Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I as well would like to speak on the issue of energy, specifically the energy strategy, a strategy whose time has come and is, in fact, overdue.
Mr. Speaker, I do not think the people of the Northwest Territories realize the hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent and put towards the provision of energy in all its forms. What we have developed is a fragmented service system, supply system of power, fuel, natural gas, wood, oil, electricity, all scattered all over under different legislation and different authorities.
Mr. Speaker, it is time to bring the whole issue of energy under one strategy and to look at the very many component parts of what we need for an effective energy strategy.
Mr. Speaker, we have to address issues like import replacement, as we are burdened almost daily with price increases on imported, expensive carbon-based fuels. We have to look at all energy sources, hydro, fuel, solar, wind, hydrogen and any other viable alternative source. We have to look at our supply and distribution systems and programs that we have and how we are going to make them more efficient and effective and link them.
We have to come up with a way to stabilize prices for energy so that our constituents are not burdened and beggared by the sheer cost of this particular form of energy.
We have to look at the regulations and the regulatory regime. We have hydro rate zones. We have fuel price regimes. We have to look at coordinating those and integrating those in an effective, careful way to provide the necessary checks and balances.
We have to address issues of the environment, the Kyoto Accord, greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot forget that very critical factor as we seek to preserve that very important part of northern heritage.
Mr. Speaker, I would hope that this panel and secretariat the Premier is setting up will have and be led by those with northern expertise, of which there are some in the North that I am aware of. There has to be a commitment to consultation, Mr. Speaker, so that people can have an idea of what we are buying into. The plan has to be comprehensive and long-term enough so that it will take us into the 21st century in a careful, measured way to bring together all these very many threads of what is necessary for an effective energy strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause