Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of ITI a question. Yesterday he talked about oil and gas exploration in the Sahtu that potentially could happen in the Good Hope, Tulita and Norman Wells area. What is his department doing with regard to dealing with the potential impact of the recent interest of the exploration in that area?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ITI is leading the Government of the Northwest Territories in the preparation of current and future oil and gas development in the Sahtu. We’re working with other departments on advancing on a government-wide approach. We’ve done that.
We’ve also helped coordinate the preparedness session that both the Member and I attended in Norman Wells in September. We certainly are looking forward to working with other stakeholders in the Sahtu to advance the interest of the communities there and the opportunities that are going to come. Thank you.
The Minister and I did attend the exploration readiness session. One of the issues that the communities talked about was the past Mackenzie Gas Project Socio-economic Development Fund of $500 million that the federal government was holding to deal with the impacts.
I want to ask the Minister, is there any way that he’s working with the Sahtu leadership to ask the federal government if they would release the Sahtu portion to deal with the interest of the oil and gas exploration that could and is happening in the Sahtu region regarding some of the issues we are talking about today.
That $500 million socio-economic money was tied to the Mackenzie Gas Project. When we were in Norman Wells in September, there was some discussion about asking the federal government that what-ifs with what’s going on in the Sahtu. Could the federal government look at supplying some socio-economic money to the Sahtu given what’s happening there? That is a good question, Mr. Speaker. My belief is that things will continue to progress in the Sahtu. That money was tied to a pipeline and I still believe firmly that both Mackenzie gas in the Beaufort-Delta and gas that’s going to be produced from the shale oilfield west of Norman Wells and Tulita will reach market via a new pipeline. I do believe that will happen
Can the Minister make a good case argument to the federal government that this $500 million can be tied to the development, and possibly look at the Sahtu as being zoned or designated as a special economic area that the federal government can release this $500 million?
I believe that things are going to continue to progress. Those types of discussions will undoubtedly take place with the federal government. We are still relatively in the early days of the development in the Sahtu with the shale oil and the large volumes of gas that would come out of that as well. I do believe it’s good to start talking about these things. It’s good to get out in front of them, but certainly as the resource is proven up, if it’s going to get into commercialization, those are discussions that need to happen. They need to happen with the federal government and our government and the folks in the Sahtu. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
The increase of the development of the Sahtu, you know we’re early in the development. We are spending just over $630 million in exploration. Of course, there are a lot of social impacts that are going to happen with that money and the development we are talking about today. We need that money.
I want to ask the minister if he can work with his colleagues to make a strong argument to the federal government so that they can release some of the dollars, all of these dollars to the Northwest Territories to help us with the social impacts of oil and gas development. We need that. Can I ask the Minister to give me a commitment to go to Ottawa and make a strong argument with the Sahtu leadership or Cabinet saying, release that $500 million, Mr. Harper?
ITI will continue to work with other departments in government to ensure that the social impacts of development in the Sahtu are addressed. We’ve done that. We’ve been leading the discussions with other departments. Undoubtedly, it is going to have an impact on other areas of our government’s operations, so it’s important that we stay on the same page, that we’re communicating with other departments on what’s happening there. We’ve done that this past year with what’s happening there this winter. Those discussions will continue to take place.
As I mentioned earlier, the $500 million was attached to the beginning of the construction of the Mackenzie Gas Project, tied to a pipeline. I do think eventually we will see a pipeline built in the Mackenzie Valley. Whether or not we can start those types of discussions with the federal government on advancing those types of socio-economic dollars, we have to really get in and prove up the resource that’s in the Sahtu. Every day that goes by, we have a more compelling story to tell the federal government. I think time will tell and it’s going to be a good story that’s going to be written in the Sahtu. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Colleagues, I’m going to call a 15-minute recess.
---SHORT RECESS
Mr. Dolynny.
