Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there were two motions recently passed, one in October of last year and another one late last year, pertaining to caribou by the Dene Nation. I was wondering if the Minister is aware of those two motions that were passed and the fact that they show goodwill on behalf of the aboriginal leaders and governments in this Territory. Why is it that we’re in the predicament that we’re in today? Why couldn’t a solution be found to this situation? The goodwill was out there and now we’re left, again, our credibility is suffering because we cannot come up with a solution to this, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

I think the Member is over-generalizing. That, in fact, if you look, the Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Sahtu and the Tlicho, the Metis, we have worked through our arrangements with any decisions on wildlife. Where there are settled claims, we have very solid, productive working relationships on very difficult circumstances. In the North Slave, with the Tlicho and the Metis, and we’re working on the Akaitcho. I think the Member, this is a case of where I believe our glass is about 80 percent or 90 percent full, and we’re working on the final 10 percent with the Yellowknives to come to an accommodation. I think we should be celebrating the success we have working with aboriginal governments in a whole host of areas, including co-management boards. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask questions again today in regard to an NWT-wide coordinated energy plan. I’m going to direct my questions today to the lead Minister for the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee to see whether I can get some more full answers, perhaps.

Yesterday, the Minister of Finance, in answer to my questions, implied that we have a coordinated approach to energy across the NWT. So I would like to ask the Minister for MECC if he can identify for me the one document which outlines all the NWT energy activities for both the government and our residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I can point out a number of different documents. I can also tell her that the previous two governments created energy strategies that cost about a couple of million dollars apiece both in the 14th Assembly and the 15th Assembly, so we do

have a benefit of those documents. We have a number of different departments that have different responsibilities. I guess a good place to start would be the business plans of this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister but, again, I have to ask the same question. I am asking for one document. Does this government have one document which talks about all the energy activities that we do? He’s mentioned that there are a number of documents. I don’t dispute that. There are way too many documents, in my

view. He has also talked about strategies which we paid for many millions of dollars. Where are those? Why aren’t we using them? Is there one document which coordinates all our energy activities? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, like a well oiled machine, we have a number of different charts and a number of different connections. We do have a number of different departments that are responsible for a number of different things. We have a number of coordinating committees that ensure that all of the provisions that have been identified and the different strategies are provided for. The Department of ENR deals with energy conservation, energy efficiency. We also have ITI that has the energy planning unit. We have the Executive and the Premier responsible for the Northwest Territories. In our commission, we have the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee. We make sure that all aspects of energy are dealt with. As far as having a separate department that would house all of these different responsibilities, well, that is something that is a decision that is made when you look at the structure of government. Up until this point, it has been seen that it can work very well through Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I guess I have to take from the Minister’s answer... That was a simple yes or no question. I don’t think I heard either yes or no in that answer. So I have to assume there is no one document. I didn’t ask for a new department. I asked for a document.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has a Greenhouse Gas Strategy. I believe that we have a target within that strategy. It is probably outdated, but I believe that we have one. I would like to know what our government is doing to include our communities and all of our residents as individuals in setting and meeting their own greenhouse gas targets. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague indicated, we do have a Greenhouse Gas Strategy. It is one that needs to be reviewed and updated. Every community in the Northwest Territories has a sustainable energy plan. It has been provided for through different levels of government funding. Like the Minister of Environment has indicated, it is very difficult for us to go on our own. We have to know what the United States is doing with regards to climate change and greenhouse gases. Here in the Northwest Territories, we only provide for a very small part in the whole world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Although we are the highest per capita as emitters of greenhouse gases, but we do have a process. We do have a Greenhouse Gas Strategy, and we will be updating that strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Mr. Speaker, I guess I just have to say to the Minister that I have a really hard time with the argument that we need to wait for what the U.S. does or we need to align ourselves with the United States. I am sorry, but we are a Territory in and of our own right. We should be doing our own work and setting our own targets. The fact that it is only a small bit in the environment of the world has nothing to do with the fact that we should do it.

I would like to ask the Minister if he can identify, and this is again in terms of energy initiatives, what the GNWT is doing to educate our residents and our staff about energy initiatives that they can, as individuals, take part in to better our environment. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I did say that, although we are only a small part, we are doing a greenhouse gas review. We will have a Greenhouse Gas Strategy where we will be doing more than our share. I agree with the Member; education is very important to anything that we do. We have the Arctic Energy Alliance, which is funded by a number of government departments. This is something that we focus on continually in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. There is a whole conservation education department. This is one of the priorities for this government. Also through the $60 million of Alternative Energy Initiative, we have identified the need for education and we will make sure that we differentiate between energy efficiency and alternative energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to raise the issue I was discussing in my Member’s statement today and it’s my concern that there is still no legislation, that I’m aware of, on the legislative agenda coming forward in this Legislature’s term.

Mr. Speaker, we have a little more than a year and a half left, and the question keeps getting asked to the Minister of Transportation, where is this legislation, where is the department on this legislation, where is the department on this issue.

So, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister of Transportation: does he expect any legislation coming forward in this term to deal with banning cell phones while people are driving? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is starting to sound like a broken record. Every time he doesn’t get his way, he’s starting to say the Minister doesn’t care, the Minister doesn’t care. That’s a very strong statement to make, given that I take very seriously what the Members raise in this House and outside of this House and what the residents of the North bring forward.

I also have to say where was he when I did make the response on what we were doing with cell phones. Either he doesn’t know what I made in my statement, or he doesn’t care to know what I made in my statement, or he’s totally confused about what I said in my statement. I would certainly be glad to share that statement with him. It would lay out what we’re planning to do.

I had indicated, in commitment to this House, that we would be collecting data and that’s what we are doing right now. Thank you.

Apparently, I should say I hurt the Minister’s feeling over there. I didn’t realize he was all sensitive about this and maybe the job is too big for him...

...to the issue of being challenged. Mr. Speaker, you know, gathering data is about as useful as collecting a single e-mail on this particular case. What does that actually mean in the real life of bringing forward legislation that reflects a ban for this type of product in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have to point out to the Member that enforcement and penalties are just one portion of what it would take to deal with the issue of distracted driving education. It has to be part of that process. We have started doing the communications. We are talking to the communities. We are talking to the City of Yellowknife. I know he’s very much in a hurry and is a very impatient person, but there are certain steps that we have to take. I will remind the Member again, in case he wasn’t here for the vote, but we did vote in this House and the vote to bring in legislation on cell phones was defeated. It is my job now to have all the information in place before I go back to the standing committee to present that information so they can see what work is out there, how serious this concern is and then I would take a measure on whether there is enough support to bring it forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I can obviously see there is an excellent jousting match going on today.

I will send one back. The Minister is correct; I am impatient because safety is at risk here. I wish he would realize that too. Mr. Speaker, consultation, we have to talk, we have to talk, we have to talk. We have eight out of 11 regions that are addressing this issue. I am not sure what more studying the Minister needs to do other than the fact that do we need to make a particular type of legislation that reflects northern values but still keeps safety in mind? Mr. Speaker, what signal is the Minister waiting to move forward on this issue? Is he waiting for a private Member’s bill by Regular Members to move forward on this issue? Would the Minister support a private Member’s bill if it was brought forward by a Regular Member? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Member, I would like to bring information forward when I am totally prepared. We did have a vote in this House. I don’t want to bring a piece of legislation forward to the Members of this House and have it defeated. I think there is a lot of work that has to be done. The Members have to see some of the drafts of the legislation that we would be proposing. That is what we are working on right now. We are still consulting. We’ve heard how serious the issue of consulting with residents of the Northwest Territories is. We plan to do the work necessary. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.