Michael Miltenberger

In fact, Municipal and Community Affairs has provided the community about $175,000 to assist them with the work, the technical work, engineering work, as they look at the type of conversion that’s going to best meet the needs of the community.

Once again, I’ll commit that we will make sure, as a government, that we are coordinated and supportive of the community in this process. I will, as well, be talking to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to working with the community of Norman Wells the same as we are working with the community of Inuvik to resolve these critical energy issues. We have been and will continue to work with the community to do that.

I’ll commit to have the officials check on the latest status of this proposal. As the Member has indicated, if it’s some type of letter or some type of letter of comfort, then, of course, we will seriously look at that either through Environment and Natural Resources or Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The officials and staff, in fact Environment and Natural Resources, who are conversant with biomass, have been working with the community of Norman Wells. Now that there’s been an election and a change in leadership, we have to revisit the priorities of the community just to confirm whether those are still the priorities or if there has been any change. But we have been working with the community.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Northwest Territories/Nunavut Agreement: Legislation and Regulation of Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a complex issue, as the Members know. Late in the last government, we passed a revised and revamped Greenhouse Gas Strategy that set new targets. There’s built-in review periods built into that strategy that we will look at as we go forward. We also know, for example, that one of the planned projects has been deferred further, which is going to contribute to greenhouse gases, which is the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline. So while it’s still a critical project, it’s not imminent on the horizon.

At the same time as we talk about standards, we have to look at the tens of...

The Wildlife Act discussions have been going on for well over a decade, into the last century, so I can recollect it all the way back to the 13th Assembly. This will be done and is being done independent of devolution. Even if there was no devolution, the Wildlife Act would go forward. It’s been identified as a priority by nearly all the Aboriginal governments, by this government, by people in the Northwest Territories as long overdue. They will be compatible at the end of the day. They reaffirm the respect and recognition of Aboriginal rights, both the Wildlife Act and the work being done...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a major gathering planned for the early part of November where the working group members are going to come into town, and hopefully the Aboriginal leaders, to have a discussion amongst themselves, and then with ourselves and myself as Minister and the department officials, to look at the issue of the conferences the Member talked about. We’re hoping, at that point, to come to consensus on the way forward.

We’ve been working, as well, with the stakeholders, the Wildlife Act advisory group, and the feedback they’ve provided us, and we want to be able to respond to...

Thank you. I recently returned from a meeting of the Environment Ministers and over supper we were talking about whatever success Canada has in terms of managing their emissions. My observation, which was agreed to by all the folks around the table, was that the federal government in fact has benefitted from the work of the subnational provinces, territories, states, and the Northwest Territories is a perfect example.

We’ve spent tens of millions of dollars; we’re doing ground-breaking work on things related to biomass, alternative fuels like biomass, its application across the land, the use of...

It’s not a future tense, but that issue has been driving us, as the Member said. We are dealing with it; we are adapting to this on an ongoing basis. There are things happening that are the new reality. There is endangered species, there are the fire seasons that are increasing in addition to all the things that Transportation has talked about. That reality is there and we are making and are committed to managing our greenhouse gas emissions.

We have to keep in mind that we live in a cold climate. We are carbon-intensive users and we do have some of the highest prices for energy right now and...