Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any mining operation is fraught with risk, financial risk for the company, environmental risk for the residents, social risk for communities and so on. Any company starting a development must weigh the risks to benefits to determine if they should proceed with their development.
Development of oil and gas operations is not dissimilar. There are many of the same inherent risks; but when extracting unconventional oil and gas, the risks are greatly increased. That may not be a big deal for a multinational company with deep financial pockets, but it is a big deal for the people living around the extraction site.
Extracting unconventional oil requires fracturing, horizontal fracturing for it to be economical. That process impacts land, water, wildlife, fish and, ultimately, people’s health.
The science around fracking can be argued to a certain extent. It’s not totally clear if the process is good or bad, but it is clear that horizontal fracturing has impacts and that those impacts are negative. Yet just what those impacts are and how widespread they are, are unknown.
Fracking in the North is even more risky due to us having ground with permafrost. What studies are there to illustrate the impacts of horizontal fracking on lands with permafrost? None, I believe. If fracking occurs here, the NWT will be the guinea pig. Do we really want that, or would we rather have some data to confirm the effects before we start fracking?
It’s possible that fracking can be done without serious damage to our environment and our residents, but to date, the government has not proven that. Not to Members of the House and not to residents. As a result, we have the call from many directions of the NWT to not start fracking just yet.
As I said last week, a conversation on fracking has not been held and it must be held. The Minister might be surprised to find that after proper research and review, consultation and conversations, that NWT residents support fracking. I fervently hope they do not support horizontal fracking, but potentially vertical fracking.
I again urge the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment to start a territory-wide consultation and review process on the merits of fracking. This is too important an issue to be decided only by Cabinet. All residents deserve to be heard. Will the government let that happen? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
