Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Minister responsible for Public Works and Services. We have made a commitment to reduce a certain per centage of our greenhouse gas emissions in line with international agreements and with our own commitments. We also have an obligation to support our mining industry and to develop new mines. So how is the Northwest Territories going to do both, essentially, when one new mine can increase our greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 25 per cent? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Public Works and Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is well aware, we are in early discussions on how we're going to move the climate change framework forward. As the Premier just stated, we are out in community engagement. We have also met with power suppliers in the Northwest Territories and we are reaching out to the mining industry on how we are going to implement this moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That work is important work. There are some mines in southern jurisdictions that have converted to 100 per cent electrified processes, which has greatly reduced their greenhouse gas emissions, something that is unlikely to happen in the Northwest Territories.
Is there a plan along with these transportation corridors to expand power supplies for communities and mines? Is that a tangible plan, or are we just talking about it with people in the North?
Moving forward with our transportation corridors is going to open up a lot of different things in the Northwest Territories, along with lowering the cost of living for a number of communities, for the residents of the Northwest Territories. As for the specific Slave Geological Province, which would open up the road to a significant area of development for the residents of the Northwest Territories and Canada, you can't put the cart before the horse. We are promoting the corridor and moving forward, looking at if we can do it sustainably without a whole bunch of impacts on the residents of the Northwest Territories and the environment. If we can get the road to the Slave Geological Province built, I'm sure we're going to be looking at how we can access power moving forward to that corridor.
I would say priorities of building that road, which I support, go hand in hand with the priorities of building a transmission line, and it's debatable which one would come first. It does appear that one is much farther off. Has the department ever considered providing financial incentives for companies or think tanks to provide alternative energy to the mines, specifically, creating a prize for those projects?
As we move forward with our energy strategy, this is something that maybe the Member wants to bring forward in our community consultation. As the Members of this House all know, the mines are all under a lot of pressure on how to do business in a profitable manner and they continue to look for innovative ways of how to produce power in a cost-effective manner that makes them a profitable business in the Northwest Territories. If the Member would like to bring that initiative forward in one of our community consultations on energy strategy moving forward, I'd be pleased to have that as input.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very proud to be a member of this community, but I'm also proud to be a Member of this House and I'm going to bring forward that idea now. So can the Minister commit to developing an incentive for companies to provide alternative energy solutions to industrial activities in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take it under advisement.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
