Bob Bromley

Thanks to the Minister. I’m pleased to hear this government understands sustainable development is not something you just say without meaning anything. I think that people in our communities understand that too. I am surprised that the Minister has already made conclusions about what is sustainable here. I didn’t think we were that far along in our studying up on this subject.

Could the Minister explain the role that ENR has played in making sure that the fracking education workshops – I believe that was the ITI Minister’s term – that are being held in the Sahtu this week provide information on...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to follow up a little bit. First of all, two things really. The Capital Asset Revolving Fund, are we planning on putting a cap on that, or are we going to allow that to build with the savings over time?

We learned that once you start, you have a hard time stopping. Workers and companies come from all over, and local people get priced out of their own communities.

We do need development, but it must be sustainable. Tomorrow I will explore what is the sustainability question here, and suggest an alternative economic development that benefits local economies and every single resident.

I will have questions today for the Minister of Environment. Mahsi.

I would be irresponsible not to ask about the plans for Detah and Ndilo. I don’t see any in the plans here for this coming fiscal year. I know there are needs certainly on the quality of housing, perhaps on the quantity as well. Could I get an indication from the Minister what the plan is for Weledeh?

Are we thinking of that? I mean, are we preparing to respond to that interest in smaller units?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple of things I wanted to follow up on. The Minister mentioned we passed up on investing in biomass for some housing we are developing in Fort Good Hope because of the lack of supply. Unfortunately, I heard the same thing from Education, or it might have been Public Works and Services in the same community just a year or two ago for their new school. This is a problem when we consider these things independently, ignoring other government facilities, and since the school project turned down biomass, we know we have a supply in Norman Wells, an adjacent...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that response. I wonder if the Minister would commit to giving committee a briefing on that and the contributions from the various measures we have been taking and a real look at… If our hopes are denied by the federal government, what are the realities and what progress are we making on our own at addressing those?

At the same time, I would just like to ask, the last couple of fiscal years, $14 million, almost $15 million each year, a little bit more last year than in this current fiscal year, and this year $31.4 million, a doubling. I’d like a quick...

I would also like to recognize today Mr. Tony Whitford, a resident of Weledeh, as well as Amanda Mallon, also a resident of Weledeh. I would like to add my voice in recognizing Mr. Stu Duncan, who was on, I think, one of the very original boards of Ecology North back in the 1970s. It’s great to see him visiting our fair city once again. I hope he sees a good difference. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to follow up briefly on the application of EK35 product. Sometimes my memory slips on what this is exactly, so I just want to confirm. I have a feeling it’s a substance used for dealing with moisture on runways that suffer from frequent large temperature changes as a result of our changing climate. Am I in the right ballpark on what EK35 product is used for? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We eagerly anticipate the release of the Anti-Poverty Action Plan and the Early Childhood Development Framework and look forward to seeing how this government puts these documents into action. I propose that we insert a few pages based on what Quebec has implemented over the last 15 years.

Since the late ‘90s, Quebec has made daycare available to all for $7 per day. The price is the same regardless whether you are rich or poor. The daycares are run by professionals who are trained in early childhood development and education. The results have been excellent. Including...