Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m very happy to see the committee proposing this motion. I think the basic relationship here is that we are proposing to move public funds into an investment fund until such time as we have a sufficient accumulation to draw from it, the interest of it, and basically it is destined to benefit future, largely future residents and to some extent existing residents. So I want to say that I very much support any measures we can take to ensure the clear and frequent opportunity for the public to have some input and some clear opportunities to express their views on how these...

The other aspect of that is while we have really intense users of tobacco products, we are fewer in numbers. Are there implications here to potential actions we can consider? Again, given that we have a very large proportion of our population that is using tobacco products, are there implications of this legislation given that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table a series of documents in a package called No Place for Poverty: Everyone has a Right to Housing, Food and Dignity, Anti-Poverty Election 2011 Tool Kit, sponsored by Alternatives North and the YWCA. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just some quick questions to the Minister. Does the GNWT currently have any actions underway against manufacturers of tobacco products?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for those comments. I guess my last point really is to see if the Minister might ensure that these are profiled in any transition documents, the need to transit to the heavier low-carbon sources, especially renewable, and work to make sure that that appears in any implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Strategy as well.

I appreciate the Minister’s remarks again. I’m glad to hear that it will be mentioned at least there. I guess my last point here is the opportunity to establish an ethical investment protocol for when funds are in there, and I did make the comment during the committee review, clause-by-clause, that standards should be established to ensure income from the fund principal is obtained from ethical investments, which observe environmental human rights and labour standards and avoid investment in socially harmful enterprises such as tobacco and arms production, and that we should consider a...

I do appreciate the Minister reminding me of the history; he was dead-on there. I guess I would note that the information out of Norman Wells indicates that even if the community can transit to propane, the cost will be high, future costs will remain volatile. Because of costs, the propane conversion can only be considered a stopgap there.

As I’ve pointed out repeatedly, and as demonstrated in thousands of communities across the globe, employment and investment opportunities from renewables can be the basis of strong, local, sustainable economies and drive down living and business costs. Taking...

I’m not an expert on what’s a generation. My understanding is that there’s 25 years to a generation, but I think we did have that sort of longer period in mind and I was very curious, I still am, about why that was reduced.

Moving on, I’d like to just briefly discuss this cart before the horse concept that my colleague Mr. Krutko raised. I think it stresses the point that we need to review how we are spending existing funds and we need to recognize that our most lucrative resources are rapidly being extracted and exported with little lasting benefit. I agree with Mr. Krutko that we have not...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise with enormous sadness today to offer words of sympathy to the families and friends of Yellowknifers who lost their lives in the tragedy of First Air flight 6560. I offer these condolences in concert with my colleagues and in the absence of a sitting Member for the riding of Range Lake where they resided.

Ute Merritt was a flight attendant who perished in the Resolute Bay disaster. Daughter Samantha of Weledeh has noted that in every picture of her, Ute is smiling. Ute’s prowess as a sailor is well known, and she and Jim were virtually unbeatable in the regular...

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger.