be the time between the passage of the act pass and to be implemented January 1st, especially during the cold winter months. I believe the savings are in the public's interest.

The second is a more fundamental question which is, who should decide on such a fundamental change as adding a significant tax to a jurisdiction whose number one public issue is the cost of living. Members have spoken at length about how dissatisfied they...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to clarify that I am in no way implicating the department in my criticism. I am criticizing this Minister for his approach to carbon tax and his willingness to engage or not engage. The cost of living issues are well-canvassed, but I did some number-crunching today and after the GNWT's plan is fully implemented, a family of four will receive $1,120 versus the federal backstop rebate under climate change incentive payments of $1,200. The federal plan is more generous in the form of personal rebates based on known information. I think that it is misleading to say...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand there was correspondence between the chair of the committee, but not the committee proper. So, to set the record straight, the committee did not weigh in on this. That being said, we know that the Alberta backstop will come in place January 1, 2020. Did the Minister inquire as to whether the September 1st date was negotiable? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am sympathetic to my colleague bringing this forward. I serve on the committee where this was first discussed. Again, I won't reflect on the disposition of that outcome. My concern around this is the impact it might have on those small-scale businesses. We talk a lot about wanting certainty in statute when reviewing legislation.

Again, I am sympathetic to the idea of a large chemical plant requiring a posted security. A mandatory security on a retail outlet or something along those lines that has less impact on the land that it occupies, I think, might be a bit of an...

Thank you. Can the Minister confirm that the time on Tabled Document 497-18(3) is 1:01 p.m.? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is consistent with other motions that the committee has brought forward, including amendments to bills that I will not reflect on further. This is an important piece of business moving forward into the next Assembly. We have this peculiar artefact in the Petroleum Resources Act that my colleague spoke of where there is a public gazetting process. The federal policy on this is to allow for public comment during gazetting, and in the case of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, outright consultation with Indigenous governments if any regulations are to be...

This issue isn't new to the Minister, and he should be able to know his file well enough that he doesn't need a heads-up. Section 2 of the Business Incentive Policy is all about the eligibility for register. That is section A through E, and then you have section F, which says that anyone on schedule 3 is grandfathered in and doesn't need to meet any of those other requirements. For companies that have moved their operations and are no longer resident-owned businesses, how does grandfathering them into a policy that benefits northern resident businesses consistent with the BIP policy?