David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand the Member’s concern. Again, if the leadership in those communities and the Member feel strongly that they would like to see us in those communities, whether we can get to all three or not, we will try our best. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned last week, we are going to take more time with the process that we have underway.

Again, every application is scrutinized by arm’s-length regulatory boards that hear directly from the public and make decisions and set requirements for every single project based on the specifics of each proposal, recognized best practices, current science and public views. Ruling out one particular technique is like telling a doctor they can only ever use general anesthetic for a procedure, when local anesthetic or even an aspirin might be more appropriate. It is more...

We hadn’t contemplated doing any polling. We are going to move forward with the plan that we have. If we need to make adjustments to that plan, we will do that. Thank you.

You just have to look around the Northwest Territories and a lot of the infrastructure that we have in place here today is a direct result of resource development, whether it’s mining or hydro, in the case of the Taltson, or mining.

We are looking at an opportunity in the central Mackenzie Valley. One of the knocks against the Territories is lack of infrastructure. Members are talking about environmental concerns, and the Member is asking about wastewater. It would make much, much more sense if we had an all-weather road down the Mackenzie Valley. That’s something that’s been a priority of the...

Again, the process is playing itself out. We still have some communities that we need to get in and have our meetings. But at the end of that process, we are going to look at other opportunities to work with communities and educate people. I know that Member Yakeleya and I talked about a possible elders summit on hydraulic fracturing in the Sahtu. That is something that I think we could take a look at potentially having sometime. If there are opportunities to get into communities to help educate the public on hydraulic fracturing, we need to take that opportunity. We have some time here. Again...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Every application that is received is scrutinized by arm’s-length regulatory boards here in the Northwest Territories that hear directly from the public and make decisions and set regulations for every single project based on the specifics of each proposal.

Through ENR there has been work done on water and there are other efforts in place. Of course, the proponents in the Sahtu have done a lot of work on baseline information gathering themselves. So when an application comes forward, that information is in it so the public can understand what the application is and the...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 56, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2015, be read for the first time.

I certainly support a balanced approach to this, and that’s where I’m at. I believe we can have a balanced approach. I said this before in the House and I’ll say it again today. We’re not going to be in the energy business unless we’re in the business of protecting the environment, and we need to be in both of those. Thank you.

We still have a portion of the process to get through, more communities to have meetings in. What we will do, and I have committed in the House last week, was to extend the period and the process until the end of August. We will take a look. I know Members are asking for more educational opportunities for communities. We will take everything we’ve heard into consideration and make a concerted effort to address the concerns we’ve heard and, again, carry the process out until the end of August and further if need be. Thank you.

Again, not that I am aware of. We have been seeing hydraulic fracturing for decades now, specifically in western Canada where there have been hundreds of thousands of wells drilled without incident, and it has happened here in the Northwest Territories without incident.