Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Deze’s decision to pause the Taltson Hydro Project to the diamond mines is undoubtedly necessary because the guaranteed market is simply not there and because they did not successfully grapple with routing issues. But there are more important and larger lessons to be learned here.
High costs and competing demands for government revenue indicate we must focus scarce public dollars on developing energy that serves our communities and directly addresses our cost of living. As well, with what we know today, we cannot continue permitting resource development projects knowing that they will add to our greenhouse gas emissions. It is equivalent to shooting ourselves in the foot.
These facts highlight two essential points. First, from now on, resource development must be required to develop their own renewable energy sources, ideally with an eye to leaving a legacy for communities. Government’s role is to assist them with a legacy potential. Second, any project receiving public dollars must serve the public interest, reducing cost of living by expanding local and renewable energy for residents, businesses and communities.
The misplaced but well intended Taltson project ignored both of these core points. Any review that NT Energy Corporation now takes must recognize this and respond in a way that provides a sound, responsible and credible way forward. Fortunately there is already a good basis on which to found such a new direction that addresses these requirements.
Studies by the Arctic Energy Alliance prove that all of the additional power produced from an expanded Taltson could be used economically within the South Slave region itself, heating buildings and powering ground-source heat bumps where one unit of energy is used to produce four equivalent units.
Con Mine built Bluefish Hydro in the days of $5 a barrel for oil and now it is part of Yellowknife’s sustainable energy portfolio. What made economic sense then is economically and environmentally essential today, and obviously it doesn’t kill projects.
Tyhee, Avalon, Fortune Minerals, et cetera, our Hydro Corp should be suggesting viable hydro options to develop sustainable solutions with the extensive time frames they have had, which also contributes to improve community service. We are developing a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy. Industry has development proposals. Let’s get out front on producing economically attractive energy and build our renewable energy future. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
