Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations concluded its review of Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products Tax Act; and Bill 43, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act on August 7, 2019 with a public clause-by-clause review held at the Legislative Assembly building.

The committee read their substantive report into the House yesterday. To commence its review of Bill 42 and Bill 43, the Standing Committee on Government Operations sent letters inviting input from an extensive list of stakeholders, including all municipal and Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories and a number of non-governmental organizations.

The committee held one public meeting in Yellowknife on August 1, 2019. As well, the committee received four written submissions on the bill, from the Arctic Energy Alliance, a joint submission from Ecology North and Alternatives North, Northwest Territories Association of Communities, and the City of Yellowknife. On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank everyone who provided input on Bills 42 and 43.

While I have the floor, Mr. Chair, I will take the opportunity to reiterate the frustrating process committee experienced in its review of these bills. Committee began its engagement with the Minister of Finance as far back as 2017. Despite multiple attempts to provide recommendations to the Minister on the GNWT's planned approach to carbon pricing, each time, committee was rebuffed. Although committee recognizes that the Minister was very forthcoming with information and updates with respect to the negotiations of carbon pricing with the federal government, committee was denied any meaningful opportunity to shape the GNWT's carbon pricing plan, an approach that did not meet committee's expectations to be involved in such a crucial decision for the Northwest Territories.

This situation was further exacerbated during the committee's clause-by-clause review of the legislation, the two bills, by a lack of information available to support committee in its public consultations. I should note that the federal government bears a great deal of this responsibility, as well. Correspondence written to the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change was returned without answering committee's questions or providing additional information that could have helped the committee compare the merits of the GNWT's plan with the merits of the federal backstop. Ultimately, committee was unable to render a decision on which approach to carbon pricing would be of greatest benefit to the Northwest Territories and did not seek amendments as a result. Again, this was a very frustrating process as committee had higher expectations to be more involved in a collaborative role with the Minister of Finance and the government on co-developing a carbon pricing plan that worked for everyone in the Northwest Territories.

Individual Members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with consideration of the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.