Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After spending a quarter-million dollars on two energy charrettes during the life of this Assembly, this government is poised in perfect position to say once again, with today’s budget address, it has no idea what it’s doing. But the old-age tactic of the three D’s, that’s delay, defer and defuse, the taxpayer is once again stranded on the roadside with no further resolve to our energy debacle.
Ironically, during our last session, every time an issue of energy, cost of living, or electricity generation hit the floor of this House, the Cabinet was quick on its feet to point out to the Messiah of the upcoming Energy Charrette as its public defender in action. So quick to point, but lacking in substance, everyone in this House fell for the trick.
Of course, who doesn’t like a $100,000 contact on the public books? I mean, it did create a couple of jobs for a couple of keynote speakers and some facilitators. This is always good, Mr. Speaker, but really what did this accomplish that wasn’t already in archive?
When the public reads disclaimers in the most recent charrette’s document conclusion, such as, “this is not considered to be a GNWT document,” then I ask, what is it then? I think we all know what this document is; it’s another GNWT Swiffer Duster picker-upper.
In the end, the public may never know the full impact of this latest energy charade, or I mean charrette, as a financial implication of our related investment proposals will come long after the next election banners come down.
It’s really too bad this government will be judged only on its use of words and not its actions to mitigate our energy concerns. Let’s hope the leadership of the 18th Assembly has more foresight.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.