Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am going to not support this motion. I find it puzzling. I don’t know if it’s the appetite of the day or the week, because this motion coming in here and asking us to take a plebiscite to the people in November, and on any question that’s important to the people of the Northwest Territories, as MLAs, every Assembly we have questions of importance. I could add on to the plebiscite a number of questions to the people to vote on. It’s just a natural process in November when we go to the polling stations, people there vote on the candidacy, on their records, on where they stand on certain positions. You don’t need to ask them. They know where you stand. They know what you’re saying in the House. You go in the grocery store and they tell you. You go on Facebook and they’ll tell you, really tell you. So, you don’t need to spend $17,000. Put that towards an education or youth program. Put it somewhere where it’s best to use.
So there are lots of discussions, lots of debates of hydraulic fracking. It’s in the public; it’s in the bars; it’s in the restaurants; it’s in the conference rooms; it’s in the House. There are lots of discussions, lots of debates, depending on where you sit on the table; depending on what information you get; depending who you believe, who you don’t believe. There are lots, even in Yellowknife here. Even for me going down, people talk about fracking. They don’t talk about the community or how about fracking is really going on. Let’s not kid ourselves here.
Feedback into the regulations, that’s happening now. We all have different roles in the Assembly. We all play different roles. We’re given these roles to take them on with high integrity and regard and very seriously. We have members on Social Programs, Government Operations and EDI. I see you having a role with EDI asking this question. So I wonder sometimes, is that committee tainted because they’re asking these questions? They haven’t finished their work yet. That clearly, clearly, if anything, is putting the cart before the horse. Let’s do our work. Let’s not pull our potatoes before the first seeds have sprouted and grown up, okay? That, for me, is serious.
However, we all justify our own means of putting things forward and working on them. I respect the members from EDI. I’d respect them more if they went to Norman Wells and did a tour of the Conoco sites.
I want to say something again clear and loud. Read my lips: The Sahtu people have a land claim. They are the ones who said, ‘Yes, open the lands for exploration.” The people of the Northwest Territories, Sahtu, through their jurisdictions, institutions, constitution, protected rights said yes, not the people of the Northwest Territories. That’s a clear fact that we’re not looking at. We have a land and water board. Look at the Water Board: tight, tight, tight in regard to regulations. Yes, we can learn some more. Look at our Sahtu Land Use Plan. If you were to look at the regulations, you would have four decks of binders of regulations. You go to Alberta there are two decks. You go to Russia, there are no decks. It’s pretty rough over there on environmental issues.
So, we’ve got to put things in perspective. We’re in the driver’s seat and, like driving a vehicle, it’s a privilege. You follow the rules. You obey signs and regulations. There’s a good chance that you won’t get in an accident, but you never know. Slippery roads, blowout tires, other drivers. That’s part of life. There are no guarantees.
I want to say that, again, it’s not up to the people. Mr. Hawkins thinks it’s up to the people of the Northwest Territories. Very, very clear, even though we do have impacts, it’s no different than the diamond mines here in Yellowknife. Have you read their report? They drained five lakes, millions and billions of litres. Does that compare to hydraulic fracturing? It’s more like a little teaspoon of water in their buckets of water that they use. Its chemicals are crazy. Thousands of trucks, tens of thousands of trucks that pass through Yellowknife. If our exploration ever hits peak, it’s about 2,500 at the most.
We in the Sahtu never interfered because, you know, these benefits down here, we have never said, “Should they have a plebiscite on should they be mining here?” You ever see those pictures of the mines? I have it right here. I don’t want to table it because it’s a public document already. Drained lakes, 10, 11, 12 hundred fish taken out of the lake. It’s just mind-boggling.
So I just wanted to say that Canada asked the people in the Sahtu, and Canada is working with the people in the Sahtu because we have a land claim, and our land claim allows us to participate in the Northwest Territories. It’s a sovereign state. It’s a sovereign nation, jurisdiction, institution, self-government provisions. It’s totally different from the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s. That’s what people of the Northwest Territories outside the region need to understand. We have our own work inside our own region to do and that’s what we’re basing our decisions on.
So, in short, I will not support the motion.
---Laughter