Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to talk about my concern with the Premier's letter to the producers, also known as our letter of comfort. At the very least, Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out a few things. The first one is certainty. The Premier's letter was structured to define some certainty, a level playing field and a clear understanding of what is going to happen in the GNWT, the Northwest Territories for the producers. But, at the end of the day, I am concerned because Imperial Oil fired a shot over the NWT's bow and we didn't just surrender; we truly waved the white flag and said take whatever you want.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote off the letter, "It is not the intention of the GNWT to introduce or support any new, targeted tax or royalty changes..." Why would we give that away, Mr. Speaker? Why would we tell them up front that we are not going to do this? This should be something in our play book that is kept secret until that time is necessary. Mr. Speaker, this letter is now a policy statement, whether we like it or not. So any future discussion about taxes, Imperial Oil is going to come forward to us and hold this framed letter up and say, well, geez, Mr. Premier-of-the-day, the past-Premier, Joe Handley, had said that we weren't going to raise any taxes. And, by the way, we wouldn't have spent $7 billion if we didn't know what the market was going to be up there. So, Mr. Speaker, this is not just a feel good statement. It is possibly a moment-defining policy statement for the future.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue to quote, "In the absence of such an agreement," it says the GNWT wants you to communicate your agreement with Canada with us. So in other words, the GNWT has begged on bended knee for a tell us clause. So whatever Imperial Oil discussed with the federal government, it says tell us, just because we don't know what we are doing. We want to make sure that we are in on the deal.
Mr. Speaker, it's been said a number of times that this agreement can't tie our hands. Yes, it's even spelled out in this. But I'm telling you, Mr. Speaker, that I'm really concerned. It should have never been written. If we needed to write an agreement or send them a letter to make them feel good, we should have sent them a letter that basically said we will have responsible and fair taxing measures in the Northwest Territories, not unlike any other region in Canada. We will be responsible and sensitive to the lay of the land. So, Mr. Speaker, we did not have to go so far and spell it out that we would not impose any fiscal measures by adding taxes, or imply that in any way. I will have questions later for the happy Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.