We recognize that there are a number of other governments and organizations in the NWT with climate change roles. It would be difficult for me, at this stage of this Assembly, to commit the government to a symposium. Through the transition committee and providing some advice to the incoming 19^th, I think that we will hear it during the election period that is coming up; the election is on October 1^st. I think that we will hear a lot of concerns about climate change, and I am sure that potential candidates who are running will be telling the constituents their plans for how to deal with this ongoing issue. Let's make sure that it's a plan that they're passionate about, and not one that they're just saying to get the public's vote.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister. We absolutely have to encourage our forthcoming leaders and we have to engage, actively engage our youth in getting to the table and having the conversation, but I also don't like the idea that we are pushing these sorts of things off. There is never a time where we can't keep the discussion going about climate change. I would also like to ask the Minister: has the government considered convening call it a client action group that would include youth, elders, scientists, even economists, traditional harvesters, et cetera, industry even, to discuss and seek innovative ways to achieve responsible development and a sustainable society?

Through a number of the initiatives and strategies that we come forward with, we go out and seek public opinion, consultation with affected stakeholders, and I think it's through that process that they are able to get their input. We have three months left in this Assembly. Again, I can commit to this Chamber that we'll explore the idea of doing something such as that and work with stakeholders. Again, we can make the suggestions, and as we've seen at the beginning of the 18^th, it will be upon the Members of the 19^th to determine at that time whether this is something that they want to implement, and I believe it is. I believe it's a serious enough issue, and again, I've said it two or three times now, we've felt the effects long before everybody else so we have taken steps to mitigate some of the effects it has.

There is a lot of merit in the Member's suggestion, and we've heard, and I'm sure everybody else has heard, the young people have heard. It's a commitment that I think this Assembly in this building, this institution, has to follow up on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for attending today. I am going to take this opportunity to actually speak to a number of initiatives that the Government of the Northwest Territories is doing, because some Members in this House say they don't think we're doing enough. I want these young people to hear exactly what we're doing as the Government of the Northwest Territories, because I believe the actions that we are taking go beyond. A small jurisdiction like we are, we are punching above our weight, so I'm going to read every word on these questions.

He wants to know what we're doing in the southern part for climate change around airports and highways. The Northwest Territories infrastructure network is vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to a reliance on ice roads and infrastructure built on permafrost. Changes in climate, including temperature, precipitation, or water levels, result in increased variability and could affect the reliability of our system. We rely on the stability of permafrost to maintain our highway and runway surfaces, and need sufficient water levels to operate the ferry and barge resupply.

To address and mitigate the future risk and changes, the department developed a comprehensive Climate Change Adaptation Plan which covers all aspects of transportation system. The department has been actively implementing the Climate Change Adaptation Plan for over five years now. We have invested in research and development, including installing and monitoring test sections all across the system. We are working with world-class research institutes such as University of Calgary, Carlton University, McGill, Laurier, and the National Research Council of Canada to undertake research development on the modelling of the future and developing mitigation and adaptation measures for our assets.

We have completed climate change vulnerability assessments across the system. We have been improving poor surface and drainage conditions on our highways and runways. We are working to realign winter roads to overland alignments, and we have been building permanent bridges at former ice crossings to stabilize the highway system.

We have also worked with other government departments on the overall Northwest Territories Climate Change Strategic Framework. We are leading the national-level Task Force for Northern Infrastructure, along with our counterpart territories and provinces, to ensure our infrastructure design, construction, and maintenance practices are climate change-resilient.

We have developed best practices in buildings for northern infrastructure, building in permafrost regions, building in winter ice roads, and we have recently been audited by the Auditor General in our plans and did receive positive feedback from the review of our work.

I think the Minister kind of answered my next question, but I'm going to actually ask it anyway: what mitigation adaptation has the department done to address the issues about low water levels, and specifically in the riding of Nahendeh?

I foresee some written questions are coming soon enough. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are tracking the water levels carefully and monitoring changes. We have been in contact with the federal government about dredging to maintain navigational channels, which I talked about yesterday. For ice and ferry crossings, we have already converted some permanent bridges, and over the long term will continue to work toward converting them to permanent crossings. In the meantime, we have looked at alternative landing and crossing roads which may extend or stabilize the seasons.

Can the Minister advise us: has the department developed policies and procedures for staff and contractors in dealing with climate change issues?

