Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to speak on the issue of climate change as my honourable friend, the Member for Yellowknife North did. Everyone from Her Majesty the Queen to His Holiness the Pope have addressed climate change as the key crisis facing the planet and future generations. I'm really pleased to see so many leaders in the world step up. Just 10 years ago, there was a still a debate on job-killing carbon taxes, and now everyone from industry to the grassroots are calling for carbon pricing as a method to curb carbon emissions and ultimately reduce the impact of our industries, our homes, and our communities have on increasing the rates of climate change.

Northerners and Canadians know that polluting isn't free. Here in the Northwest Territories we are affected most by climate change. All of the Arctic is subject to extreme shifts in weather over recent years, and we have to do our part. I hear from a lot of people that carbon tax will be a hardship and potentially exemptions need to be sought. We need to find ways to get out of it. I hear that from this government as well, and I think we need to do our part to ensure that the cost of living is not made unbearable by Northerners.

We can't afford to have people leaving our communities. They deserve to have a stable and prosperous North for themselves and their families, but at the same time, we need to show real leadership and find a way to embrace the carbon pricing system that will protect our environment and show to the rest of Canada and the world that we are part of a progressive movement to address climate change definitively and to protect our future and the future of future generations as well.

I believe we can do that. I know we can do that. I know my colleague, the honourable Minister of Finance, is working diligently towards this. My questions for them later today are going to be where he is at. Even though I know from my work on standing committees, a lot of work is going on. I think the public deserve an update because they have questions, and I want to answer those questions with information I can provide them. Let's see if we can get it on the floor of the House. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.