Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to update Members on my recent meeting with Canada's Environment and Energy Ministers on the Kyoto Protocol. This protocol is important to the Northwest Territories because it is an international agreement to slow climate change and to control greenhouse gases.

The meeting provided an opportunity to review the economic analysis on what the effect ratification of the Kyoto Protocol may have on the Canadian economy. We also had the opportunity to provide further direction on the measures this economic analysis should focus on.

There will be costs if Canada reduces greenhouse gases to the Kyoto target. There will also be costs if Canada does not proceed. All federal, provincial and territorial Environment and Energy Ministers want to ensure that when Canada adopts the Kyoto Protocol, we develop the most economical plan to meet the targets.

Canada's Environment and Energy Ministers will meet again in late May to continue discussions on measures to control climate change and when Canada should ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Mr. Speaker, all territories, provinces and the federal government agree that climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed. The question is how to proceed. For some, the cost of reducing greenhouse gases will be an investment in new energy efficient equipment for industry, transportation, heating and producing electricity. For others, the cost will be a decline in their industry. This is especially true for the coal or heavy oil industry, which will lose customers when they turn to cleaner fuels. Some regions and some industries could experience greater costs. Federal, provincial and territorial Environment and Energy Ministers have initiated discussions on how this burden can be shared equally.

Mr. Speaker, climate change remains a very serious concern to this government. Scientists predict that the warming we are now experiencing will increase because greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are rising rapidly. For this reason, the Government of the Northwest Territories supports international actions to reduce emissions, including the Kyoto Protocol.

The NWT Greenhouse Gas Strategy should be finalized before the May meeting. We need to develop our own actions to control greenhouse gases and to ensure these actions make economic sense while meeting our needs. We need to work with the federal, provincial and territorial governments to ensure that Canada's plan will allow us to meet our needs in the future.

Mr. Speaker, it is very important that northern territorial Ministers attend these meetings and make our northern views known to federal and provincial Ministers. We are already experiencing greater changes in our environment and weather than the rest of the country. I will continue to work with my colleagues from the Yukon and Nunavut to remind Ministers in the rest of the country that climate change is a major environmental problem that Canada and the rest of the world must address. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause