Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of ITI, we need to look at this issue of fracking in the Northwest Territories. A lot of the questions we need to face are to face the unknowns but, more importantly, address the fears of the unknowns and have a respectful discussion.
About the water and the chemicals, there are comments out there as to the issue of the use of water and chemicals, and it’s pretty frightening when you look at them. Since the 1920s, Imperial Oil has been drilling. The Sahtu Land and Water Board renewed the Esso licence that is drawing millions, if not billions, over a 10-year period. Husky’s well application, if you look at the Esso amount of water that they’re going to be taking out, half of it going to the oil plant operation and half will go back into the Mackenzie River. Husky’s application is 0.1 percent of Imperial’s request.
I want to know from the Minister, has he seen any other alterations in the water around the Deh Cho including Fort Liard and to the Cameron Hills? Could the Minister direct me to which question that he can answer on these two points?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Ramsay.
If the question is directly related to water, it would be best answered by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Yakeleya.
Could I direct my questions to the Minister of ENR?
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now I have to beg the indulgence of the House to restate the question so I can get it clearly. I was doing some other things.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Yakeleya, you’re going to have to restate your question for the proper Minister. You started off with ITI and then you switched over to ENR. You’re only allowed one question per Minister. Now, the guy who can do that is the Premier, so we’ll go from there.
I do apologize, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of ITI, in his discussions with his colleagues from ENR, has the Minister seen any type of alterations in the water use in other areas where there has been hydraulic fracking in the Cameron Hills and around the Fort Liard area?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Not that I am aware of.
I want to ask the Minister of ITI, in regard to the hydraulic fracking that had been happening in the Fort Liard area under the Lone Pine Resources and also in the ‘70s around the Cameron Hills area, has the Minister, in his discussions with his colleagues, seen any type of disturbance with the land around the areas that had been hydraulically fracked?
Again, not that I am aware of, but that is a pretty specific question. We can get that level of detail for the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been fracking in the Northwest Territories. There is vertical fracking and horizontal fracking. There has been fracking in the Cameron Hills in the ‘70s and we’ve been fracking in the Lone Pine Resources in Fort Liard. Imperial Oil actually has been doing some fracking under a different name.
I want to know from the Minister, through all these different fracks throughout the years, has the Minister, with his colleagues, seen any type of environmental issues that are raised by the anti-fracking groups?
Again, not that I am aware of. We have been seeing hydraulic fracturing for decades now, specifically in western Canada where there have been hundreds of thousands of wells drilled without incident, and it has happened here in the Northwest Territories without incident.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The time for oral questions has expired.
Colleagues, before we go on today, I’d like to wish one of my table officers a happy birthday, Ms. Gail Bennett. Happy Birthday to Gail. I won’t let you know her age, but it’s a very special one.
