Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Sahtu we believe we can do better because we have the tools now with our hands to create our own destiny, not from Ottawa or not from Yellowknife anymore. They’ve gone through many changes and have adapted to those changes as part of our life.
In the ‘20s, Norman Wells oil development began and is still in this process of developing.
However, the principle of recognition of who we are remains firm. We are our own people in this great land of our ancestors. No one can deny our life’s opportunities, either good or bad, and only good if we’re responsible and bad if we’re irresponsible. But the fact remains, it is our decision alone to make when the Sahtu decided to accept the land in 1993 and it became law. We made a decision to take action, to become a participating member of Canada and build our sovereignty to create opportunities for our institutions and make decisions on how we will protect our land and use our economic activities.
Canada asked the Sahtu if they wanted lands to be opened for exploration. The Sahtu met and decided and said yes. It’s an important point here. Canada asked, not imposed. The residential school days are over.
Last year the Sahtu passed a motion. The motion was drafted and voted on. Earlier in this House today I tabled a motion. The motion talks about working together with the GNWT. It talks about looking at the potential risks, the benefits, sharing of information, seeking the advice of regulations and experts and providing the public report, including recommendations. That’s what the Sahtu wanted in that motion last year. The motion is about working together. What other better time to do this, because today we have an economic self-moratorium. There is nothing, zilch, nil going on in the Sahtu with regard to hydraulic fracking or any other types of exploration in the Sahtu.
Earlier today EDI said they’re eager to participate in the process. Today we also have the mover and the seconder on the EDI to continue this process of regulations. I’d like to say to the EDI members, why don’t you come to the Sahtu? Visit the Conoco leases, read their report and see what types of negative impacts it has done in the two wells that it fracked. Better yet, I would say go down to Fort Liard. As reported in the Economic Strategy, the National Energy Board approved the commercial discovery to produce sweet gas, 12 million cubic metres per day from multi-fractured horizontal wells. Go down there. Do your homework. Check it out.
My colleague, I have family down where he lives. I’m concerned for what he talked about, but today I have not seen any type of evidence, factual evidence that the water that has been used in the fracturing process has gone down. They put tracers down into the ground to see if anything was coming up. Zilch. Nothing yet. But yet, at the same time, Imperial Oil renewed its water licence for 10 years. There are billions of litres that are going down to his country, Good Hope, and it’s going to happen for 10 years. We did not see anybody doing any hard letter-writing campaign from outside our region. Nobody there picketing. Nobody flying up to protest. We allowed that. Imperial got approved. Billions of litres are going to be injected into the 179 producing wells that they have. One hundred seventy wells are well-injected. It means that they’re putting stuff down there to bring the oil up.
There are 386 wells in the proven area, and there are billions of litres that are coming out of the Mackenzie. A lot of it has been going on in the ground, and billions are going to be returned back to the Mackenzie River.
I don’t see this government jumping up or anybody on this side saying, “Put some water stations down in Fort Good Hope to know the impacts of long-term, cumulative effects.” This is 2015. This kind of stuff has been happening since the 1920s. We know the industry. We lived it. We breathed it.
That’s what we’re saying. Because of that type of stuff that was going on, the Sahtu said, “We’re going to negotiate.” After we finished our land claim negotiations it became law. Imperial Oil went up the Mackenzie River to Bluefish Creek to do some work. They didn’t inform us. We told them, “You can’t do this anymore. We have a new law in town.” You know what they did? They got mad. They loaded up their barge and took off down to The Wells.
Their attitude wasn’t even saying we’re sorry. For too long they’ve been doing things like this. That’s why in the Sahtu we wanted to have a land claim to create our own destiny.
I want to say that by working together we can move things, and by working together we can educate each other. I’m learning. Even though I don’t agree with some of the points, I’m learning. I’m learning something, and there’s so much data out there. There are important ones and unimportant ones. I’m trying to figure what’s the information, what’s fact and what’s fiction. I’m trying to educate myself and I want to continue to do it today on what’s available. There’s lots of stuff. Facebook, that’s a whole different world, you know? So, I’m trying to look at what’s available that would give us active data on this new technology and not distort it and just question it. That’s what I tell the people. Learn about it; educate yourself about it. I say that because it’s the messaging that’s getting out there and it’s really important that we get the proper message out there.
A 2011 survey, age 15 and over in the Sahtu, 245 people were unemployed, 550 people were not in the labour force. However, as I researched more, also in the same year, 995 were employed versus 245 that were not working.
So the point is the messaging. Who do you listen to and how does it come across? In the Sahtu we have lots and lots of work to do.
All we’re saying is that if you’re thinking about putting a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, I ask my colleagues put a moratorium on the diamond mines first before you start calling for a moratorium on oil and gas. Let’s call it even-even. We will not tell you how to do your business in Yellowknife or around the region.
We have a land claim; it’s settled, it’s a constitutionally protected document. We have provisions on our land and water board. We have provisions in our Sahtu Land Use Plan, 10 years in the making by elders who are not even sitting in our home communities right now. We have provisions in our land; we have jurisdiction. Respect that jurisdiction because time is on our side. Right now time is on our side.
I ask the Members on my side of the table, this side here, to look at what’s before the House. What are the measures that are coming out, and that, as Mr. Moses said, we have to look at a number of factors. The number one that I’m looking at is the message that we have to send our children to not be afraid. We have to deal with what we have to deal with, otherwise we’re going to be crippled and be in poverty and we do not want to be in that state. So, I want to say in closing that this motion should never see the light of day again in this House, and I mean it. A motion like this, I’m really wondering about it because we have Members who want to put the cart before the horse. We wanted the control. We asked for it; they gave it to us. Now it’s in our lap and let’s be responsible. We can do it.
Again, I say that time is running out on our legislation, our time in this Assembly. Let’s make some hard decisions and let’s start the 18th Assembly with a clean slate.
So, as you probably know by now, I’m not going to support this motion.