Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with my colleagues here that this is a pretty big topic of discussion. I have to give points on both sides; there are a lot of pros and cons. I thank Mr. Bromley and Mr. Nadli for bringing the motion forward and speaking so well to it and speaking about making reference to the Elders Parliament and respecting our elders and our land.
When I think about this, these are discussions that we’ve had almost since we started hearing about possible fracturing going on in the Sahtu. If you think, in hindsight, if we had started doing these regulations that we’re going to be doing through the Minister’s office and the department sooner than later, we wouldn’t be here debating the motion before us. But that’s in hindsight, and I think we could have made a lot of headway in the amount of time and not looking at this. But I do acknowledge that the Minister and his department are looking at developing these regulations and they’re going to go to public input and get that input from people in the Northwest Territories.
Being a representative for Inuvik and just living downstream from the Sahtu region, I want to make references to the CBC report from the fall of last year where it stated that Norman Wells leads the country in reported pipeline incidents. Some of the facts out of there were that there was 40.860 million litres of water put back into the Mackenzie River, and we’re downstream. There are people who live off the land and fish, who hunt and make their way of life off of that. There are many communities that are downstream from that. They also talked about 127,000 litres that had hydrocarbons in there. So those are things that, obviously, as a Member representing Inuvik and the Northwest Territories, those things are concerning, but I do understand that as we go through devolution that we’re actually taking on these new powers to manage our resources in a more responsible and sustainable way. I think that moving forward in this type of practice with hydraulic fracturing that as we speak to the public – and the public needs assurance that we’re going to do things the right way. I think that as we develop these regulations that we also need to find best practices and be a leader in Canada, and the world, actually, in terms of how we monitor and give public updates to our residents and people that are concerned about what kind of chemicals are being put into the ground here.
We’ve also talked about the two fracked wells that have already happened in the Sahtu. They were done safely and I think that shows that the GNWT is doing a good job in terms of moving this forward.
On the other hand, I’ve seen first-hand the economy struggling in the community of Inuvik. I’ve seen small businesses shut down. I’ve seen families go on income assistance. I’ve seen big companies struggle and people having a hard time making ends meet. Just through our budget system, the amount of income assistance that this government supports, the increase the amount of money that we’ve even had to do through a supplementary appropriation because we’re taking care of a lot more people that if the economy was stronger, they might have jobs. I know there are a lot of small businesses that invest in the Sahtu to create jobs for local people, but small businesses who invest, thinking there’s going to be prosperity and economic growth in the region. With the recent news of the companies withdrawing because of the environmental assessments that were needed, I can only think of the families, I can only think of these small businesses that are going to be affected with the lack of activity that’s going to be happening there.
There’s one section in this motion that refers to “immediately refrain from supporting any hydraulic fracturing proposals.” We all know how long those proposals take in approving them and the amount of work that gets in. The government is doing a good job right now in terms of looking at developing these regulations. I think as we move forward, it’s going to be something that will be, I guess, groundbreaking and can be leading for the provinces that actually put the moratorium through that. As leaders, we can make those decisions.
I think Mr. Nadli said it well when he said there is a need for leadership. I think this government is taking that leadership role on and looking at starting to develop those regulations. But we also have to be leaders for our people in terms of… We had two wells that were fracked safely, but we also have to be leaders in helping create the economy.
In the Sahtu region, I know not a whole lot has happened in many years. When I take flights up to Inuvik, when I go home, it’s nice to see that kind of business happening.
I am friends with some of the guys who own a small business and I can only imagine the effect that putting this type of motion in place would have on their businesses, their family life and their health and wellness and their well-being.
Because of that one statement in there, “immediately refrain from supporting any hydraulic fracturing proposals,” is just going to increase the time that we support it or support any kind of economic activity there. So with that one line there, I can’t really support the motion at this time. But I do respect the Members for bringing this forward, and I do respect the groups out there that do have this cause of concern, and I do respect the small business and the communities and the hard work
that they’re trying to do to survive. With that said, I will not be supporting the motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.