Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through the Proven Area Agreement in 1944 the Government of Canada apparently gained a one-third equity stake in gross production from the
Norman Wells oil field. This oil is a Northwest Territories resource, yet the federal government is raking in hundreds of millions of dollars with no return to the NWT.
Just how much are they making from our resources? At an average price of $65 per barrel for crude oil, the revenues for the federal government for 2006–2007 from the Norman Wells field were $123 million. For 2007–2008 there was a higher price for oil, on average, offset by the lower exchange rate and a 5 per cent decline in production; at $100 per barrel average price for last year, federal receipts will be $165 million. For 2008–2009, with a slight drop in production but greater average price per barrel, about $125, an estimated total of $215 million in revenue will accrue to the federal government.
I roughly define more than reasonable profits for the federal government from this investment at $100 million per year. This means the Government of Canada has accrued considerable yearly windfall profits above this amount — windfall profits of $23 million, $40 million and an estimated $100 million from 2006–2007 to the current fiscal year.
Same-source revenues for the GNWT and aboriginal governments from the sale of this oil will be nil. The accumulation of gross levels of profit by Canada from NWT resources without any benefits to us is unacceptable and wrong. It is only right that windfall profits from the extraction and sale of our natural resources be returned to this jurisdiction to do good work.
We in the NWT are a small population widely distributed and often living in small, remote communities. Many of our communities rely almost exclusively on fossil fuels for heating, power and transportation needs. The dedication of these windfall profits to replacing fossil fuel systems with renewable energy systems in, say, our five most expensive small Mackenzie Valley communities would be an entirely appropriate use and, indeed, investment of these dollars. This investment would free significant dollars that could then be invested in similarly wise ways to help other communities deal with the rising cost of living and the challenges of preventing and adjusting to climate change.
Mr.
Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to
conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.