Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all want a cleaner, safer, healthier environment. “Why,” you ask. Well, if you were to come out and walk on the Canol Trail with me, you’ll know why, or travel along the Mackenzie River, you’ll know why, or fish on Great Slave Lake or the Great Bear, you’ll know why.

We can strike a balance. We have responsible exploration for energy. We are searching for economic freedom, unshackling the chains of dependency from the federal government. Days are gone of the oil companies that drill them, fill them, spill them and bill them. Responsible exploration for energy has been a never-ending process of revolving, just like the operations for mining for diamonds in Yellowknife. Thousands of trucks pass through your front yard each winter, and yet it is okay to drain five lakes and talk about the amount of water used in the fracking operation.

People are responsible and are looking for responsible exploration for energy in the Sahtu or in the Deh Cho or in the Beaufort-Delta. The Northwest Territories is looking for its own energy source. It is learning about the possibilities of becoming energy independent, self-reliant and efficient. Imagine, we can do this, striking the

balance. NWT’s energy policy for the 21st century is

a possibility.

Responsible exploration for energy is the cutting edge of making us a nation of independence, rather than making us a nation of dependency. Dependency is on handouts. Who wants to be living on handouts?

We look at every way to stretch our energy dollars, at our gas pump stations, to heating our homes, to buying our airline tickets. These things cost money, and money is energy.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted