Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to update the House and Northwest Territories residents on the implementation of the NWT Carbon Tax.

The Government of the Northwest Territories committed to implementation of carbon pricing as part of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. Provinces and territories were provided with the option of implementing their own approach to carbon pricing or having the federal backstop approach implemented in their jurisdictions.

In the NWT, we decided to pursue our own made-in-the-North approach, recognizing our unique environment and the requirement for a level of consistency with the federal approach. We released our planned approach in July of 2018, including the offsets to mitigate the impact of carbon pricing on the cost of living and doing business in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, as a reminder, our approach included an NWT Carbon Tax on fuels that will begin at rates equivalent to $20 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions and increase annually to $50 per tonne. Revenues from the NWT Carbon Tax will be used to mitigate the impact and address climate change by:

• exempting aviation fuel;
• providing a 100-percent rebate on the carbon tax on heating fuel for residents and small business;
• introducing a rebate of the carbon tax on community electricity production to mitigate the impact on electricity rates;
• implementing a new cost-of-living offset benefit that will be provided to all residents to offset the impact of the carbon tax on consumer goods and services;
• providing a rebate program for large emitters, that will provide a level of consistency in the treatment of those industries, as is provided under the federal system and is being provided for residents and small businesses in the NWT; and
• making investments in energy initiatives that further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Speaker, Bills 42 and 43 were introduced in the February session and proposed changes to the Petroleum Products Tax Act and the Income Tax Act that would facilitate implementation of the NWT Carbon Tax and offset programs.

This legislation is currently being reviewed by the Standing Committee on Government Operations. Given the time needed to review the legislation and our legislative calendar, we expect that the legislation will be ready for consideration for third reading in the August session.

The original intent was to implement the NWT Carbon Tax on July 1, 2019. The GNWT now intends to implement the NWT Carbon Tax on September 1, 2019.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 34(6) so that all Ministers' statements filed with the clerk can be delivered today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Unanimous consent granted