Understanding climate and adjusting accordingly is inherent in all our operations of the transportation system. Climate change has been incorporated into our best practice documents and construction procedures and specifications. We keep involved at the national level to influence and incorporate research into updated national standards and promote professional development.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Minister for his answers as we move forward on this issue here. Has the department developed training programs for staff to help them to identify potential issues when it comes to climate change?

All engineers and technicians within the department have a professional obligation to keep track of the latest developments in their fields of expertise. We sponsor regular training and host a major conference to address current issues, including climate change. We also send our experts to conferences and working groups with their counterparts to review climate change issues at the national and regional levels, and we undertake risk analysis on all our major projects to ensure climate change resilience is addressed and also incorporated into climate consideration into all our operational activity.

As you can see, Mr. Speaker, we've done a lot of work around climate change, and we will continue to do so in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I just want to set this up. Cabinet's climate change plan or approach is really made up of the energy strategy, the Climate Change Strategic Framework, and the carbon tax. My questions are to the Premier as Minister of the Executive and intergovernmental affairs. I'd like to know: how can the NWT possibly achieve the Pan-Canadian Greenhouse Gas Reduction targets when 44 percent of those reductions are to come from the mega-project Taltson expansion, and there's no money to build it; no confirmed buyers either north of the lake or into the provinces? How can we achieve that target, Mr. Speaker? Mahsi.

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Taltson project is important for many reasons and, as the Member knows, we received considerable support from the federal government to help with the development of this project and the overall business case. As we told the Prime Minister, we want to be part of the overall solution in dealing with climate change. I think that the federal government recognizes, as does our government, the potential of the project as part of the overall climate change efforts.

The reality is that remote mines make up 50 percent of our emissions profile and need to be part of the solution now and in the future. Taltson is best positioned to reduce industrial emissions and stabilize the costs of energy, north and south of Great Slave Lake. If the project proceeds, we can certainly achieve our greenhouse gas emission targets and provide clean energy to resource development for the next 50 years. This is a major project, however, and we are in the early stages. The Minister of Infrastructure is leading the development of the business case, and several discussions have already taken place with the Canada Infrastructure Bank. I think that it is fair to say that they have considerable interest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Premier for raising the diamond mines, which is really my next question. Cabinet's carbon tax proposal, released in July 2018, is really unfair, as the largest emitters, the diamond mines, will get everything back. Individuals, families, and small businesses will subsidize the required GNWT contributions, the Taltson expansion, and the limited investments into renewables. Can the Premier tell us why the diamond mines will get all of the carbon tax that they pay back as rebates and grants from individualized accounts?

I just want to correct the Member, as what he stated isn't quite accurate. The approach announced in July 2018 only applied to non-motive fuel, not the carbon tax that the large emitters would pay on motive fuels. I wouldn't want the public to be under the impression that the large emitters wouldn't be paying carbon tax. However, as the Member would be aware, the approach to carbon tax that we developed needs to be consistent with the federal backstop. The federal backstop has an approach to large emitters that charges the carbon price on their output. I think that we would want to make sure that our approach aligns generally with the approach that Canada has taken, but reflects our northern realities.

We have always said that we want to mitigate the impact of the carbon tax on the cost of living. That is why we are exempting aviation fuel, rebating the carbon tax on heating fuel, and introducing the cost-of-living offset benefit when we implement the carbon tax. Our made-in-the-Northwest-Territories approach will help mitigate the impacts of the carbon tax on residents, on small business, and on those larger industries that are classified as large emitters.

I would like to thank the Premier for that announcement of changes to the carbon tax proposal on the floor of the House. The Auditor General's finding on our failed climate change leadership has not really been addressed. Cabinet has made no changes to provide the required leadership and authority to take real action on the climate change crisis. Can the Premier tell us why Cabinet has rejected the calls for a climate change act, mandatory consideration of climate change implications in all of our spending, and infrastructure submissions that prioritize projects that show the greatest GHG reductions as part of the efforts to deal with the climate change crisis?

Our government went through a very long consultative process and responded to what we heard. Through a review of climate change programs in Canadian jurisdictions, it was evident that the most important factors in the success of these programs were leadership and the authority to act.

Addressing climate change is a priority of this government. We have developed both a Climate Change Strategic Framework and Action Plan, which is linked to our work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the energy plan. Further, we have organized ourselves so that climate change is considered in all programs and at all levels of authority; director-level, ADM, deputy minister, and ministerial committees have been established. This leadership structure will focus government efforts as we move into the implementation phase of these strategies and plans.