Thank you, Mr. Chair. I stand behind the report that was brought forth in the Legislative Assembly. The concern in terms of the timeliness of legislation has to be raised. I know that we are kind of at the tail end of the 18th Assembly. We were dealt a task, and part of that process was to undertake a level of consultations with the people of the Northwest Territories.
We are also, of course, dealing with another parallel process that was at the federal level in terms of implementing an income tax on petroleum products or carbon-based products. It was unfortunate that the task was for the government to deal with climate change, to take that first step, and that first step was to tax people. Perhaps down the road, there could be some discussion in terms of taking constructive steps in terms of dealing with some practical initiatives. One of them is reductions on plastic products. There is a country in Latin America, Costa Rica, that has banned plastics. Why can't we do that here in the Northwest Territories? Perhaps initiatives like that could be contemplated in the next Assembly.
For the most part, I stand behind the report. The concern was accepting what the federal government had proposed in terms of the federal backstop. In its implementation, I think that we have customized an approach in terms of how it is that it could work up here in the Northwest Territories. Foremost, as an MLA, is the concern about how it is going to impact the cost of living to people who, in their livelihood, that everybody drives trucks. You have to drive a skidoo. You have to drive a boat to get to your destination. Even if you hunt and trap, you have to drive a skidoo. It is going to have a big impact. I think that this government has taken a level of responsibility, customize it, to try to cushion its implementation.
As I indicated and stated at the outset, I think that we could have done a little bit better in terms of consultation and sharing of information to make this legislation stronger. Mahsi.