Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources’ statement earlier today and my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen’s statement on the content of the Minister’s statement.
I guess first of all I’d like to know, the Minister stated greenhouse gas emissions had broad implications to our environment and potential impact to the social, cultural and economic well-being of NWT residents. Just to confirm, does the Minister mean impacts like the anticipated loss of hundreds of species of arctic wildlife and plants important to our diverse cultures? Like hundreds, likely billions of dollars of damage to the infrastructure we have in our communities. Like the huge implications to our people throughout the NWT for the health of our people, especially our seniors. If so, would the Minister consider putting those sorts of specifics in his statement so that they actually have some content? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member telling me what I need, it’s very helpful. This issue has been before this House since the inception of this Assembly. I think it’s clear; it speaks to the process, not the content of what we’re going to do. There’s going to be information going out, there’s going to be consultation undertaken. What I did in this House today was to give an update on a significant process that’s a shift from the government looking at itself to looking at the Territory, looking at our carbon footprint, consulting with communities, business, industry, aboriginal governments about this very complex critical issue, and the Member has listed off some of the impacts that we are dealing with and we’re going to continue to deal with. So this is a process update and there will be much more information to come. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to assure the Speaker that these are posed as questions. The recent reports released during this session, reports from across the globe, have all highlighted the accelerating and deepening consequences of climate change. Would the Minister agree that this sort of information is relevant and for inclusion in his statement such as he gave earlier today, especially when the relevance is directly applying to the Arctic and our jurisdiction?
The issue of biodiversity and loss of species is a big global issue. I will indicate that, yes, when I stand up to speak to the content of the process and the strategy and the questions that we’re asking and the points that we’d like to be considered, that type of detail will be there to set the stage and the context and try to map out how we move forward. We’ve taken a tack and a path as a government that’s allowed us to do a whole host of things. We’re now turning our attention to how do we do that not only for the government but as a Territory. There are many things in place. We’ve invested $60 million to start to shift to alternative energies. Significant commitment all across the board with alternative energies. So, yes, that kind of detail is going to be critical to set the stage, the content, as we move forward.
The Minister mentioned targets for greenhouse gas emissions and reductions. Our current target is clearly one that’s so modest it’s almost negligible, albeit it’s an important start. Will we be considering meaningful targets in line, for example, with scientific analysis and the urgency of the situation?
The point of the consultation and going across the land to talk about the Greenhouse Gas Strategy is to see what kind of consensus we can reach on the seriousness of the issue. The issue of targets will be there, clearly. We’ve set one, as the Member has indicated, as a government and if we’re going to set one for ourselves as a Territory, what will it be? Is it one target fits all or is it a target that looks at large emitters, small emitters, communities? It’s a complex issue, as I’ve indicated. It’s going to take a lot of creative hard work to come up with a consensus, but it is a journey we are committed to embarking on and completing.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you again to the Minister. Again just referencing the statement, I note the reference to broad implications that we’re taking. We have taken broad action and, in fact, we are contemplating broadening the application of our reduction measures. I’m wondering if we will commit to seriously going after effective new actions that demonstrate significant net reductions in NWT emissions, especially relative to 1990 levels, and putting this government back into a leadership position. Just looking around the Territory, I see municipalities, the NWTAC and so on providing much more effective leadership in actual reductions.
This Assembly, I think, can take great pride in the steps that we’ve taken to deal with greenhouse gas emissions as a government. The money that we’ve put into the system to work with communities, to work with individuals, through our community energy plans, our retrofits, our mini-hydro, our rebate programs, our retrofitting our own buildings to reduce our greenhouse gases and the Members have been fully apprised of that, and we look forward to working with all the stakeholders, aboriginal governments, communities, business and industry on this issue to see how we better apply ourselves in a more coordinated way. We’ve done it as a government for ourselves. Now, how do we do it as a territory? That will be our challenge.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
