Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I continue to have questions and concerns raised to me by constituents around the issue of fracking in the Northwest Territories. There is so much information out there on this topic. People read it and they are concerned. We’ve had members of the EDI committee who have gone on investigative tours to see how this process is impacting other jurisdictions and this information has come back. I’d like to ask the Minister some really simple questions.
In terms of fracking, what is the status of approvals for this activity in the Northwest Territories at this time? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today the news came out that ConocoPhillips got approval for their application. Thank you.
If I had to convey comfort to people who are concerned about this, is the Minister able to comment on the environmental review and assessment and approval process that is in place? Since this is something relatively new in our territory, is he able to comment on the effectiveness of the approval processes that are currently in place for this activity? Thank you.
We are using the existing processes. We’ve offered our best guidance, advice and position, as a government, in a document in terms of best practices on fracking that has gone to committee, which we are looking on feedback for. It has been developed in conjunction with the regulators and we intend, once it goes to committee, to put it out to the public and industry.
We are also, as a government, as we look at post-devolution, looking at the structure of the regulatory regime so that we can design a northern controlled, made-in-the-North, resident-in-the-North regulatory process, all of which are going to allow us, I believe, to manage the risk and balance between the resource development and sustainable protection of the environment. Thank you.
So, nothing about our approval or assessment process has changed specifically in relation to fracking, which is something, as we said, relatively new.
On the issue of a timeline for the kind of things that Minister Miltenberger is referring to, how far down the road of approvals for this activity are we going to go before these things that Mr. Miltenberger refers to are actually in place? Are there a lot of companies out there, or even ConocoPhillips… Is there a lot more of this activity imminent at this time? Thank you.
We are working closely with the current federal regulator, which is the National Energy Board. They’ve just released their filing requirements a few weeks back as it pertains to hydraulic fracturing on their requirements. For example, the disclosure is there of fluids on a voluntary basis. They are encouraging industry to make sure that they do disclose. We are told as a government that it’s an industry best practice that there be public disclosure. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers agrees. We are working with all the various parties to come up with a guidance document. So this is going to continue to evolve. We are going to make improvements, but we currently have the processes in place that are working. After devolution, the governance piece is going to be looked at and we are going to continue to look at what we need to do to have the best system possible.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and a well-known keen champion of the protection of our environment, our land, our water, our resources, I’d like to ask the Minister if he is satisfied at this time with these approvals going forward, given the additional work, obviously, that still needs to be done. Thank you.
We are collectively in the practice of managing risk. In this case, we are doing that and I’m of the opinion – and I’ve stated this already and I will restate that for the Member – as a government that we can manage that risk. There are things we have to do for clarity, for prudence on a go-forward basis and devolution is going to allow us to do some of those things. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
