Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to make some brief remarks.
The fact that we need to have this motion indicates that the GNWT, the government and the Cabinet, have not recognized that climate change is having huge impacts on us as residents and on the territory in terms of environment and our lands. I would say we’ve paid lip service to climate change. We have reacted to climate change. But this is asking for us to plan for climate change, and to plan for climate change and mitigation of the effects of climate change, and it’s long overdue.
Mr. Bromley has laid out a number of the things that have occurred within the territory that have been caused by climate change. We’re going to get more. Fires is one, the low water is another that we have, over the past couple of weeks in discussing our budgets, said, yes, these things are going to happen again and again. As a government, we don’t have a plan to deal with these sorts of events. We react to them but we don’t have a plan to be proactive in recognition of them.
The second operative part of the motion talks about reducing our targets and moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, and I am totally in support of that. We rely far too heavily on fossil fuels. As I mentioned yesterday, I’m very disappointed that we don’t have large energy projects that have come to fruition in my time here.
I’ll just leave it at that. I also, as Mr. Bromley has done, urge my colleagues to be in support of this motion. It’s something that is forward looking and I think we, as a government, need to recognize that we need to be proactive and look forward as opposed to reactive and in the now.