Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for that commitment, I think. Just my last question here. The tabled document, the letter from the Environment and Natural Resources to the Wek’eezhii board. The Wek’eezhii board is saying they want to put some teeth into the legislation and require that securities for liability assessed be provided within 90 days, and the department is fighting this, and of course, the result is that it might take six months or a year. I don’t know. It’s probably been more than a year. It’s probably been years, in fact, for the Ekati Mine without providing this security. This...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.

The petition contains 123 signatures of Northwest Territories residents, and the petitioners request that the Government of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut adopt the proposed Occupational Health and Safety Regulations as drafted in 2011 by the Safety Advisory Committee of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to go back to item 5 on the Order Paper.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thanks to the Premier. If new clean and renewable energy systems are to have a maximum economic benefit for our communities, they must be locally owned and operated. Buy-in, efficiency, community self-sufficiency and economic stability are all positive impacts of locally based power systems.

What steps has the Premier taken to ensure discussions are open to, or directed to, consider a community-based approach to energy solutions moving forward? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier today as the head of our energy issues. The recent comment in the House about renewable energy was that from an economic or commercial objective, you would be lucky to recover your capital costs within 15 to 20 years and by then you are almost at the point of replacement, so the vicious cycle repeats itself. Such uninformed and misleading statements undermine the very opportunity that citizens have to help themselves to cut energy costs and they derail effective government action yielding the unaffordable energy costs of today.

That didn...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to join my colleagues today in recognizing and welcoming Dr. David Suzuki. I think there’s no question that he’s a great leader and visionary in Canada for the environment and for people’s health. I know he’s on the Blue Dot Tour, pursuing some changes to the Canadian Constitution that actually recognizes the value and the right to clean water, clean air and a healthy environment. So I really appreciate a life of dedication and I’d like to recognize that.

I’d also like to recognize Miles Richardson from Haida Gwaii. He actually was chairing one of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our second Energy Charrette in as many years begins today. Will we finally get it right? We’ve made no net gains in the intervening time. Another $58 million in diesel subsidies and millions in failed subsidies in connecting power grids, some clearly a waste because results were so predictable. Hardly progress. We must get real.

The Premier, ENR and NTPC may finally be starting to think in terms of keeping the lights on and begin to address energy costs in ways that also gain environmental social benefits, all part of the affordability equation.

Current diesel power...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to register my concern about this bill. I think, given our fiscal status, we are going out on a limb here. There is no need to advance $40 million on the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway Project in particular, given that there is no record of performance on that project on which to base such a decision and there is ample time to do that during the winter session, which starts a couple of months from now. I just want to make sure that was clear that we are making this decision to advance a considerable amount of money, given our fiscal status and all the unexpected...

I’d just like to recognize a couple of visitors in our gallery today, Mary Lou Cherwaty and Steve Peterson, both well-known representatives for employees and well-regarded activists for strong social and labour standards within the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is good to hear. Cabinet’s recent subsidy of $20 million to cover diesel generation due to climate change-induced drought brings a total over the past few years, as we’ve heard, to $58 million if we ignore the indirect subsidy effects or costs. This perpetuates our reliance on diesel, obviously, by taking resources that could have been used to develop renewable energy systems and pouring them into a seemingly bottomless tank of diesel.

Has the Premier, or if not will he, include the question about where we should subsidize to get the best return for our citizenry...