Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize that today is the first day of Waste Reduction Week in Canada. The majority of the people here in the NWT would probably claim to be environmentally friendly. It is something that certainly fits our lifestyle and our image, but I am wondering, Mr. Speaker, if we really looked at ourselves, do we really demonstrate that our personal lifestyles and our choices and our habits prove this? I look around this Assembly, Mr. Speaker; there is a lot of horsepower here, but there is a lot of horsepower out in the parking lot, too. You should go and have a look at the number of SUVs and the big trucks that are parked out there that we use. These are choices that we have made. Are we really demonstrating that we are being environmentally friendly and responsible in these kinds of choices? It is something that we should all ask ourselves.

In greenhouse gases in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, the NWT produces 30 tons per person, compared to the national average of 21 tons. Energy consumption in the NWT on a per capita basis is the third highest in Canada, behind Alberta and Saskatchewan as a result of their agriculture and their energy sectors. It is kind of hard to turn this around. Perhaps if we take chances or take action to change our lifestyles and habits, we can make a difference. But we can't continue to be in denial of the damage and waste that we cause.

One of the things that we could look at, one simple thing, but it makes a difference, is whether or not we choose to double-side our photocopies. We do a lot of that in this government, Mr. Speaker, and I have noticed that the reports and things that we get are getting better. We are doing more double-sided copying. If we looked at one other statistic here that said the average person working in an office discards 57 kilograms of waste paper a year, that is the equivalent in Canada of 80 million trees, Mr. Speaker. There are lots of opportunities to act in more responsible ways. We should all take a look at what our attitudes and our choices are in our lifestyles and in our offices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.