Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government has proposed that there will be an MOU signed with the three territories. It turned out the MOU is largely applicable to our sister territories because they were using the federal backstop. The federal government had indicated just recently that they are not advancing the MOU with us, as what would be included has already occurred. With the release earlier this week, the federal government has confirmed their agreement with the proposed NWT approach to carbon pricing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the committee for some of their comments, and we hear their concerns. Members are absolutely correct. This is probably the biggest capital budget this territory has ever seen, and, with some of the carry-over, I think that increases it even more. This is much-needed investment in a territory where things are very slow now, and we see the importance of a lot of the capital investment across the Northwest Territories.

There were some concerns with the money that was going into roads, but you have to be without a road to understand the importance of having a road. I...

You're absolutely correct, Mr. Chair.

I don't see why not, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have with me Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, who is the deputy secretary to the FMB. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 28, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019, be read for the second time. Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 28, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When we released our planned approach in July of 2018, we also released the results of the engagement process. A lot of the background material is available on the Department of Finance website. We did share what the analysis of the federal backstop would be, and we know that it was going to cost residents of the Northwest Territories a lot more had we just gone and used their backstop.

It is noteworthy that the federal approach to offset in other provinces where the federal backstop is being used is quite similar to what we announced in July. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 27, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2018-2019, be read for the third time, and Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The proposed approach for us is to rebate for fuel use, for heating and electricity generation, for the large emitters. 75 percent will be rebated back to them. The other 25 percent will be put into a trust that they can use to make investments into reducing the greenhouse gas emissions.