Bob McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the following visitors in the gallery with us today. These are participants in the Executive Leadership Development Program, Canada and the North Study Tour, Canada School of Public Services. Mr. Speaker, we can expect well-informed decisions about the North with these visitors: Louise Metivier, Assistant Deputy Minister Natural Resources; Pierre-Marc Mongeau, Assistance Deputy Minister, Transport Canada; Kathleen Thompson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Safety Canada; Annette Butikofer, Assistance Commissioner and Chief Information Officer, Canada...

WHEREAS Tabled Document 419-18(2): Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 (Revised), has been tabled in this House;

AND WHEREAS the Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 (Revised) requires detailed consideration;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Tabled Document 419-18(2), Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 (Revised) be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration.

I should remind the Member that, when British Columbia imposed a carbon tax, the price of the gas at the pumps increased by $0.10 a litre; multiply that five times is what the federal government is suggesting. It could have an impact on all of us. I should say, as the Member talks about us dragging our feet, well, we are working with the federal government. We have done modelling. We are waiting for an analytical paper from the federal government. We were supposed to receive it by the end of August; now they are shooting for the end of September. Then we will have discussions with the federal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member has been reading too many newspapers because we are, as a government, taking action to deal with carbon pricing, and we have gone through one round of consultations across the Northwest Territories. I have said in this House many times that, with the federal government imposing a carbon price on all of Canada, we will do whatever is required. We have signed on to a nation-wide carbon pricing agreement, and we are continuing to go forward to implement our responsibilities. The federal government has recognized that. They have said that they will work...

At the national level, certainly the national Indigenous organizations or governments have been involved. They were fully involved in the four working groups that the federal government set up here in the Northwest Territories. We work very closely with the Aboriginal governments, and certainly we have had roundtables where we have invited people. We have made arrangements to fund people to attend these roundtables. We will take all of the results of that information and, going forward, we will fulfil all of our responsibilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We always listen to our residents, and we have gone out twice. We are still in the middle of our second round of consultations. We are coming to a close. We are still hearing from stakeholder groups. We will soon be doing an analysis of the online survey responses. I know the Member is very eager for us to impose a carbon tax, and as I said, we have done modelling. We have done all the work necessary. We will get the results. We will sit down and come to a decision. I mean, we all know the federal government has announced a carbon tax.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Wally Schumann will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the federal-provincial-territorial Ministers of Infrastructure meeting in Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Progress Report on Implementation of the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, June to September 2017," "Proposed Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 (Revised)," and further to my Return to Written Question 24-18(2), the "Contract for Services between Government of the Northwest Territories and Earnscliffe Strategy Group." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Energy and high energy costs is probably one of the biggest areas which we share, and there is a very high degree of cooperation. Both Alberta and the NWT are committed to reducing community reliance on expensive carbon-intensive diesel. Certainly one of the areas that we are all very interested in is hydro development, and we see opportunities certainly with possibly the expansion of Taltson. We think that Alberta, like ourselves, is participating in the western Canada review of the potential for hydroelectricity throughout western Canada. We think we can be part of the solution and work with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the honourable Member for his birthday present.

I believe, and it's been proven, that the renewal of the Alberta/NWT Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation and Development has benefited all people in the North. Specifically the communities in that riding I think have benefited as well, because it sets out how our two jurisdictions will work together. It has quite a wide range of areas that we share information on; specifically I look at trade, transportation, tourism, health and social services, fire cooperation, education, training, resource development...