Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. We are in the earliest stages of learning about fracking. The policy development needs are huge and the time frame urgent. We know the drive for fracking is underway in the Sahtu. Funds and time are needed to determine the basis on which to make good management decisions.
Recognizing that the resource will not disappear, will the Minister of ENR commit to ensuring that we dedicate both the funds and the time required to develop a policy on fracking that will protect both our people and our land? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; this is an important issue. It’s a practice that we need to look at carefully. We’ve already invested considerable time and effort. We intend to come forward by this coming spring, early fall at the latest, with some guidelines built on best practices. We’ve had some very interesting meetings with the National Energy Board, as well, who’s going to be working in conjunction with us, especially at post-devolution, about the way to manage our way through this.
The Member raises a lot of issues that we are working to address and we will be sharing, of course, and involving committee in all the work that we do. Thank you.
Thanks for the comments from the Minister. It’s good to know that we’re on this.
Regulation of the exploration and production process is another critical matter. I mentioned the particular threat of failure of drill casings and contamination of massive amounts of water. We need a review of other jurisdictions’ regimes and evaluation of their suitability for our needs, then action to develop and put in place our own regs. Perhaps that’s part of what Mr. Minister was referring to.
Upon the release of the government response to our EDI report, will the Minister move quickly to contract and manage a review of regulatory options toward development of appropriate law for the Sahtu situation? Mahsi.
We are committed to working with committee. We are going to share the work, we are going to come up with best practices, we are going to do the regulatory review from across not only the country but we’re going to look around the work to see how it’s being dealt with in other jurisdictions that haven’t had moratoriums but are actually engaged in managing this process as they look at resource development. We will come forward and we’ll map out the next steps as we do that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, thanks again to the Minister. Some jurisdictions have banned fracking. That isn’t something they do lightly, so we need to understand the serious concerns that led to this.
As I mentioned, our so-called EDI fracking tour didn’t include a visit to even one fracking site. As part of this information gathering, will the ENR Minister work with the Industry Minister to ensure the promised southern tour of regional leaders includes a visit to a no-fracking jurisdiction and to meet with the Aboriginal leadership with extensive fracking experience in northeastern BC? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will commit to work with the Minister of ITI. I can appreciate the Member’s concern about meeting with the Aboriginal governments and going to an actual fracking site. I would think we could probably gather the information about those jurisdictions that have decided to go ahead with fracking, by looking at what is available and having those conversations. But we will do a full review of all those particular positions as it pertains to fracking. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister is committed to water quality preservation, so he will understand how little we know about the state of our surface waters and the potential impacts of fracking contamination. We can’t permit fracking without knowing how it will eternally affect our waters.
Will the Minister commit to commissioning the research necessary to understand the threats and prepare for the need to act fast with supplementary budget requests if required? Mahsi.
We all have a common concern not only about not only surface water but groundwater baseline information and wildlife baseline information. We have funds put aside in the budget to put money on the table. We are working through the Environmental Studies Research Fund, as well, which is funded by industry. There’s going to be dollars available to work on the groundwater mapping, the surface water and the wildlife baseline information as well.
All the wells that are being drilled and have been drilled have to do well monitoring sites, water monitoring sites. That information is going to be collated and pulled together so we can build a map of this central Mackenzie, the Sahtu region, as it pertains to the status of the groundwater and surface water. So that work is being done. It is a critical piece, as the Member has indicated, and we are fully involved in getting that work done. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
