Yes, Mr. Speaker. I am certainly speaking in favour of this motion, principally for the reason that my colleagues have already outlined. That is one of fairness. The government says it will achieve enough depots, and enough coverage, that 80 percent of the population of the NWT will have access to the complete service. That is terrific. It is the 20 percent out there who are really disadvantaged that I really feel a strong duty to stand up for.
Mr. Speaker, the program, as we originally worked it in the previous Assembly and in this one, and that the folks in the various departments, was a good one. Now there are issues about not being able to fully implement it on time. I am ready to live with some extensions to that time so that we are able to get it right in those communities that haven't yet been able to set up a depot.
Let's stick with the plan. The Minister has guaranteed us that he is going to make sure that a depot is opened. I believe his words of the other day were something to the effect that "I have just sent a note up telling our folks to get ready. We are now in the recycling business." That is not the kind of alternative that I find acceptable, Mr. Speaker. The people with the ITI staff around the Northwest Territories already have important jobs to do. The original design, to get this kind of task handled by someone in the community, is the right way to go. Let's stick with that one and make it happen, even if it takes yet more time. The question of fairness has got to be addressed to the folks in that community. They must not be charged this fee until they have the opportunity to cash the bottles in, as I have, in Yellowknife, or someone in many of the larger centres, that same opportunity. As Mr. Villeneuve said, it must be available to 100 percent of the people of the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, I think there is going to be a temptation to press for the government to interpret this as an excuse to abandon the whole program, or defer the whole thing, until we can get it 100 percent right. That will not be accepted. I will not take on that kind of responsibility. We have worked very hard. We have invested a lot. Contracts are signed. Communities have expectations, where depots are now in place. Continue the rollout. Stick with the plan. Work with those communities that don't yet have a depot to put something in place, and will be acceptable, and will be sustainable, too, Mr. Speaker. So those are the conditions that I see prevalent here. Let's get going with this step where we are so far behind just about all the rest of Canada in living up to this pretty easy, and pretty straightforward, way of doing something to make a difference in our environment. We can, and should, proceed with what we have in place. Let's just make sure that it's fairly, and equitably, applied. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause